David Carter (left) in the offices of his company, David Carter Associates, around 1970
Along with Sellotape, Biro pens and the Anglepoise lamp, the workaday Stanley knife is one of those familiar products the names of which have been bestowed on any number of competitors over many decades.
In 1960, David Carter, who has died aged 92, designed the definitive Stanley knife. It was, along with other workaday tools for Stanley Works, one of the main reasons why this skilled industrial designer was able to set up his own company, David Carter Associates (DCA), in 1963. More than simply useful, the easily affordable and indestructible knife works as a natural extension of the hand when cutting materials. Like the multipurpose Swiss army knife, it also looks good at rest on a desk or workbench. There have been several iterations of the Stanley knife since Carter’s, yet his has never been bettered.