Reissuing Humanscale, the Classic Human Factors Guide for Designers

This Kickstarter campaign endeavors to reprint a classic designers’ reference from the 1970s:

In the golden age of American industrial design, Henry Dreyfuss Associates knew that there was more to design than just looking good. Products had to be good, crafted to work with the people who use them.

With this in mind, HDA designers Niels Diffrient and Alvin R. Tilley created Humanscale, including its ingenious data selectors, providing access to over 60,000 human factors data points in one easily referenced, user-friendly “portfolio of information.”

Humanscale has long been out of print. Now we’re bringing it back.

These references are delivered in part as volvelles, also known as information wheels, a paper enclosure with a circle cut-out inside that spins to reveal new data through die-cut windows. They’re also decorated with meticulously drawn graphics from the age before precise vector software. This shot of one of the originals gives you a good idea of the exquisite level of detail they employed.

Original Humanscale Sample

The reissue seems committed to reproducing that detail faithfully:

Humanscale Reissue Sample
Humanscale Reissue Sample

Many of the incentives for the campaign are already gone but there are others and still about three weeks left to take part. Find out more at kickstarter.com.

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