Document 1
The Design Process

We [at Homer Laughlin China Company] did not think in terms of "art" [in designing Fiestaware]. We attempted to analyze the taste and preferences of that cross section of the public we aimed to interest and then set to work to develop a type which would satisfy that appeal within the estimated purchasing power of that group. As color during the past three or four years has been a dominant note in connection with the designing of automobiles and many household contraptions, we felt that we could treat these new dishes in the same manner. It was our feeling that while a modernistic interpretation of a formal table service—however attractive—might be met with some reservation by the every day housewife, an easy going informal series of articles, smart enough to fit in any house and obvious enough to furnish spots of emphasis, might get by.

Frederick Hurten Rhead (the artist who designed Fiestaware), "More About Color," Crockery and Glass Journal, vol. 120 (1937).