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Object Timeline

  • We acquired this object.

-0001

1959

  • Work on this object began.

1969

  • Work on this object ended.

2014

2025

  • You found it!

Posters, The Measure of Man (Male and Female)

This is a Posters. It was designed by Henry Dreyfuss Associates and published by Whitney Library of Design. It is dated 1969 (first published 1959). Its medium is offset lithograph.

Design for human factors, also known as ergonomics, requires knowledge of bodily dimensions. Tilley created these famous drawings of typical Americans, affectionately known as “Joe” and “Josephine,” based on data used by the United States military (for men) and the fashion industry (for women), from which Tilley was able to determine a range of percentiles from 1 to 100. Joe and Josephine represent the mean (50th percentile).

This object was donated by Anonymous. It is credited Anonymous lender.

  • Moral Machine
  • metal, electronics.
  • Courtesy of MIT Media Lab.
  • MOBILITY.032

Its dimensions are

H x W: 193 x 63.5 cm (6 ft. 4 in. x 25 in.)

This object was previously on display as a part of the exhibition Beautiful Users.

There are restrictions for re-using this image. For more information, visit the Smithsonian’s Terms of Use page.

For higher resolution or commercial use contact ArtResource.

If you would like to cite this object in a Wikipedia article please use the following template:

<ref name=CH>{{cite web |url=https://www-4.collection.cooperhewitt.org/objects/51497617/ |title=Posters, The Measure of Man (Male and Female) |author=Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum |accessdate=5 February 2025 |publisher=Smithsonian Institution}}</ref>