introduction

I am Brad Moreman: industrial designer, family man, church member, hobby craftsman, and lifelong learner. I live and work in Brandon, Mississippi with my wife (Gina) and our three children (Addie, Lucy, and Jacob).

I graduated from Auburn University in 2000 with a degree in Business Management and in 2005 with a Master of Industrial Design. I worked for Viking Range Corporation for four years as a kitchen and outdoor appliance designer. Following that, I worked as a survey data analyst and mapping designer with Johnson-McAdams Surveying and Mapping. For the past nine years, I have been an integral part of the research, design, and marketing team at Barbour International, Inc. (home of Bayou Classic®). Since leaving Auburn academia, I have sought to glean the wisdom of other designers, marketing professionals, engineers, manufacturers, and anyone else who would share how they worked to bring a product to market. In addition, I analyze and learn from my own experiences, interactions, failures, and successes to continue to grow personally and professionally. Building on the foundations of both my formal education and professional knowledge, I utilize strategic management and design methodology as a professional industrial designer and project manager. When possible, I willingly and openly share what I have with others.

One of my proudest accomplishments was sitting down in 2013 with Rodney Barbour, the founder of Barbour International, and walking him through how an Industrial Designer could benefit his family business. From those first conversations, he allowed me to help grow a design department for the company. Over the past nine years, we have designed well over 150 new products (developing entirely new product lines in the process), added partnerships with factories around the world, entered new market categories, met new online demands that have grown 100-fold, and continue to build a foundation for growth into the next generation while remaining a market leader.

My career as a designer is not simply a job, a business, consulting, or art. I believe it is a true calling in my life. I enthusiastically draw inspiration from the lifestyles of my target market, seek to identify user needs, and enjoy bringing ideas into reality. I am energized by helping people, understanding systems, and cultivating products that improve our lives and communities. But I do not merely want to be a designer for my own advancement. I also want to teach and promote the next generation of industrial designers. My goal is to instill a passion in others and to provide them with the tools to accomplish the tasks that lay ahead. From my days as an undergraduate in business school, I have always valued an education which integrated the laboratory of the classroom with industry experience. This is the method I have used to gain knowledge and experience for myself, and I desire to encourage others in the same way.

Philosophy of design

Industrial Design is the development of mass-produced products and repeatable experiences. The method of creating these products and experiences requires a diverse range of specialties. These specialties include (but are not limited to) market research, design, prototyping, testing, manufacturing methods, engineering, quality assurance, and sales. While an industrial designer focuses most of their efforts on the design and prototyping elements, the designer must also be able to interact with, and even manage, the rest of a product’s research and development.

Beyond a complete understanding of the development and manufacturing process, the designer is required to clearly communicate a new concept to those who will make decisions about moving forward with a project. Communication is the reason designers learn such skills as sketching, modeling, and computer aided design programs. It is the responsibility of the designer clearly communicate functionality, product features, manufacturing methods, advertising, and any other details necessary to educate financial decisions, production processes and timelines, and even consumer purchasing power.

The designer should be aware of how their designs will affect end users and those around them. It is the designer’s responsibility to manage the quality of construction and functionality of their designs. Ultimately, they must consider the cost to the user, the company, and the world alike. This holistic approach to the entire development process, user experience, and product lifecycle is how I approach the role of an industrial designer. My goal as an industrial design professional is to bring ideas into reality using and understanding every aspect of the development process available.