Work
exploring, creating, and collaborating
It is difficult to encapsulate 20 years of design experience into a single web page. Shown here is a small selection of work (in loose chronological order with most recent at the top) that I have led or been significantly involved with during my professional career. These projects span physical, digital, and experiential outputs and demonstrate the wide-reaching nature of my design practice. Many of these projects are backed by substantial research efforts and strategic planning (which I also often led) aimed at delivering solutions with targeted precision against business needs and end-user delight.
IDSA.org
2023
Industrial Designers Society of America
Executive Creative Direction I Content Management Strategy I Copywriting | User Research | UX & UI
Recognizing the business need for a major upgrade, I initiated an effort to gain Board of Directory buy-in and secure funding for a website redesign project in 2021. Our year-long design process included soliciting feedback from members, conducting a competitive landscape analysis of other design and membership sites, extensive wireframing and content mapping explorations, and a detailed review of usage analytics for IDSA.org.
The result is a fresh new face for IDSA.org with a substantial package of new features, security upgrades, and back-end database integrations. Additionally, we’ve improved mobile device responsiveness, created members-only content areas, and enhanced the overall layout and design. Underpinning it all is a refreshed content management strategy with a streamlined information hierarchy and new navigation system.
IDSA.org welcomes over 1.4 million visitors per year. It is responsible for housing nearly six decades of organizational history and serves as a focal point for up-to-date news and information. All this while also serving as a repository for trustworthy institutional knowledge and reference materials related to the professional practice and academic study of industrial design. We migrated, reorganized, and reskined 50+ years of organization history, stories, community events, and industry accolades … over 15,000 pages of content and images in fact.
Collaborators to thank: Jerry Layne, Johanna Colocho, Sarat Tippaluru, Allan Gordon, Sofya Howard, IDSA Staff, New Target
International Design Conference
2018-2023
Industrial Designers Society of America
Executive Creative Direction & Branding I Content Curation | Attendee Experience | Environmental Graphics & Wayfinding
The International Design Conference is IDSA's biggest annual event. It routinely draws 500+ attendees from around the world for multiple days of presentations, workshops, panel discussions, product demonstrations, and networking. IDC is a platform for amplifying the unique and bold voice of industrial design while celebrating the deep interconnection with other creative disciplines.
Prior to 2018, the event was given a completely new theme and brand identity each year. While that approach has the benefit of keeping things fresh, it lacked the continuity and consistency needed to build an enduring brand.
Joe Stitzlein, of Stitzlein Studio, was enlisted to create the initial logo and typographic elements of the IDC brand system. The simple, yet bold brand identity, can be revised each year while maintaining several common visual elements from one event to the next. I was responsible for overseeing the overall creative direction and content curation for each event up to 2023.
The 2018 event marked my first as Executive Director of the organization and it was the first outward manifestation of the strategy I put in place to lead IDSA into its next phase of life.
internationaldesignconference.com
Collaborators to thank: Joe Stitzlein, Carl Guo, Gabrielle Pisani, Kelsey Rerko, Carrie Green, Austin DelGallo, Dragonfly Consultants, IDSA Staff
EmbraerX
2017
Contract position
Research I Strategy I Foresight I Creative Direction I Service & Experience Design
EmbraerX is an incubation team inside of Embraer, a global leader in aviation and aircraft manufacturing, charged with developing future-focused ideas and emergent technologies into existence.
I helped a small, cross-functional innovation team (aviation specialists, aircraft engineers, business stakeholders, and designers) explore the future of urban aerial transportation with the goal of creating an eco-friendly, battery powered EVTOL vehicles.
I contributed to the project by leading user research efforts, turning insights into product and business strategy, envisioning future-state services, creative direction, and customer experience design.
User research included a two-week stay in Dubai, UAE to conduct interviews, perform heuristic studies, and experience the culture of this thriving city in the desert.
My contributions to the project culminated with the creation of a series of speculative renderings telling a story about the future service and vehicle which did not yet exist. These were accompanied by a robust research findings report which provided user-driven insights into how (and why) we created what we did and a detailed business case analysis.
Collaborators to thank: Paula Macedo, Flavia Dantas Silva, Rocio Reyes-Morales, Karan Chaitanya Mudgal, Jake Lussier, Noah Lehmann-Haupt, Doug Davidson, Andre Stein, Takashi Kawasaki, David Rottblatt, Gustavo Furlan, Peter Berger
BASF
2013-2015
InReality
Workshop Facilitation | Activity Planning & Design | Mentoring
I worked with various business groups within the BASF organization to design and facilitate workshops with internal and external stakeholders.
Each session was unique in its mission, duration, and composition. As a result, each had to be custom built to suit the needs of our partners and to garner the best possible results.
The workshops explored a variety of topics including: how to reduce global food waste, bringing customers into the product development cycle, and building internal team alignment over shared goals.
At a high level - this was a project of evangelizing the design process (design thinking) and demonstrating to non-designers, through interactive activities and thought provoking prompts, that they had the power to be creative in their daily work.
Collaborators to thank: Florian Vollmer, Rich Goidel
Plywood Table
2015
Personal Project
Design | Fabrication
This is a simple laminated plywood table I made for myself. Not too many sketches, just had an idea, some spare plywood, and went to work.
Museum of Design Atlanta
2014
InReality
Creative Direction I Exhibition Design | Fabrication | Installation
We partnered to create a three month exhibition which highlighted the impact design can have at a social and global level.
Design for Social Impact featured projects from around the world that are making a difference in the areas of Education, Healthcare, Shelter, Food & Water, Energy, and Community.
The display elements and environmental graphics we designed and produced created the foundation of the exhibition and allowed the narrative of each project to come to life with vivid imagery and minimal interruption.
Design for Social Impact received heavy attendance, local press, and acclaim during its three month run. MoDA decided to extend the exhibition for an additional month as a result. Portions of the exhibition were later shown in Chicago, IL and Nashville, TN.
Collaborators to thank: Katie Dillard, Darwin Muljono, Florian Vollmer, Laura Flusche
ReST Smartbed
2013-2014
InReality
Industrial Design | Creative Direction | Branding | UI
Responsive Surface Technology (ReST) was a new brand with a novel idea to disrupt the mattress industry. I helped them design a new smart mattress sleep experience that gives the sleeper unparalleled ability to improve their sleep habits ... and their health.
The project started with an exercise to define what a new 'smart' sleep experience could be. This involved conducting research into common (and uncommon) sleep behaviors and journey mapping activities to visualize all aspects of how people use their beds ... let me tell you, it's a lot more than just sleeping!
My work encompassed the exterior design of the mattress (top surface and side ticking) as well as extensive development of the accompanying app user interface and over all brand creative direction.
The ReST Smart Bed was debuted at CES 2015 and is still being sold today.
Collaborators to thank: Ron Bushman, Megan Mack, Nate Wells, Lloyd Sommers
Danze Smart Shelf
2013
InReality
Industrial Design | Creative Direction | In-Situ Research | Experience Design | UI | Manufacturing Oversight
A high-end, but affordable consumer brand was looking to gain placement with a nation-wide retailer. The project was spearheaded by a passionate CEO who was interested in leveraging technology and digital content to create a new way to shop for kitchen and bath fixtures.
After a short research phase and experience design exploration, I developed a modular display design that incorporated RFID technology and a large-format touchscreen to deliver relevant digital content in support of the physical display at retail.
The design aided the store associates by providing a full catalog's worth of product information, available at the touch of a finger, while the shopper benefitted from a playful new interaction that separated this brand from the sea of others in the showroom.
Collaborators to thank: Florian Vollmer, Kevin Greer, Jim Stoklosa, Andrew Zucker, ELF Fabrication, United Metalcraft
Submersible Ring Light
2010
Hobbs Architectural Fountains
Industrial Design | Prototyping | Engineering | Overseas Manufacturing
Illumination needed for fountain spray effects is very unique in nature and many fixtures on the market did not meet our needs. The only products available at the time of development left a gap in performance, size, recognized standards and overall appeal.
I lead the development of a completely new light fixture starting with sketching, form study models, and 3D visual studies for preliminary engineering calculations.
The “Ring” shape was specified from the beginning of the project. Other factors such as the lens options, electrical requirements, mounting methods and finish were determined during this initial phase
Careful consideration was given to how the two housing pieces mated together. The appearance of the light could not be compromised and the fixture had to remain watertight at depths up to 15’.
Custom electronics had to be developed by our overseas manufacturing partners which enabled the light to be completely programmable and offer a full color spectrum of possibilities.
The final piece is cast stainless steel with 18 individual light points arranged in a circular housing that surrounds a spray effect.
Collaborators to thank: William Hobbs, Wayne Pierce, Lee Fain, Lynette Matthews
Laminar Flow Waterfalls
2008
Hobbs Architectural Fountains
Industrial Design | Prototyping | Engineering | Fabrication
A client was building a custom water feature which sat prominently at the entrance of a corporate office for a global leader in motion and control technologies.
The water feature was designed to contain a spray effect that, until that time, did not exist called 'laminar waterfalls'. I was in charge of creating it.
A unique “Pipe in Pipe” design, which I developed, allowed water to be delivered to the entire length of pipe evenly. By using the inner pipe to bring water to the top most sections of the discharge bar, gravity could then be used to our advantage by bringing water to the lower sections.
Several different pipe and filter media types were tested and retested until the best combination was found. Long term testing proved to be the most difficult, yet important part of the development process.
The glass and metal shroud components were made in Canada while the water fall components were made in the United States. The final installation is breathtaking, especially at night. Color changing LED fixtures illuminate the glass and water creating an experience combining visual, sound and interaction unlike any other fountain before it.
Collaborators to thank: William Hobbs, Wayne Pierce, SWON Design (glass and concept)
