Academy Alumnus Marc Harrison Designed for Accessibility, Including Cuisinart's Food Processor

The Cuisinart as redesigned by Marc Harrison. Courtesy Hagley Museum and Library.

Marc Harrison’s (Design ’59) personal experiences with physical disability led him to redesign the Cuisinart food processor with wider accessibility in mind. The result was the 1978 Cuisinart DLC-X, whose design has guided every subsequent model. Its design was so influential that it was featured in two different 20th Century product design shows at major U.S. museums.

The success of the Cuisinart redesign helped inspire him to organize the ambitious Universal Kitchen Project while teaching at RISD, and in turn, to found the discipline of Universal Design. This principle holds that if designers created for a wider range of bodies and abilities, their designs would work better for all.

Read more about Harrison’s background and the story of the Cuisinart redesign from Jim Ryan on UX Collective here.

Cuisinart Food Processor exploded technical drawing, 1970-79. Marc Harrison papers (Accession 2193), Manuscripts and Archives Department, Hagley Museum and Library, Wilmington, DE 19807