#50 | Gavin Ivester | Driving design leadership for world-class brands

Designdrives

In episode 50 I had the absolute pleasure to learn from Gavin Ivester, VP of Design of Bang & Olufsen.

Gavin made experiences working at Apple, Nike, Puma and even gained experience working as a design consultant.

During the episode we talk about to:

how to lead design teams and projects at Apple, B&O, Nike, Puma and others

how design drives brand and brand drives design

why brand transformation starts at the product brief

why you can’t disconnect brand values and product design

how he helped to simplify the user experience by collaboration of UX/UI teams and Industrial Design

Why design requires optimism

About Gavin Ivester:

Gavin Ivester is a hybrid product and brand leader with roots in Silicon Valley industrial design and extensive European lifestyle and tech experience. He specializes in driving profitable, responsible growth through the power of design and brand.

Gavin recently exited the role of VP Design at Bang & Olufsen after wrapping up his efforts on an aggressive product portfolio upgrade. Coupled with new strategy, the company has returned to profitable growth.

As Senior VP/General Manager of PUMA’s global Footwear division, he drove growth of over 400% to €2billion, and led PUMA’s watches and eyewear product lines.

Gavin designed the first-ever PowerBook at Apple, headed Nike’s Global Footwear Design team, served as Gibson Guitar’s Chief Creative Officer, and lead a turnaround of Under Armour’s Footwear division.

As an entrepreneur and consultant, Gavin has advised on brand and growth strategy for Grammy-nominated music artists and companies in healthcare, banking, beverages, digital media, sports fashion.