• Rob Nathan
  • +1 604 322 0840

About Rob Nathan

4139Design is me, Rob Nathan. I am an award-winning, freelance industrial designer with a diverse education (Art Center and Middlebury College), wide skill set and varied experience. I have been in the design field since 1997, including studying industrial design at Art Center, and have worked as an in-house and freelance designer and developer in the US and Canada. I have been instrumental in bringing numerous products from concept to retail, with projects ranging from footwear to high tech and trade show booths. Originally from the States, I settled in Vancouver, BC in 2003 and was the Product Director and head of industrial design at SOLE for nine years before launching 4139Design.

I decided to start a freelance design consultancy because I crave diversity and appreciate freedom, both in what I work on and with my time. Smaller businesses may not need a full-time designer, but may need help with technical and aesthetic design, development, finding vendors, navigating Intellectual Property laws, marketing their products, and deciding how to expand their product line. This type of diversity and opportunities to increase, and show, my competence and expertise are what drive me in industrial design. Working with different clients gives me more variety than I would get working as an in-house designer or manager with a particular brand.

When not working on a design project, you can find me spending time with my kids, skiing, reading, mtn. biking, hiking, surfing, traveling, or shooting landscape and wildlife photography.

Rob-Nathan

  • Board of Directors of BC Industrial Design Association (BCID)
  • Board of Directors of Association of Canadian Industrial Designers (ACID), representative of BCID.
  • BSID from Art Center College of Design.
  • BA in English Literature from Middlebury College.
  • Past member of OIA Eco-Working Group.
  • SNEWS BOB Award 2010, Winter Outdoor Retailer Booth
  • Outside Magazine’s favorite footwear of the summer, 2010, SOLE Sport Flips
  • Best footwear award, first ever OTS Novel Innovations Awards, 2010, SOLE Sport Flips
  • “I.D.” Magazine 55th Annual Design Review 2009, Honorable Mention (Consumer Products) SOLE Sport Flips.  “The best flip-flops ever.”
  • “I.D.” Magazine 48th Annual Design Review 2002, Bronze (Student Work) LAB/Assistant
  • “I.D.” Magazine 46th Annual Design Review 2000, Silver (Student Work) RC Ice Boat Frostbite
  • “Print” Magazine, 1999, Volume LII: IV, Burton Trade Shows
  • POPAI Outstanding Merchandising Achievement Award, 1998, Burton POP Display

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