Robert Brunner

Robert Brunner's career as an industrial designer is iconic in the high technology arena. The son of a pioneer of IBM disk drives, the San Jose native pursued a lifelong fascination for high tech products as a designer after graduating in industrial design from San Jose University in 1981. His work has spawned numerous brand-defining designs during the past two decades.

He founded Lunar Design in 1984 after working as a designer and project manager at several Silicon Valley companies. He subsequently went on to become director of industrial design at Apple Computer in 1989, where he provided design and direction for notable product lines such as the Apple II, Macintosh, the original Macintosh PowerBook and Newton.

In 1996, he became partner in the San Francisco office of Pentagram, one of the world's most influential design firms, leading a team of industrial designers, interaction designers, CAD specialists and model makers. He worked with Fortune 500 companies, including Dell, Nike and Hewlett Packard on strategic brand consulting and industrial design programs.

In 2006, alongside his tenure as a Pentagram partner, Brunner launched Fuego, a new concept in outdoor grilling, in partnership with Alex Siow, founder of Zephyr Ventilation. As Fuego's chief industrial designer, Brunner is re-defining the rituals of outdoor cooking with the company’s inaugural product, a revolutionary barbecue grill, which elevates this age-old activity to a social event by embracing high levels of industrial design and breakthrough technology.

Brunner left Pentagram in 2007 to found Ammunition, a product, identity and interaction design company. He leads his company as CEO, focusing on communicating strategic innovation through product design, and its brand and surrounding experience. He continues to lead Ammunition and Fuego concurrently.

Brunner's work has been widely published in North America, Europe, Asia and Australia. His product designs have won 13 prestigious IDSA Awards from the Industrial Designers Society of America and Business Week, including 7 best of category awards, as well as numerous other prestigious industry awards throughout his career. Robert Brunner's work is also included in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York and the Museum of Modern Art San Francisco Permanent Design Collection.

Robert Brunner is co-author of Do you matter? How great design will make people love your company (FT Press, September 2008).