Guest Sara Little Turnbull
At only 4 foot 11 inches, Sara Little Turnbull may be small in stature, but she’s a giant in design and widely regarded as “the mother of invention.” Just some of her many accomplishments are the invention of CorningWare and fitted sheets, and setting the stage for human values in design through advocacy, mentorship, teaching and example.
Born in Manhattan in 1917 as Sara Finklestein, Sara attended Parsons School of Design on a scholarship from the Women’s National Jewish Council. After college, she worked at Marshall Fields, then became an ad agency art director, and later an editor of House Beautiful magazine, where she worked for nearly two decades. Nicknamed Little Sara, she changed to Sara Little along the way.
In 1958, Sara left the magazine and officially became Sara Little Design Consultant, offering product design, development, and marketing services. In a practice that has spanned six decades, Sara has traveled internationally in her design research, from the tribes of Borneo to work with Dr. Richard Leakey in Africa. As a product research consultant, she has worked with CEOs of America’s largest and most innovative manufacturing firms, including Procter & Gamble, 3M, Coca-Cola, Corning, General Mills, Macy’s, Pfizer, Revlon, Nike, and Volvo. She has translated her observations of consumers and culture into a number of successful products, including: Corningware products, the 3M dust mask, soy-based candy, and even the first successful chocolate cake mix to be sold in England.
Sara has also consulted for government institutions, including those in India, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Great Britain, and was a consultant to NASA. She has also served on many advisory councils and boards of trustees, including the Board of Trustees of Parsons School of Design and as Chairman of the Scholarship Committee of the School Art League in the City of New York.
Most recently, Sara was founder and director of the Process of Change at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, a position she held for nearly 20 years. Sara has received multiple awards and honors, including the distinguished Design Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts. Most recently, the Modern Art Council of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art designated her a Bay Area Living Treasure before she moved back to the Pacific Northwest. And last year, Sara received the Lifetime Achievement Award from ICOGRADA.
Born in Manhattan in 1917 as Sara Finklestein, Sara attended Parsons School of Design on a scholarship from the Women’s National Jewish Council. After college, she worked at Marshall Fields, then became an ad agency art director, and later an editor of House Beautiful magazine, where she worked for nearly two decades. Nicknamed Little Sara, she changed to Sara Little along the way.
In 1958, Sara left the magazine and officially became Sara Little Design Consultant, offering product design, development, and marketing services. In a practice that has spanned six decades, Sara has traveled internationally in her design research, from the tribes of Borneo to work with Dr. Richard Leakey in Africa. As a product research consultant, she has worked with CEOs of America’s largest and most innovative manufacturing firms, including Procter & Gamble, 3M, Coca-Cola, Corning, General Mills, Macy’s, Pfizer, Revlon, Nike, and Volvo. She has translated her observations of consumers and culture into a number of successful products, including: Corningware products, the 3M dust mask, soy-based candy, and even the first successful chocolate cake mix to be sold in England.
Sara has also consulted for government institutions, including those in India, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Great Britain, and was a consultant to NASA. She has also served on many advisory councils and boards of trustees, including the Board of Trustees of Parsons School of Design and as Chairman of the Scholarship Committee of the School Art League in the City of New York.
Most recently, Sara was founder and director of the Process of Change at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, a position she held for nearly 20 years. Sara has received multiple awards and honors, including the distinguished Design Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts. Most recently, the Modern Art Council of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art designated her a Bay Area Living Treasure before she moved back to the Pacific Northwest. And last year, Sara received the Lifetime Achievement Award from ICOGRADA.
