Koons, Irvin L., 1922-
Variant namesIrv Koons was born in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania in 1922. As a young man, Koons became interested in typography while working in his father's print shop. Koons studied art at the Pratt Institute in New York before being drafted into the army in 1942. During the Second World War, he served in the China, Burma, and India Theatre as art director for the Army's Information and Education Program. While stationed in New Delhi, Koons helped organize the first International Art Exhibition held in India and was instrumental in the founding of the National Art Gallery of India. Following the war, Koons studied at the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Fontainebleau, France. After returning to New York, he worked briefly in the publishing industry as a graphic designer and illustrator before establishing his own industrial design firm, Irv Koons Associates, Inc., in the late 1940s.
During a career which spanned nearly fifty years, Koons earned a reputation as one of the most innovative and influential designers in the packaging industry. He has won awards in nearly every major packaging competition, including being named Packaging Person of the Year by the Packaging Designers Council in 1982, an honor which had been bestowed only three times previously. His clients have included Revlon, Joseph E. Seagram & Sons. Inc., Consolidated Cigar Corporation, Clairol/Bristol-Myers, C. F. Mueller Company, Johnson & Johnson, Proctor & Gamble, Scott Paper Company, and American Can Company, manufacturer of Dixie Cups.
Koons's work demonstrates a special affinity for repositioning familiar products by creating a fresh presentation which resonates with contemporary consumer culture. In his view, the package serves as a perpetual "silent salesman" for the product. According to Koons, reliance upon expensive advertising and promotion is unnecessary for products to be commercially viable in a competitive marketplace. Because most products are similar in quality, packaging provides the consumer with a means of differentiating between competing brands. Koons's extensive use of market research studies enabled him to gain a better understanding of consumers' lifestyles and to construct demographic profiles which proved invaluable in the creation of packaging which appealed to large segments of the buying public. By immediately communicating all of a product's positive attributes, the package presents a unique personality which can motivate consumers to buy a particular brand and continue to use it following their initial purchase.
Koons has worked tirelessly to promote a better understanding of the role of packaging in the successful marketing of commercial products and a greater appreciation for the historical importance of packaging. Koons has lectured and taught extensively and his packaging designs have been featured in leading industrial design publications. He developed a packaging education curriculum for New York University's School of Continuing Education which included intensive professional seminars on packaging design and product marketing.
Koons believes that the industrial design community, which has directed so much of its creative energies to influencing the buying habits of a largely affluent consumer population, has a broader social responsibility to extend this prosperity to those who are less fortunate. Koons has served as a cultural attache to the State Department and directed the first international packaging exhibition which traveled under the auspices of the United States Information Agency. He was also founding director of the International Design Assistance Commission, providing voluntary professional design consulting services to developing nations in cooperation with the United Nations Development Program. Koons designed a fifty-foot stained glass wall depicting Biblical events which serves as the centerpiece for the main conference room for the Federation of Jewish Philanthropies.
From the description of Irv Koons Papers 1946-1996 (bulk 1955-1985). (Hagley Museum & Library). WorldCat record id: 79941530
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referencedIn | Papers of Irv Koons, 1934-2004, bulk: 1949-1988 | Yeshiva University. Museum | |
creatorOf | Koons, Irvin L., 1922-. Irv Koons Papers 1946-1996 (bulk 1955-1985). | Hagley Museum & Library |
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associatedWith | Abbotts Dairies, Inc. | corporateBody |
associatedWith | ALPO Petfoods, Inc. | corporateBody |
associatedWith | Alusuisse. | corporateBody |
associatedWith | American Can Company. | corporateBody |
associatedWith | American Cyanamid Company. | corporateBody |
associatedWith | American Home Products Corporation. | corporateBody |
associatedWith | American White Cross Laboratories, Inc. | corporateBody |
associatedWith | Beecham International Holdings S.A. | corporateBody |
associatedWith | Beech-Nut, Inc. | corporateBody |
associatedWith | Bet sa-sefere le-musmakhim be-minhal ʻasaḳim ʻal sh. Liʼon Reḳanaṭi. | corporateBody |
associatedWith | Beverage World (Firm). | corporateBody |
associatedWith | Bristol-Myers Company. | corporateBody |
associatedWith | Brown-Forman Distillers Corporation. | corporateBody |
associatedWith | Cadbury Schweppes. | corporateBody |
associatedWith | C.F. Mueller Co. | corporateBody |
associatedWith | Chas. F. Cates & Sons, Inc. | corporateBody |
associatedWith | Chesebrough-Pond's. | corporateBody |
associatedWith | C.H. Knorr GmbH. | corporateBody |
associatedWith | Chun King Corporation. | corporateBody |
associatedWith | CIBA-GEIGY Corporation. | corporateBody |
associatedWith | Clairol, Inc. | corporateBody |
associatedWith | Colgate-Palmolive Company. | corporateBody |
associatedWith | Community Newspaper Publishers, Inc. | corporateBody |
associatedWith | Consolidated Cigar Corporation. | corporateBody |
associatedWith | Cosmair, Inc. | corporateBody |
associatedWith | Coty, Inc. | corporateBody |
associatedWith | CPC International. Best Foods Division. | corporateBody |
associatedWith | Dairylea Cooperative Incorporated. | corporateBody |
associatedWith | Fairmont Foods Company. | corporateBody |
associatedWith | Federation of Jewish Philanthropies of New York. | corporateBody |
associatedWith | General Foods Corporation. | corporateBody |
associatedWith | Gillette Company. | corporateBody |
associatedWith | Gulf & Western Industries. | corporateBody |
associatedWith | Hiram Walker-Gooderham & Worts Limited. | corporateBody |
associatedWith | Hudson Pulp & Paper Corporation. | corporateBody |
associatedWith | Hunt Foods Company. | corporateBody |
associatedWith | Ideal Toy Corporation. | corporateBody |
associatedWith | Johnson & Johnson. | corporateBody |
associatedWith | Joseph E. Seagram & Sons, Inc. | corporateBody |
associatedWith | Koons, Irv | person |
associatedWith | Luden's, Inc. | corporateBody |
associatedWith | Maryland Cup Corporation. | corporateBody |
associatedWith | McCormick & Co. | corporateBody |
associatedWith | Milton Bradley Company. | corporateBody |
associatedWith | Mobil Chemical Company. | corporateBody |
associatedWith | Mobilization for Youth | corporateBody |
associatedWith | Nabisco Brands, Inc. | corporateBody |
associatedWith | New York University School of Continuing Education. | corporateBody |
associatedWith | Package Designers Council. | corporateBody |
associatedWith | Packaging Institute, U.S.A. | corporateBody |
associatedWith | Procter & Gamble Company. | corporateBody |
associatedWith | Quality Importers, Inc. | corporateBody |
associatedWith | Revlon, Inc. | corporateBody |
associatedWith | Schenley Imports Company. | corporateBody |
associatedWith | Scott Paper Company. | corporateBody |
associatedWith | Sieper Werke GmbH. | corporateBody |
associatedWith | Solo Products Corporation. | corporateBody |
associatedWith | Statewide Savings & Loan Association (Jersey City, N.J.) | corporateBody |
associatedWith | Stellenbosch Farmers' Winery. | corporateBody |
associatedWith | Sunshine Biscuits, Inc. | corporateBody |
associatedWith | Superior's Brand Meats, Inc. | corporateBody |
associatedWith | Thomas J. Lipton, Inc. | corporateBody |
associatedWith | Union Carbide Corporation. | corporateBody |
associatedWith | Union of American Hebrew Congregations. | corporateBody |
associatedWith | United Nations. | corporateBody |
associatedWith | United States Dept. of Commerce. | corporateBody |
associatedWith | United States Dept. of State. | corporateBody |
associatedWith | Warner-Lambert Company. | corporateBody |
associatedWith | Wasa International. | corporateBody |
associatedWith | W.A. Sheaffer Pen Company. | corporateBody |
associatedWith | West Virginia Pulp and Paper Company. | corporateBody |
associatedWith | Wilson Manufacturing Corporation. | corporateBody |
Place Name | Admin Code | Country |
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Subject |
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Band |
Brand loyalty |
Brand name products |
Brylcreem hair preparation |
Camay soap |
Charities, Jewish |
Comet cleaning compound |
Consumer behavior |
Consumer goods |
Consumerism |
Consumer panels |
Consumers |
Consumers |
Consumer satisfaction |
Consumers' preferences |
Corporate image |
Crest toothpaste |
Dash detergent |
Dawn detergent |
Dixie paper cups |
Dutch Masters cigars |
El Producto cigars |
Graphic arts |
Gulden's mustard |
Hefty paper cups |
Hefty paper plates |
H-O prepared cereal |
Industrial design coordination |
Industrial designers |
Knorr sauces |
Luden's cough drops |
Marketing research |
Market surveys |
Muriel cigars |
Numero Uno cologne |
Oxydol detergent |
Packaging |
Packaging |
Packaging |
Packaging |
Point-of-purchase displays |
Product coding |
Scotties tissue paper |
Seagram whiskey |
Southern Comfort bourbon whiskey |
Trade associations |
Trademark infringement |
Trademarks |
Wishbone salad dressing |
Occupation |
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Activity |
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Person
Birth 1922-03-14