Aim of these interviews is to inform about CMF designers, a professional whom works closely with fashion and technology, industrialization and marketing.
Since 1996 the passion and unique perspective of Shawn Campbell, have helped him to create breakthrough designs of transportation and consumer products for leading companies. Some of them includes: EVS Sports, Foot Locker / Eastbay, General Motors / Chevrolet, Harman Kardon, Hewlett Packard, Jennair, Kawasaki, KitchenAid, Mattel, Maytag, Whirlpool and Volvo.
- CMF_designer_Shawn_Campbell_KAW motorcycles
Interview to Shawn Campbell
Who is Shawn Campbell?
What is for you a designer CMF?
What did you study to undertake this profession?
- Shawn_Campbell_LIFT Pro Gloves
How would you describe your work?
Being “Colour and Material” designer involves a great responsibility within a company. But it is still unclear how this figure occurs during the design of a product. Tell us how you get involved?
A designer CMF must be up to date on trends. How do you collect information to inspire the design for new product?
Like a lot of studios, we have memberships to a few of those expensive “trend” subscription websites. To be honest, I prefer not to use them. They never seem to cover what I need or want to investigate. For me, the best way to stay ahead of trends is to observe what is going on… I believe that great Designers are curious by nature. they want to be part of the next big trend versus sitting in front of a computer screen. Inspiration is the outcome when I can see, hear and feel what is going on in a target market.
Tell us about a project you are particularly proud?
Since I am an avid motorcycle and car lover, I am most proud of the work I have been doing in the automobile industry over the last few years. Working at General Motors Design Center inside the Color & Trim Studio has been a fantastic blend of my personal passions and professional interests. Although the GM projects I have been involved with are still confidential at this point, I can say that I’m proud to have made significant contributions to a very progressive passenger vehicle that will be cruising the countryside in a few short years. Outside of my automobile work, I am proud of the CMF work I did at KitchenAid on their iconic Stand Mixer. During my time working on these trend based finishes, I created many appealing colors. I am the most proud of “Canopy Green” which resulted from my original idea of creating colors for the various global marketing regions. Not only is Canopy Green a sales leader in its home region of Brazil, it was also cited by the Pantone Institute as inspiration for Emerald, their 2013 Color of the Year!
- Mood board: KA Mixer Canopy-Green
- Shawn_Campbell: Electric-Blue
- Shawn_Campbell: KA Mixer Raspberry Ice
What difficulties can meet a designer working CMF? Do you remember a particular experience?
What suggestions would you give to those who would like to pursue your career?
- Design foundation (Knowledge and skills).
- Communication and negotiating skills.
- Naturl curiosity about what causes people to make decisions/purchases.
- Ability to soak up new trends and inspiration using unlikely and non-existant resources.
- A sense of humor!
- SHOGUN-Package
- EVS_TAKT-Helmet
- Door-Panel-Case-Study
What an amazing guy! Great article.