Running a design/engineering consultancy, developing your own products and giving back to the community by teaching its kids about design are all notable achievements that Michael Prince has accomplished in his long career. In this episode we talk about the challenges of running and operating your own business, steps we can take to be more sustainable in our designs and- most importantly- how the secret to unlocking the best solution for your designs lies in the process.


Overview of Episode Content

00:02:06- The Story Behind Beyond Design
00:06:41- How you tell someone their work sucks?
00:08:53- Are we putting too much emphasis on quality sketch work?
00:16:23- Process and how it has set Beyond Design apart from competitors.
00:20:24- Improving Sustainability
00:25:50- Making an impact through education
00:40:15- The Job Gap- what to do?
00:50:48- "The Variable"



More About Michael Prince
Over the past 30 years, Michael Prince has been deeply involved in the product development industry. After earning a Bachelor’s degree in Industrial and Product Design at Syracuse University, he started his career working in product planning for Sony Corporation then worked as a product designer for Thomson Consumer Electronics before ultimately opening Beyond Design in 1994.

As an avid entrepreneur he’s always had side projects to keep him busy. While running Beyond Design he started Yummy Designs- a brand through which he’s been able to launch his own products like The Ultimate Hanger and the Buzz Brush. 

If that’s not enough for you, Michael also loves to teach students about product development by offering internship programs to students from universities around the world and even created two programs at a Chicago Public School centered on teaching students all about the product development process and what it takes to design and market a product. 

Support the show