Sundberg-Ferar
Sundberg-Ferar is an independent American industrial design consultancy known for work spanning consumer products, transportation systems, industrial equipment, and emerging mobility concepts.
Last updated August 31, 2026
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Overview
Sundberg-Ferar is an independent industrial design consultancy headquartered in Walled Lake, Michigan. Founded in 1934 by Carl Sundberg and Montgomery Ferar, the firm emerged from the General Motors Art & Color Section led by Harley J. Earl. Its establishment placed it among the earliest industrial design consultancies formed in the United States. Rather than focusing on a single product category, Sundberg-Ferar developed a broad practice covering industrial design, mechanical engineering, research, model making, prototyping, interaction design, and packaging design. The company’s work has extended across household appliances, housewares, office equipment, automobiles, boats, furniture, consumer electronics, medical products, industrial machinery, mass-transit vehicles, vending equipment, and aircraft interiors. This breadth reflects the firm’s long-standing emphasis on combining visual design with engineering and manufacturing practicality. Sundberg-Ferar has worked for hundreds of clients, including major corporations such as IBM, Coca-Cola, Procter & Gamble, Carrier, Masco, Chrysler, and Electrolux. During the period from the 1930s through the 1960s, the firm designed or styled a wide range of products and environments. Notable historical work included the Crosley Pavilion for the 1939 New York World’s Fair, the Crosley CC automobile, DeVilbiss air-compressor equipment, IBM computers and typewriters, RCA and Whirlpool’s Miracle Kitchen, and jukeboxes for the J. P. Seeburg Corporation. The IBM 305 RAMAC project was particularly significant because its design helped integrate an early disk-storage computer into an office environment, illustrating Sundberg-Ferar’s interest in corporate image as well as individual products. The company became increasingly involved in mass-transit design from the 1960s onward. Its transportation work included vehicles for New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the Bay Area Rapid Transit system, Washington Metro, Chicago Transit Authority, Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority, and Dallas Area Rapid Transit. These projects made the consultancy an important contributor to the industrial design of American urban transportation systems. Sundberg-Ferar also helped pioneer the use of coordinated product and environmental design to express a corporate identity. In the 1950s, its work for IBM included early computers and showroom environments, linking product styling with the broader presentation of a technology company. The firm’s Detroit origins and its continued presence in Michigan placed it close to the American automotive and manufacturing industries, while its client portfolio expanded into consumer, commercial, and institutional markets. Carl Sundberg and Montgomery Ferar remained partners and owners until their retirement in 1975. Ownership subsequently transitioned internally. The company operated from Detroit before moving to Royal Oak and then Southfield in 1959. In 1995, it relocated to Walled Lake, where it operates from a purpose-built facility comprising a prototype shop, multidisciplinary offices, and a focus-group and viewing area. The firm also opened offices in Atlanta, Minneapolis, and Chicago during the 1990s, but those locations were closed during a restructuring between 2002 and 2004. In the twenty-first century, Sundberg-Ferar has continued to combine physical product development with engineering, research, and prototyping. More recent examples include Hyundai’s Elevate walking-car concept, unveiled at CES in 2019, the SproutsIO product developed for an agricultural technology start-up, and Affinity Tool Works’ Speedhorse deployable sawhorse. The firm’s historical contribution was recognized in 2016 when the Industrial Designers Society of America gave Carl Sundberg and Montgomery Ferar a Personal Recognition Award for their contribution to the long-term welfare and importance of industrial design.
History
Sundberg-Ferar was founded in 1934 by Carl Sundberg and Montgomery Ferar after the two designers left General Motors’ Art & Color Section, where they had worked under Harley J. Earl. The new firm began in Detroit and became one of the leading independent American design offices in the years following the Second World War. Sundberg and Ferar remained business partners and owners until retiring in 1975; ownership then continued to transition internally rather than to a named outside parent company. The consultancy’s early work covered an unusually wide range of products and settings. During the 1930s through the 1960s, it designed or styled household goods, appliances, office and industrial equipment, automobiles, boats, furniture, computers, typewriters, kitchens, and entertainment equipment. Projects included the Crosley Pavilion at the 1939 New York World’s Fair, the Crosley CC automobile, DeVilbiss air-compressor equipment, IBM computers and typewriters, RCA and Whirlpool’s Miracle Kitchen, and Seeburg jukeboxes. The firm also worked on the IBM 305 RAMAC and IBM 702, helping give early business computers a coherent physical and architectural character suitable for office environments. Sundberg-Ferar was an early advocate of using design to shape corporate identity. Its 1950s work for IBM extended beyond the form of individual machines to include showroom and presentation environments. This approach connected industrial design with the way companies presented technology, products, and services to customers. From the 1960s, transportation became one of the company’s most important fields. Sundberg-Ferar participated in the design of vehicles for New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the Bay Area Rapid Transit system, Washington Metro, Chicago Transit Authority, Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority, and Dallas Area Rapid Transit. The New York R40M work received a Design in Steel Award in 1969. BART vehicles designed in 1965 entered service in 1972, while other transit programs followed through the 1970s and 1980s. The firm’s physical location changed as its work developed. It moved from Detroit to Royal Oak and then to Southfield in 1959. In 1995 it relocated to Walled Lake, Michigan, to a purpose-built facility with an approximately 8,000-square-foot prototype shop and a 7,000-square-foot multidisciplinary office area that includes a focus-group and viewing facility. During the 1990s, Sundberg-Ferar established additional offices in Atlanta, Minneapolis, and Chicago. Those offices were closed during a restructuring carried out from 2002 to 2004. Several notable American industrial designers worked at the consultancy during its history, including Carl “Cam” Cameron, Samuel M. Highberger, Norman J. James, and Clair Samhammer. In 2016, the Industrial Designers Society of America honored the two founders with a Personal Recognition Award at its Detroit conference. The firm’s later work continued its multidisciplinary model. Projects identified in reference material include SproutsIO, a product for an agricultural-technology start-up; Affinity Tool Works’ Speedhorse deployable sawhorse; and Hyundai’s Elevate walking-car concept, unveiled at CES in 2019. Sundberg-Ferar’s documented client and project history therefore spans traditional product styling, engineering-led development, transportation design, corporate environments, and experimental mobility.
- 2019
Hyundai Elevate unveiled
[1]Hyundai’s Elevate walking-car concept, associated with Sundberg-Ferar, is unveiled at CES.
- 2016
Founders receive IDSA recognition
[1]The Industrial Designers Society of America gives Carl Sundberg and Montgomery Ferar a Personal Recognition Award.
- 2002
Restructuring closes satellite offices
[1]The Atlanta, Minneapolis, and Chicago offices are closed during a restructuring extending from 2002 to 2004.
- 1995
Move to Walled Lake
[1]Sundberg-Ferar moves to its current Walled Lake, Michigan, facility, designed to support prototyping, research, and multidisciplinary design work.
- 1976
Washington Metro and Chicago transit projects
[1]The company is associated with Washington Metro vehicles and Chicago Transit Authority 2400 Series cars during the mid-to-late 1970s.
- 1975
Founders retire
[1]Carl Sundberg and Montgomery Ferar retire from the consultancy after more than four decades as partners and owners.
- 1969
Design in Steel Award for New York transit work
[1]The firm’s New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority R40M subway-vehicle work receives a Design in Steel Award.
- 1965
BART vehicle design
[1]Sundberg-Ferar designs vehicles for the Bay Area Rapid Transit system; the vehicles are introduced in 1972.
- 1959
Move to Southfield
[1]The company relocates from Royal Oak to Southfield, Michigan.
- 1957
IBM 305 RAMAC and Miracle Kitchen projects
[1]The consultancy works on IBM’s 305 RAMAC and the RCA/Whirlpool Miracle Kitchen, combining product design with office and domestic environments.
Products and positioning
An independent, multidisciplinary industrial design consultancy that combines research, design, engineering, and prototyping for complex physical products, transportation systems, and commercial environments.
Business computer · 1957
IBM 305 RAMAC
Sundberg-Ferar contributed to the physical and architectural character of IBM’s 305 RAMAC, an early business computer associated with the first commercial disk-storage system. The design work helped make a large and technically complex machine visually compatible with a modern office environment, reflecting the consultancy’s broader interest in corporate image and product presentation.
Kitchen and appliance environment · 1957
RCA/Whirlpool Miracle Kitchen
The Miracle Kitchen was a mid-century domestic design project associated with RCA and Whirlpool. Sundberg-Ferar’s involvement illustrates its work beyond isolated objects, integrating appliances, cabinetry, and the surrounding household environment into a coordinated design concept.
Consumer entertainment equipment · 1957
J. P. Seeburg Corporation jukeboxes
Sundberg-Ferar designed a number of Seeburg jukebox models and related wall-mounted units, including the KD-200, L-series, Q100, Q160, and 3W100 Wall-O-Matic. These projects placed the firm’s industrial-design practice in the consumer entertainment and vending-equipment market.
Mass-transit vehicle · 1972
BART transit vehicles
Designed in 1965 and introduced in 1972, the Bay Area Rapid Transit vehicles formed part of Sundberg-Ferar’s major expansion into transportation design. The project required coordination of exterior form, passenger environment, operational needs, and the visual identity of a new regional rail system.
Experimental mobility concept · 2019
Hyundai Elevate
Elevate is a Hyundai walking-car concept unveiled at CES in 2019. Its legged mobility architecture was intended to explore access across terrain and environments that conventional wheeled vehicles may not handle easily. Sundberg-Ferar is identified as a design contributor to the concept.
Agricultural technology product
SproutsIO product
Sundberg-Ferar worked on a product for SproutsIO, a start-up associated with indoor or controlled-environment growing. The project represents the consultancy’s later work for emerging companies and its application of industrial design to new consumer and agricultural-technology categories.
Professional tool
Affinity Tool Works Speedhorse
Speedhorse is a deployable sawhorse developed for Affinity Tool Works and described in reference material as the world’s fastest deployable sawhorse. Sundberg-Ferar’s involvement demonstrates its continued work on practical equipment requiring compact storage, rapid deployment, and robust physical construction.
Brand decisions
2002
Restructuring and closure of satellite officesStrategyBackground
The firm had opened offices in Atlanta, Minneapolis, and Chicago during the 1990s.
Action taken
During a restructuring carried out between 2002 and 2004, Sundberg-Ferar closed the three satellite offices.
Aftermath
The documented organization returned to a more concentrated operating footprint centered on its Michigan headquarters.
1995
Relocation to a purpose-built multidisciplinary facilityStrategyBackground
After operating from Detroit, Royal Oak, and Southfield, the consultancy needed a facility supporting design development, prototype production, client review, and research activities.
Action taken
Sundberg-Ferar moved to a purpose-built facility in Walled Lake, Michigan, incorporating an approximately 8,000-square-foot prototype shop and a 7,000-square-foot office and viewing area.
Aftermath
The Walled Lake site became the firm’s continuing headquarters and supports its integrated design, engineering, research, and prototyping model.
Sources2 sources
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