Yves Behar

Yves Béhar
Born 1967
Lausanne,  Switzerland
Occupation Industrial Designer

Yves Béhar is a designer, entrepreneur,[1] and sustainability advocate. He is the founder of fuseproject, the San Francisco and New York based design and branding firm he established in 1999 [2]. He is also Chief Creative Officer at Jawbone[3], where he as built the brand through products, packaging, user experience, and communication design for the last 8 years.

Contents

Early life and education

Béhar was born in Lausanne, Switzerland to a German mother and a Turkish father.[4]

He studied industrial design in Europe and the United States, and holds a B.S. in Industrial Design from the Art Center College of Design, California.

Currently, he chairs the Industrial Design Department at California College of the Arts.[5][6]

Career

Upon founding fuseproject in 1999, Behar said his goals are threefold. Firstly, he wants to be a futurist, optimistic about the possibilities of new technology. Secondly, he's a humanist, in that his designs seek to put the human experience first. And, finally, he's a committed naturalist, promoting sustainable ways of living and consuming. That fusion, of technology with humanity, of brand and story, of all aspects of design, from product to advertising to online to point of purchase to user experience, is his central message. He states, "We have one foot in the consumer's space and one foot in our client's space, so we can act as the bridge, or the glue."[7]

Béhar’s designs and creative positioning are at work in diverse areas as fashion, lifestyle, sports and technology, for clients such as Herman Miller, PUMA, One Laptop Per Child, Jawbone, MINI, See Better to Learn Better, GE, Swarovski, Samsung, Jimmyjane, and Prada. Béhar is also the co-founder of the Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute[8] .

Fuseproject was the top winner of the IDSA IDEA/Fast Company awards with 14 winning products in 2010[9].

Design Ventures

He is the Chief Creative Officer of the highly acclaimed wearable technology company, Jawbone[10].. He designs the Jawbone brand, packaging, communications and products. He designed the JAMBOX, a completely wireless, bluetooth compact audio speaker and also worked on UP, Jawbone's newest lifestyle and wellness product.

Behar is a partner in PACT Underwear[11], an organic underwear company that gives 10% of their proceeds to the various non-profit organizations it partners with, such as Creative Growth and 826 Valencia. He also partners with Peel[12] , a company that created an app and a hardware ecosystem that turns your mobile device into a universal television remote. Other investment and partner companies include Mint Cleaner[13], Fanhattan, Mission Motors, Ywater, Equal Media and Herman Miller[14].

In 2009, he collaborated with Ethan Imboden of Jimmyjane on the Pleasure to the People line[15] of waterproof rechargeable vibrators, including the FORM 2, FORM 3 and FORM 4.

Civic Works

He is the chief industrial designer of OLPC's XO laptop[16], signing on with the project in 2005 and has been with the team since March 2006. This collaboration has led to two additional laptop prototypes, the OLPC XOXO and OLPC XO-3.

In 2008, Behar redesigned the NYC Condom logo and packaging, as well as NYC Condom vending machines for the New York City Department of Health as a part of an initiative to reduce HIV/AIDS and teen pregnancy[17].

Behar designed eyeglasses for the “Ver Bien para Aprender Mejor” program in Mexico to provide eye-care to students[18]. The program free pairs of custom designed glasses throughout Mexico since 2010. In May 2011, Behar partnered with Tipping Point, a San Francisco based philanthropic organization, who made a pledge to the “See Well to Learn” program, aiming to distribute free pairs of glasses to Bay Area students.

Recognitions

References

  1. ^ Nussbaum, Bruce. "Designers are the New Drivers of American Entrepreneurialism". FastCo.Design. http://www.fastcodesign.com/1665120/designers-are-the-new-drivers-of-american-entrepreneurialism. Retrieved 3 January 2012. 
  2. ^ "Yves Behar". DesignBoom. http://www.designboom.com/eng/interview/behar.html. Retrieved 3 January 2012. 
  3. ^ "Le Web Speaker Series". Le Web. http://leweb.net/2011/yves-b-har. Retrieved 3 January 2012. 
  4. ^ http://www.hermanmiller.co.uk/our-business/research-and-design/design-biographies/yves-behar/
  5. ^ CCA names Yves Béhar Chair of Industrial Design Program, California College of the Arts, USA.
  6. ^ Yves Béhar, Industrial Design Faculty, California College of the Arts, USA.
  7. ^ All About Yves — Fuseproject — One LapTop per Child — Masters of a Design, Fast Company.
  8. ^ "Whose Involved?". Cradle To Cradle. http://c2ccertified.org/index.php/who/founders_circle. Retrieved 4 January 2012. 
  9. ^ "IDSA's IDEA Awards 2010". FastCo.Design. http://www.fastcodesign.com/idearesults?companyname=fuseproject&op=Search. Retrieved 3 January 2012. 
  10. ^ "Le Web Speaker Series". Le Web. http://leweb.net/2011/yves-b-har. Retrieved 3 January 2012. 
  11. ^ "About PACT". PACT. http://www.wearpact.com/about-pact/. Retrieved 4 January 2012. 
  12. ^ "Peel Fruit by Yves Behar". Dezeen. http://www.dezeen.com/2011/03/07/peel-fruit-by-yves-behar/. Retrieved 4 January 2012. 
  13. ^ "Mint Cleaner". Mocoloco. http://mocoloco.com/fresh2/2010/01/13/automatic-floor-cleaner-by-yves-behar.php. Retrieved 4 January 2012. 
  14. ^ "Herman Miller Designers". Herman Miller, Inc.. http://hermanmiller.com/Designers/Behar. Retrieved 4 January 2012. 
  15. ^ Walker, Alissa. "A New Vibrator by Yves Behar Arouses Our Interest". FastCo.Design. http://www.fastcompany.com/blog/alissa-walker/designerati/new-vibrator-yves-behar-arouses-our-interest. Retrieved 4 January 2012. 
  16. ^ http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Yves_Behar "OLPC Wiki". OLPC. http://chief%20industrial%20designer http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Yves_Behar. Retrieved 4 January 2012. 
  17. ^ "Health Department Releases New NYC Condom Wrapper". City of New York. http://www.nyc.gov/html/doh/html/pr2008/pr011-08.shtml. Retrieved 3 January 2012. 
  18. ^ Ashlock, Jesse. "Eyes Have It". New York Times T Magazine. http://www.nyc.gov/html/doh/html/pr2008/pr011-08.shtml. Retrieved 4 January 2012. 
  19. ^ "IDSA's IDEA Awards 2010". FastCo.Design. http://www.fastcodesign.com/idearesults?companyname=fuseproject&op=Search. Retrieved 3 January 2012. 
  20. ^ [Best of Green Design Awards 2010 "Best of Green Awards"]. Treehugger. Best of Green Design Awards 2010. Retrieved 4 January 2012. 
  21. ^ Creativity’s “Creativity 50” "Creativity's "Creative 50"". Creativity. http://creativity-online.com/news/yves-behar/125162 Creativity’s “Creativity 50”. Retrieved 4 January 2012. 
  22. ^ Van Dyk, Deidre. "Top 25 Visionaries". Time Magazine. http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/article/0,28804,1647860_1647834_1644317,00.html. Retrieved 4 January 2012. 
  23. ^ Higgins, Charlotte. "Hand-powered laptop for poorer countries wins award". The Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2008/mar/19/design.art. Retrieved 4 January 2012. 
  24. ^ Joyner, April. "Masters of Design". Fast Company. http://www.fastcompany.com/multimedia/slideshows/content/2007-design-masters.html. Retrieved 2007. 
  25. ^ Designer of the Year "Traveller Innovation and Design Awards". Conde Nast Traveller. http://www.cntraveller.com/magazine/innovation-and-design/2011-ida-winners/designer-of-the-year Designer of the Year. Retrieved 4 January 2012. 
  26. ^ "Traveller Innovation and Design Awards". Conde Nast Traveller. http://www.cntraveller.com/magazine/innovation-and-design/2011-ida-winners/sustainable-pumas-clever-little-bag. Retrieved 4 January 2012. 

Further reading

External links