Originally posted by lesmore49 I always find it amazing how stories 'evolve' over the years. It is like the oft told joke, over time...as it goes along bits and pieces are added, changed somewhat, etc. Sometimes a story will become 'the' story, because it just sounds better.
Reading your post, made me think about how much simpler, the design process could be back in the old days. Then Henry the first asked his chief designer to design a new logo....makes sense, who else to ask but your chief designer.
Nowadays, a design is probably developed by a team of designers, led by the chief designer...from there the design probably goes along with some other competitive designs to a focus group...who select their favourite ....
Then it goes to a marketing group for their input, then through the legal team, to determine if it is 'legal', then a cultural team, to determine if those area criteria's are met, then the bean counters who assess the cost and ask if it can be changed to a simpler design, as the costs per cent per volume would be more favorable to the company's ledger.
Etc.. and not in that order, necessarily.
Henry abhorred waste, so I can imagine that he would have balked at the thought of a team, unless, of course, there was simply more work than one man could do.
Not sure if I ever told the story, but if I did, it's worth telling again. Henry did not actually build Model T Fords prior to 1914. From 1909 to some time in 1914, most parts of the cars were, in fact, built by Dodge Brothers. Assembly took place at the Ford plant. Henry hated waste so, I read somewhere that he hit upon the idea to specify that the engines and planetary gearboxes Dodge Brothers supplied for the Model T's had to be delivered to the Ford plant in wooden crates of a specific size. The reason was that Henry figured that he could use those crates planks for the floor boards in the cars, thereby saving money not needing to buy wood for floorboards himself.
Now, most people think this is a bit of a tall tale to try and show how miserly Henry was. In our Ford Car Club in Cape Town there was a fellow with a completely original early 1912 Model T. When I say, completely original, the only things not original to the car are the tires. The car looks as worn as you would expect a 109 year old car to be. The fenders are almost devoid of paint as the paint has worn so thin over the years.
So, I asked him if I could have a look at the underside of the car. He, naturally, said "Sure". So, I got under the car and looked up. And there, on the wooden floor boards were the crate stampings for Dodge Brothers.