Gadget Guru

Industrial designer YvesBharhas beenchalking out the future of design, one innovation at a time.

- Tina Thakrar

Who are we designing for? What is important to them? How can we improve on an existing experience? How can we create something entirely new based on our knowledge of their world?

It’s these fundamental questions that industrial designer and founder of San Francisco-based studio, Fuseproject, Yves Béhar asks himself before diving headfirst into the process of creating some of world’s most interactive, user-friendly, thoughtful products – from the renowned Jambox and Up fitness wristband for Jawbone to the Sayl Chair for Herman Miller; from the Juicero countertop juicer to the August home security smart system.

The answers to these questions give him and his team direction, by way of understanding the nuances of the user, and considering the visual and physical elements of the piece. Every product must address a need, and Béhar’s creations are the epitome of smart, functional design. They’re about taking technology and giving it a purpose and an identity.

Béhar’s product design journey began, surprisingly, outside of product design. At 12, he wanted to be a writer and storyteller. The medium he used to tell his stories turned out to be designing, and by the time he turned 15, he had found his comfort zone in creating furniture, clothes and objects.

Between then and now, not much has changed, but a lot has changed. He still designs furniture, clothes and objects in fashion, lifestyle, sports and technology, but they have more cutting-edge avatars – Aura Power Clothing that helps the elderly with swift body movements, Snoo smart crib that rocks babies to sleep, and the Zolt battery pack that can charge three devices at one time, to name a few.