Julien Hébert and the Emergence of Industrial Design in Canada

Abstract

Introduction: Julien Hebert, A Pioneer of Design in Canada Julien Hebert (1917–1994) is recognized by many as the father of industrial design in Quebec and in Canada. Most of the designers who worked with him or had him as a professor consider him a master and a mentor. Hebert played a key role in the evolution of the design field in Canada and, more specifically, in the French-speaking province of Quebec. After a brief presentation of his career, we will concentrate on issues such as the vision Hebert tried to promote throughout his career and in his teaching. We also will study his position with regard to the ethical and social roles of design. We will show that Hebert had an idealistic vision of design—influenced in part by the European modernists—and concentrated his efforts in promoting what we might call a humanistic design philosophy. Whereas Canada still isn’t recognized as a leader in the design field, this was even less the case in the 1940s and 50s when Hebert started his career. Nevertheless, Hebert wanted to change that situation. He was concerned that Canada’s economy was based essentially on primary resources and was convinced that the country should concentrate on designing and producing its own products—more adapted to its environment and culture—and be less dependent on the importation of manufactured goods. All through his career, Hebert was dedicated to positioning Canada as a leader in design. He put a lot of effort into promoting the field to both the government and the general public. Indeed, he made many attempts to establish a structure on which to build stronger foundations for the field: he organized exhibitions, created design courses, and struggled to teach design in the early ‘50s in traditional fine arts institutions. He also traveled around Europe and the U.S., visiting different design centers and design schools with the objective of creating an important design institute in the city of Montreal. He played an active role as a designer for the Worlds Fair in Montreal in 1967 and at the ICSID conference also in Montreal that same year and won numerous design awards in Canada for the quality of his work. In the 1960s, as an instigator of modern design, Julien Hebert participated in what historians call Quebec’s “quiet revolution.” 1 It was a decade in which Canada’s French-speaking province evolved from a conservative, traditional community into a modern society, initiating secular social structures (in health and education), as well 1 See previous article in Design Issues Cinzia M aurizia Giovine, “Jean-M arie