Ernesto Quinteros

Thursday, March 14th, 7:00 – 9:30pm

PRESENTS:

Belkin Design – People, Product, Brand

In The Duncan Anderson Design Department Gallery at California State University, Long Beach

Ernesto Quinteros will speak to how a “people-inspired” focus plus an integrated design approach to products, graphics and interiors has helped to elevate the Belkin brand, making it more relevant in the competitive world of consumer electronics.

Inspired by a populist’s empathy for consumers, Ernesto is committed to creating people-inspired products that help all of us stay seamlessly connected to the people, activities, and things we love. Ernesto joined Belkin in 2000 to establish the company’s Innovation Design Group (IDG), which is responsible for product design and innovation.

Today, Ernesto is the steward of Belkin’s total brand experience. He directs brand, product, and user experience design across all of Belkin’s “connected home” and “mobile experience” categories. He is responsible for all brand touch-points from corporate culture initiatives and product design to retail and online presence.

Over the past four years he oversaw the design and completion of the new corporate headquarters in Playa Vista, California and orchestrated the launch of the new corporate values and purpose statement. In January of 2012, Belkin launched their new brand identity, in which Ernesto was instrumental. He also oversees the design of Belkin’s trade-show booth at the annual Consumer Electronics Show, the world’s largest CE industry event.

Under Ernesto’s leadership, Belkin has won numerous international design awards, including the prestigious iF Design Awards (Germany and China) and the Industrial Design Excellence Awards (IDEA). In 2012, Belkin won four more IDEA awards, placing them only behind Samsung, Microsoft and GE Healthcare in most awards won by a corporation since 2008. Notable because of the size of the IDG team, which is relatively small compared to the other corporate teams on the list.

Prior to Belkin, Ernesto was Studio Lead at Hauser Inc., Creative Director at Nectar Product Development, and interim Design Director at Stockholm-based Propeller Design. Due to his work at Propeller, the company was cited as “Design Office of the Year” by FORM magazine. Ernesto has won individual domestic and international design awards from IDSA, I.D. magazine, Good Design, iF Hannover and China, and Excellent Swedish Design. A member of the Industrial Designers Society of America (IDSA), he has written several articles on applied design for Innovation magazine. Ernesto has a Bachelor of Science degree from California State University, Long Beach, from their industrial design program. He has served as a part-time faculty member in the Product Design Department at Art Center College of Design (ACCD) in Pasadena, Calif., and received the school’s “Great Teacher” award in 2002. He also serves as a mentor to students of his alma mater.