JUSTIN JAKOBSON
DESIGN
Over nearly twenty years in the industrial design field I’ve helped bring dozens of successful ideas to market including the full range of consumer electronics from Sony televisions to drones; experiential spaces for Levi's, Hilton and Amazon; X-Ray inspection machines and factory power controllers; a 40-foot-tall Times Square Jumbotron and a Tour de France cycling team; mobile audio for Ford; softgoods including bags and protective phone cases; stage design for a major music festival and professional equipment like the world's first 4K digital cinema system.
From initial research and concept ideation through to CAD, rapid prototyping, tooling and packaging, I have deep experience in all stages of the product development process collaborating with teams around the world. I don't do pretty renderings and call the job done. What I do do is solve problems.
EDUCATION
Center for Creative Studies / Industrial Design, Transportation
University of Michigan / Industrial Design, Fine Arts, Sculpture
EXPERIENCE
2021-Present / MTM Watch / Director of Industrial Design
Industrial design of handcrafted tactical watches and made-to-order bespoke timepieces for the MTM and American Watch Co. brands. Leading client and vendor relations, design, materials research, concepts and prototyping.
2019-20 / AGENC / Experiential + Industrial Designer
Helping to shape major events and activations for clients including Fox, Netflix, Amazon, and Goop. Fast-paced, highly varied work across multiple disciplines for some of the biggest brands and talent.
2018-19 / Incite* / Senior Industrial Designer
Part of a talented team of producers, artists and developers working with major agencies and brands. I help create physical spaces and objects for experiences, events and social media activations. Clients include Apple, Amazon, Levi's, Hilton and the musician Daedelus.
2014-17 / Karten Design / Senior Industrial Designer
Senior position at a dynamic and innovative Los Angeles design house, handling consumer and professional products ranging from toy drones to Playstation controllers to X-Ray machines to smart toilets. Sketch concepts and storyboards through to CAD, mechanical prototypes, final production and packaging for companies including Kohler, AEG, Duracell and DirecTV.
2011-14 / Belkin Inc. / Innovation Designer
Handled both soft goods and hard goods projects ranging from mobile protection and accessories to wireless networking and energy management. All the usual skills were needed daily - from foam carving and steel milling to SolidWorks and Keyshot. Experience working with advanced materials, round-the-clock development cycles with multidisciplinary teams on both coasts and some deep dives into very specific processes and problem-solving.
2001-10 / Sony Design Center / Senior Industrial Designer
Led numerous ideas to production in the realm of consumer electronics and beyond; projects as varied as Cinealta - the world's first 4K projection system, Sony's Times Square Jumbotron, devices for the youth and outdoor markets, televisions, home audio, movie props, fashion accessories and soft goods, internet services and hardware, brand identity, and car audio together with Ford and Visteon.
2000-01 / Opticore AB / 3D Application Engineer
A Swedish software company specializing in real-time 3D visualization for the web, design simulations, and commercial applications. Clients include General Electric, Ford, General Motors, Honda, Volvo, Jaguar, Audi, Bertone, and Nokia among many others. Working with manufacturers' design studios, photorealistic models and environments were created that could be modified in real time - even while fully rendered. Created presentations demonstrating these features, as well as aiding in software development and creating marketing material.
SKILLS
Solidworks, Alias, Keyshot, Blender, Rhino, Vectorworks, Photoshop, Illustrator
Prototyping, Researching, Strategizing, Branding, Rendering, Fabricating, Sketching, Dreaming
RECOGNITION
iF Design Award, CES Honoree
9 US Patents