EGMONT ARENS (1889 - 1966) was an American publisher and industrial designer. He was a leading design pioneer in the fields of packaging and plastics and is credited with introducing “appetite appeal” in packaging design. From 1911 to 1914, Arens attended the University of New Mexico and from 1915 to 1916, he studied at the University of Chicago. Before beginning his career in design, Arens was a sports editor for the Albuquerque-based Tribune-Citizen, a bookseller in his own Washington Square Bookstore in New York's Greenwich Village (1917-1923), and a salesman of fine printing produced by his own Flying Stag Press (1918-1927). During this time, Arens also worked as an editor for the periodicals Vanity Fair (1922-1923) and Creative Arts (1925-1927) as well as the printer, publisher, and editor of Playboy (1919-1925), which published works by D.D. Lawrence and Max Weber, among others.

In 1929, Arens entered the field of industrial design as the founder and director of the division of industrial styling at Calkins and Holden before later establishing his own New York design office in 1935. As an industrial designer, Arens's activities included product design, plastics research, product development, color consultation, office and industrial interior design, store planning, and package and trademark design. He designed business machines, electrical appliances, radios, furniture, toys, and boats for such diverse clients as Reynolds Metals, Philip Morris, A & P, and the Columbian Rope Company.

(Source: Syracuse University Libraries; Mechanix Illustrated)