Fall 2023

Bruce Lee Re-Action Design Studio

The Power of Diverse Design Experience: Breaking Boundaries in the World of Design

Zoom | 08.31

Bruce Lee is an accomplished industrial designer known for his innovative and diverse work in design. Born in the Midwest and growing up is south Florida, he pursued his passion for art and design, from studying architecture in high school, to Automotive design at College for Creative Studies, finally receiving a degree from Auburn University with a degree in industrial design in 1994. Throughout his diverse career, Bruce has been able to work with renowned companies such as Bose, Peterbilt, and Peavey Electronics, as well as many other companies through various design studios, both as in house designer and a contractor. His design skills and creativity have contributed to the development of many cutting-edge products and experiences. One of his most recent (and fun) projects was the creation of an interactive tour of the Halo Universe known as Halo Outpost Discovery.

Currently, Bruce is further extending his influence in design through Re-Action Design Studio, which showcases his abilities as a designer and continues to be a platform for groundbreaking projects, ranging from medical equipment design, architectural visualization, experiential design, yacht design and more.

Design Faculty Intro- Ӱ Design Department 

Get to know us

Gallery | 9.07

As part of DADLS we are mixing up things a bit this year. Thursday, Sep 7th (7- 9 pm) We are planning a “Design Faculty Intro” event. This is a response to many students not having been on campus the past few years and many only know the instructors in the department by name or reputation but haven’t heard from them in person. We’d like to use the opportunity for faculty across the entire department to do a short intro about themselves, a few career highlights, and maybe a couple of words about what you value as a designer. This will be more conversational and then we would then open up to Q&A from students, not quite a mixer but slightly less formal. This is intended to start some cross-pollinating discussions about your department and get to know the people who teach you (even if it's a few of them) then grow from there.

Ken Mori - Ken Mori Projects

“Get Wasted” -Upcycling Workshop

Gallery | 09.14

Ken Mori is a Los Angeles-based Designer, Artist and a Cal State University Long Beach ID alumnus. His design work ranges from consumer electronics to community-based interventions, to artistically inclined experiments.

Ken has 30 years of experience developing products from conception to mass production. Over this time, he has been granted dozens of patents and worked on over a hundred products sent to market. Notably, he played a pivotal role at Belkin where he spearheaded the design of several acclaimed products and fostered the growth of a corporate design culture. His work as a DIY urban designer has been included in Spontaneous Interventions, a project which was exhibited at the Venice Architecture Biennale and published in Urban Furniture: A New City Life.

In the realm of art, Ken draws inspiration by street art, skateboarding and upcycling, as they resist the status quo. His impactful sculptures, costumes and installations embody the joy, disgust and absurdity of predominant consumer culture. Together they examine these ideas through the lens of products, pop culture and mass media. Ken has been an Artist-in-Residence at reDiscover’s Cardboard City and 826LA/Time Travel Mart. His works have been published in SkateArt, From Object to the Artwork, and ReadyMade Magazine

Misty Aminloo

Keyshot

“Improving your Product Development Flow in KeyShot”

Gallery | 09.28

Misty Aminloo manages the education department at KeyShot with outreach to students and universities across the globe. As the KeyShot Education Manager and Industrial Designer at Luxion Inc., Misty oversees the development and implementation of educational programs at educational institutions. With a degree in Industrial Design from Cal State Long Beach and 5 years of professional experience creating problem-solving solutions, Misty brings her unique skills to the future designers of the world. Previously, she worked as a Design & Engineering Technician at United Biologics, where she supported the fabrication and testing of realistic anatomical models for medical education and training.

She also has experience in automotive design, having interned at Rezvani Motors, where she contributed to the design and development of high-performance sports cars. She is fluent in French, English, and Farsi, and has skills in product design, 3D modeling, product development, and prototyping, aside from sketching, ideation, and generating creative solutions. Misty is driven by the mission of empowering and inspiring the next generation of designers and engineers with the power and possibilities of 3D design.

Doris Sung

USC School of Architecture TBM-Designs

STILL MOVING

Gallery | 10.05

Doris Sung brings active systems to sustainable design far beyond the simple “greening” of a building. With the belief that buildings can be more sensitive to the changing environment like human skin, she seeks ways to make the building skin dynamic and responsive. Through grant-funded research, she is developing smart materials, such as thermobimetals, to self-ventilate, self-shade, self-structure, self-assemble and self-propel in response to changes in temperatures--all with zero-energy and no controls. More recently, she is rethinking the liminal surface of the façade as a part of a city’s infrastructure and designing innovative building products that will improve public health for pedestrians.

Juggling between research and teaching at the University of Southern California, Doris publishes, lectures and exhibits, internationally while managing to bring her patented inventions to the market. Her TED.com talk has reached 1.3 million views and her list
of awards include a Time Magazine Best Invention Award, a Cooper Hewitt National Design Award, National AIA Small Projects Award, ‘Architect Magazine’ R+D awards, World Technology Award and the [next idea] award from ARS Electronica. She has been named a fellow of Google’s R+D for the Built Environment, the U.S. Artist, the Rockefeller Foundation (Bellagio Center) and the Headlands Center for the Arts.

Fernando Ramirez & Justin Beitzel

Common Object

Thinking beyond sustainability: Can the future of furniture be regenerative?

Gallery | 10.12

Fernando and Justin founded Common Object under a shared vision of how design should be used to shape our world. Deeply considering our communities and the impact design has on them is at the core of the studio’s mission. This focus has led to the launch of an exploratory furniture brand called Okaterra. The duo works directly with Farmers, Sawyers, and Innovative Material Partners to create furniture that leaves the environment and communities better than when they started. Justin and Fernando’s backgrounds are broad, stemming from environmental design, interiors, teaching, industrial design, engineering, and music. They have designed for some of the largest companies in the furniture industry and are proud to help many startups get their products off the ground. The common thread is their passion for bringing an understanding of human-centered and sustainable design into every project they take on. The studio strives for a world where people are thriving, ecosystems are balanced, and beauty is common.

Jaewoo Joo
Designmarketinglab

“Deep Dive Into Customer Experience”
Zoom | 10.19

Jaewoo Joo holds two positions at Kookmin University. He is an Associate Professor in the Department of Marketing, College of Business Administration and a Participating Professor of the Product Service System Design Lab in the Department of Smart Experience Design, Graduate School of Techno Design. Before joining Kookmin University, he received Ph.D. in Marketing from the Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto, and M.B.A and B.A. from Seoul National University.

While pursuing his Ph.D. in Canada, Jaewoo became immersed in two human-centered approaches to overcome the limitation of the conventional marketing approach: design thinking and behavioral economics. Since he brings a human-centered lens at the intersection between design and business, his publication outlets, his courses, and his corporate counterparts are diverse. For example, his design paper inspires products designers with a new way to bundle multiple products and his behavioral paper helps UX writers choose messages to maximize mobile coupon response rate. His design management course introduces design thinking for business students and his design marketing course for design students covers from economics-oriented marketing tools to psychology-oriented consumer behavior. His corporate counterparts develop design thinking workshops or run behavioral economics boot camp collaboratively.

As his approach is interdisciplinary and often brings industry and academia together, his research, teaching, and activities are now creating a virtuous cycle in which real-world problems are addressed by innovative, academically established, solutions.

Ernesto Quinteros

Johnson & Johnson

Challenging Curveballs & Unobvious Choices

Gallery | 11.2

While the path from classroom to C-suite may appear linear, it is often anything but. Award-win-

ning design leader Ernesto Quinteros (EQ) pulls back the curtain to reveal a winding road of

challenges faced and choices made over his 30-year career. Guided by his values and principles,

Ernesto reveals that curiosity, generosity, and a vast range of life and professional experiences

were key contributors to his success. While an individual’s journey is inimitable, Ernesto connects

the dots and surfaces key actions designers can take to make a lasting impact not only on the

teams they will lead but in the field of design.

Ernesto is the former Chief Design Officer for Johnson & Johnson where he led the global

design organization, J&J Design. The 200+ multi-disciplinarian design team was responsible for

the MedTech, Pharmaceuticals and Consumer Health portfolios which included surgical robots,

patient care support programs, as well as digital experiences. Previously, he served as Chief Brand

and Chief Design Officer at Belkin working with brands like Apple, Best Buy, Dell, HP, LEGO, Sam-

sung, Target, and XM/Sirius. His work has received over 50 international design awards including

IDSA, Red Dot, Good Design, CES, and more. The holder of multiple US patents, he has been

featured in several books that discuss breaking into the design industry and design thinking for

organizational change, is a guest lecturer at numerous academic institutions, and serves on the

board of the Design Management Institute (DMI).

Roundtable Event

Barton Payne

Speedo Design Director | Creative Direction, Fashion Design, Brand Development

“Emotion is the Conduit”

Zoom | 12.7

Two decades of being a design nerd. Have had some wins and plenty of losses. He loves the

design process, identifying the solve and serving the consumer.

Barton is a creative leader and innovator who is passionate about designing products that en-

hance the consumer’s performance, comfort, and style. He has a strong vision and direction for

the Speedo brand, where he leads the design team in creating and developing products that res-

onate with consumers and athletes both in and out of the water. Barton is driven by the mission

of empowering people to swim better and enjoy the water.

As the Design Director at Speedo, He has broad creative oversight, design direction, product con-

sumer messaging, and design for the Racing, Men’s, and Boy’s categories. Barton is responsible

for evolving and redefining the team race day suits and apparel based on athlete insights, brand

ethos, and connectivity. He also leads the concept design direction and definition through rapid

apparel prototyping and development. He has leveraged my skills in fashion design, brand devel-

opment, and product messaging to create products that are innovative, functional, and appealing.

Michael Andrews

Andrews Design

PLAYTIME Toys, gizmo and invention

Gallery | 12.14

I’ve been in the toy business since the 1960s when, as a kid, I traveled across New York City delivering dolls made by my mother while enjoying all the toy crazes of the time. After graduating from Pratt Institute in Industrial Design. When my career began red LEDs were a big deal, but I have thrived through the years of 2D and 3D programs, user interface, user experience, gizmo invention, robots, interactive exhibit design, and creative 3D printing (thanks Ӱ!) I worked for Remco, Marx Toys, and various toy inventors before moving on to the big time at Mattel. There were some stops along the way for regular design jobs in museum exhibits, home goods and other design projects. I rounded out my career as adjunct professor of Design Prototyping at Otis College of Art and Design, continuing the tradition of hands-on design. Recently retired and still making design for the Monrovia Historical Museum.