Clair Samhammer, FIDSA

US industrial designer who studied at Pratt Institute from 1947 to 1950. He worked in the early 1950s for Sundberg-Ferar, then with Harley Earl Inc. in Detroit, Michigan, where he designed and built a toy Corvette pedal car between 1953 and 1954. In 1959 he joined Melvin Best Associates in Pasadena, CA, and in 1962, joined Design West. His best-known designs are the award-winning attaché cases for Samsonite Corporation, the Classic (1962) and the Royal Traveler (1965). He was awarded IDSA Fellowship in 1978 and in 1981 he partnered with Bob Green to establish the Creative Design Center in Orange, CA. Here he is with the original Corvette pedal car in 1953 and again, a fantastic fifty years later, in 2003 during restoration of the car.

In 1959 he joined Melvin Best Associates in Pasadena, CA, and in 1962, joined Design West. His best-known designs are the award-winning attaché cases for Samsonite Corporation, the Classic (1962) and the Royal Traveler (1965).

He was awarded IDSA Fellowship in 1978 and in 1981 he partnered with Bob Green to establish the Creative Design Center in Orange, CA.

Here he is with the original Corvette pedal car in 1953 and again, a fantastic fifty years later, in 2003 during restoration of the car.

Activities for Clair

IDSA Award Winner | Fellow