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Old 05-26-2013, 11:13 AM   #214
Tad Roberts
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City: Flattop Islands
Vessel Name: Blackfish
Vessel Model: custom
Join Date: Dec 2012
Posts: 724
Quote:
Originally Posted by dwhatty View Post
I knew Tad was on the Bruce King design team for Liberty and several other gorgeous boats, both power and sail. One never knows what that means in terms of who gets the credit for the design.

Tad, how does that work?
Well David, it doesn't.......

The company name goes on the drawings. My initials might appear in the bottom corner. Traditionally Yacht Designer's get personal credit and few understand that design offices are sometimes large groups of very talented people. The who get's credit thing is (I suppose) left over from when all yacht designers worked alone. Land-based Architects have it a bit better, as most firms always credit the individual, but with boats it usually does not happen.

There are dozens of examples, almost all the great designers apprenticed in some office, and many great designers never left some big office. In the better known design offices the principal sometimes does no drawing at all. Few people even want to hear that Olin Stephens or Phil Rhodes did not design their boat, that the principal barely knew of it's existence, while some minion lived and breathed that boat for months at a time.

I'll add that I worked at Bruce King Yacht Design for 14 years, starting in Bruce's living-room as his only employee and the only person actually making drawings every day. I ended up overseeing two other designer's and an engineer, and still drawing all day every day. Now I work pretty much alone.
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