victor chu product design
21st century design
product design services
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fashion
technology
fashion technology
consumer intelligence
design
second skin II / vitra design museum
parsons school of design
cooper-hewitt national design museum
conceptual research
cosmetec
solar tree
natural light battery
museum top display
monkey brains will change everything
where are my robots it’s 2010 already
biogenetic
psychokinesis
invention
intelligent authentication
networked products
high heel fitness
music in utero
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copyright 2008-2010 victor chu
resume
Victor Chu design resume / curriculum vitae / CV
Content Technologies, Web Search, Semantic Systems, Software as Service
Inform Technologies Inc.
Product Manager, 2006 to 2008
Responsible for creating and managing all product application designs and technology specifications; working directly with CTO, CEO, technology and taxonomy teams on specification documents critical to development. Interactive and information design, information architecture and development specs for the company’s technology demo. Designed and managed the development and implementation of the company’s quality assurance management system. Design and information architecture, overseeing the development of the company’s marketing web site and client case studies. Inform is the leading related news and content provider for clients such as CNN, The Washington Post, The Economist, Crain’s, Ziff Davis, Sports Illustrated, IDG, VH1, NBC, Condé Nast and Newsweek. Inform’s real time, automated technology structures content data by identifying topics and entities and relating client content to archived or web content. Inform was founded by Joey Einhorn and Neal Goldman of Capital IQ.
Internet Marketing, Financial Products, Data Privacy & Security
Root Markets
Product Manager 2005 to 2006
Interface design, information architecture and technology development manager for Root Vaults, an online consumer data management system. Responsible for management of designers and developers, planning, timely execution, beta testing and product launch. Research and design exploration produces innovative solutions for online consumer data privacy and security. Root Markets was founded by Seth Goldstein and Lew Raneiri, Chairman of Computer Associates and Soloman Brothers.
Industrial Design
IDEO
Consumer Intelligence Consultant, 2005
Comprehensive fashion-technology report and advisement detailing fashion and technology industry insights and trends for 2007/2008. Report is for world’s largest apparel manufacturing group interested in developing new technology infused fashion products. IDEO is the world’s leading product design firm.
Printed Electronics, Smart Cards
Aveso Printed Electronic Displays / Dow Chemicals
Design Consultant, 2004
Technology applications consultant to Dow Chemical’s flexible display group. Design objectives include creating mass market consumer applications for Aveso’s paper-thin, printable display technology. Responsible for creating presentation and web ready concepts of applications, new branding identity and launching Aveso’s corporate website. Technology applications contribute to closing of $5 million first round financing. Military applications win an U.S. Army development grant to produce first prototypes.
Financial Products
AMERICAN EXPRESS
Product Design Consultant, 2002
Design consultant creating new credit card designs and models for an American Express convenience card. With the success of the Blue Card and Discover Card’s keychain convenience cards; AMEX acknowledges that great design increases spending frequency. Concepts include convenience cards attached to a keychain that are able to swipe and dip. Top concepts reached prototype development which results in the American Express Butterfly product.
Wireless Devices, Wireless Content, Wireless Marketing
modo Scout Electromedia
Design Director, 1999 to 2000
Conceptual design direction, product design direction working directly with IDEO’s industrial design, materials, color and engineering teams. Design management, package design, brand design, marketing direction. The design objective and solution was to create a sexy, fashion-technology device that provided nightlife data and advertising to urban hipsters in New York, LA, SF and Chicago. modo was the first wireless lifestyle, entertainment-marketing device. A $24 million Flatiron Ventures / JP Morgan Chase Bank and Idealab! pervasive
computing venture. A cultural and technology precursor to lifestyle devices such as the T-Mobile Hiptop, the RIM Blackberry and hipster marketing.
Fashion & Beauty Media
LEGWORK
Creative Director & Producer, 2005 to 2008
Executive producer responsible for raising capital and overseeing production budgets. Produced and managed Broadway and fitness talent, planning, studio shoot, film crew, editing, original music and artwork. Responsible for DVD and iPod product design and development as well as mass manufacturing and marketing web site. Media communications management working with partners and fashion media in New York and Paris. Responsible for publicity, web marketing, SEO and web media. LEGWORK is the first high heel fitness and instructional workout proven to increase sexiness, confidence and grace in heels and is recommended by Vogue Paris, ELLE, Cosmopolitan and over 100 women's fashion publications, TV shows and blogs from around the world.
Women’s Footwear
Tommy Hilfiger
Fashion Design Consultant, 2002 to 2004
Women’s shoe designer for Tommy Hilfiger’s women’s fashion forward sport and dress shoe lines. Received creative and brand direction from VP of Design along with market and target research data to create approved designs. 96 designs total, approximately 40 styles sold at 350,000 units generating $10.5 million.
Professional Photography
Tenba Mamiya
Product Design & Development Consultant, 1999 to 2003
Tenba professional photography bags designer responsible for market research, concept, bag and accessory designs, specifications and product development for Tenba line of professional digital photography bags. Tenba is a leading manufacturer of protective bags and cases for professional digital photography. For the ProDigital collection, collaboration with NY Times Pulitzer Prize winning photographer Vincent Laforet. Eight collections, 80 designs, generating approximately 75,000 units and $3.4 million.
Fashion Sportswear
Nautica
Designer 1998 to1999
Staff Bag Designer; bag design, graphics, specifications, product development. Translating David Chu’s direction into sport bag designs for Nautica, Competition and NST brands. 24 bags generate $1.9 million in the first season.
Daypacks
Jansport
Fashion Design Consultant, 1998
Bag designs and conceptual direction for advanced line of daypack sport bags for the world’s top daypack manufacturer Jansport.
Athletic Footwear
Reebok
Fashion Design Consultant, 1997
Conceptual design, shoe designs and graphics for Reebok Classic’s 15th Anniversary Collection. The design objective was to create a fun, fashion forward line of women’s sport shoes for the $500 million/year Reebok Classic women’s division consumed by inner city black women. Twelve designs sell 120,000 pairs generating $3.6 million in the first year. Over ten years later, the designs are still selling.
Fashion Sportswear
Tommy Hilfiger
Fashion Designer, 1995
Staff Designer, Men’s Jeanswear; jeans design, tees, accessories, graphics for Tommy Jeans. First men’s jeans designer for Tommy Hilfiger’s jeans wear launch designing under Ginny Hilfiger during their defining moment of growth and popularity.
Luxury Fashion
Polo Ralph Lauren
Designer, 1994
Staff Designer, Home Collection; conceptual design, textile and wallpaper design management, interior styling. Design objective was to translate the Polo Ralph Lauren lifestyle and brand into a total home experience through conceptual direction boards, home product design and formal collection presentations fully styled as actual Polo home settings.
Consumer Intelligence
SPUTNIK
Immersion Researcher, 1995 to 1998
Immersion consumer trend researcher specializing in taste makers/trend setters and emerging trends in fashion, creative culture and innovation for Sputnik’s Fortune 500 clients: CK, Shiseido, Coca Cola, Pepsi, Reebok, Coty, Jansport, IFF, Guess, Timberland, The North Face, etc. Sputnik is a leading consumer trend market research firm in NY and created “cool hunting”. Victor Chu was the original “cool hunter”. Interviewed over 2000 tastemakers and trend setters on video in all major consumer markets: NY, LA, SF, Chicago, Boston, San Diego, Houston, Baltimore.
Design Exhibition
Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum’s Second Skin II
Twilight Cashmere Blanket, 2005 to 2007
Twilight is an illuminating cashmere blanket powered by a flexible solar panel. The illuminating fabric is made from a blend of lycra and fiber optics and illuminated by groups of LEDs. With an integrated low light sensor, the blanket can sense low lighting and illuminate itself. Twilight was created for the Cooper-Hewitt’s Second Skin II exhibition curated by Ellen Lupton and produced by the Vitra Design Museum. The first exhibition was at Entry 2006 in Essen, Germany. This exhibition was an international design and business exhibition celebrating the newly renovated convention center designed by Rem Koolhaas. The exhibition traveled to the Museum of Contemporary Art in Taipei, Taiwan and further to the Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts in Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
Teaching Experience
Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum
Design Panelist, 2003 & 2004
Returning design panelist for the Cooper-Hewitt’s summer design education program for high school students sponsored by Nike. The program teaches students the design process from concept to presentation. Panelists critique presentations and designs and provide design advice and insight to students.
Teaching Experience
Parsons School of Design
Design Instructor, 2001
Teacher at the Center for New Design’s “wearables” cell phone design course instructing students on the process of electronics design- from market research to concept, hardware design, interface design, accessory design and engineering specs. Parsons students worked closely with engineering students at Michigan State University. Was nominated for a Design Fellowship by the Center for New Design. Also, Digital Fashion Illustration instructor at the School of Fashion Design teaching students fashion Photoshop and Illustrator techniques.
Education
The College of Design at North Carolina State University
Bachelor of Arts, Environmental Design in Product Design with a Minor in Textile & Apparel Management, 1994
Focus on fashion and apparel products. Designed, patterned, sewed, styled, produced four full fashion collections with accessories for a total of 2400 pieces; sponsored by Cotton Inc, Cone Mills, Burlington Industries, Sara Lee, Hanes, Champion, Kaiser Roth. Internship at FINIS, for first two seasons of 7th on 6th Fashion Week shows, 1992. Was offered design positions by Calvin Klein and Nike junior year. The School of Design foundation studies are based upon the original Bauhaus school circa 1919 to 1933.
Press & Media
BusinessWeek Online, Financial Times, Wired.com, Metropolis, Vogue, Art Byte, Trace Magazine, Fashion Wire Daily, NY Post, PBS, Dateline NBC, CNN, London Daily News, SOMA, Black Book. Living Brands by Raymond Nadeau, 2006. Contributor, section revealing the mega trend towards a fully digital product and consumer branding experience. Full Frontal PR by Richard Larimer, 2003; cited in book on new PR techniques. Electronic Marketing by John O’Connor, 2003; cited for benefits of RFID technology. Mind Trends and Street Trends by Janine Misdom and Joanne De Luca, 1997. Series of trend research videos and published business book; interviewer and cited in book.