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Yves Béhar

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Yves Béhar
Born1967
Lausanne,  Switzerland
OccupationIndustrial Designer

Yves Béhar is a Turkish German industrial designer and founder of fuseproject, the San Francisco-based design and branding firm he established in 1999.

Early life and education

Béhar was born in Lausanne, Switzerland to a German mother and a Turkish father.[1]

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.[2][3]

Career

Yves Behar is a designer, entrepreneur, and sustainability advocate. 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." [4]

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 Institute.

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

Design Ventures

He is the Chief Creative Officer of the highly acclaimed wearable technology company, Jawbone. 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, 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, 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, Fanhattan, Mission Motors, Ywater, Equal Media and Herman Miller.

In 2009, he collaborated with Ethan Imboden of Jimmyjane on the Pleasure to the People line 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, 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.

Behar designed eyeglasses for the “Ver Bien para Aprender Mejor” program in Mexico to provide eye-care to students. 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.

Sustainability

Behar has collaborated with PUMA on their new logistical packaging infrastructure, the Clever Little Bag – a sustainable replacement for the traditional shoebox and is part of PUMA.Safe's strategy to reduce the entire company's carbon footprint. The Clever Little Bag uses 65% less cardboard than the standard shoebox. Behar also designed a new affordable and sustainable office task chair for Herman Miller, the SAYL chair. Other sustainability-centric projects include the GE WattStation, an electric vehicle charging station, Swarovski AMPLIFY paper lanterns, the Coca-Cola Refresh Recycling bin, and the Mission Motors Mission One Electric Sportsbike.

Recognitions

The OLPC XO laptop

Quotations

  • After winning the INDEX award for the OLPC laptop: "Great design is a way to tell people that you value them."
  • On his parents: "One is functional and modernist and the other, expressive and poetic. I always try to marry the two in my projects."
  • On his San Francisco home: "I think I can think here."
  • On the future of design: "I believe design's purpose is not only to show us the future, but to bring us the future."
  • On advertising: "Advertising is the price you pay for being unoriginal."

See also

References

  1. ^ http://www.hermanmiller.co.uk/our-business/research-and-design/design-biographies/yves-behar/
  2. ^ CCA names Yves Béhar Chair of Industrial Design Program, California College of the Arts, USA.
  3. ^ Yves Béhar, Industrial Design Faculty, California College of the Arts, USA.
  4. ^ All About Yves — Fuseproject — One LapTop per Child — Masters of a Design, Fast Company.

Further reading

  • Yves Behar+Fuseproject Commerce/Concept, Yves Behar. ISBN 978-3764370725.
  • Yves Behar: Fuseproject (Design Focus), Gingko Press. ISBN 7500640889.
  • Yves Behar Fuseproject: Design Series 2 (Sfmoma Design Series, 2), Joseph Rosa and Yves Behar. ISBN 0918471710.

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