Our Division of Design has alums in companies all around Seattle and beyond, but Human Incorporated may be an unusual case. The entire industrial design team at this company has roots in the School of Art + Art History + Design:
Adam Jossem (BFA Design 2001), Principal Industrial Designer
Stephen Minarsch (MFA Design 2011), Principal Industrial Designer
Dae Kwon (BDes 2013), Industrial Designer
Alyssum Quaglia (BA/BDes 2014), Industrial + CMF Designer
Lea Martin (BDes 2016), Junior Industrial Designer
Human was founded in 2015 by Ben Willis and Joe Dieter. The company’s first product is Sound, a pair of cordless headphones shaped to fit over the human ear, which will ultimately have many capabilities beyond standard headphones. Human launched an Indiegogo campaign for pre-orders on September 20, and it was featured in Wired and GeekWire. Although the campaign successfully ended in late October, the Indiegogo project page is still the most extensive source of information about Sound. Production will begin in 2017.
Kwon and Quaglia both started with Human in October 2015. They were involved with some of the early proof of concept work for Sound. Jossem and Minarsch arrived in March and April 2016 to provide leadership for the industrial design team. Martin, the most recent addition, did an internship at Human after graduation and was then hired in September.