Why was the Outboard Marine Corporation Brooks Stevens most important client?
Well, it’s actually hard to say who his most important client was. At various times, Stevens’ design firm was almost overwhelmed with work for a single client. This happened in the 1950s with Miller Brewing and Kaiser-Frazer, and in the 1960s with Studebaker and 3M. But over the course of his entire career, Stevens’ relationship with OMC was always extremely strong, partly because he was a close personal friend of Ralph Evinrude. Stevens’ staff designers (especially Gordon Kelly and John Bradley) executed literally hundreds of designs for OMC’s Evinrude and Johnson outboard motors, Lawn Boy mowers, and Cushman scooters, carts, and motorcycles.
