Michael Prince

Michael Prince, IDSA | Beyond Design Inc.

Midwest District Vice President: 2012-2013

I have been involved in IDSA since 1982. In this time, I have met people from around the world who are as passionate about product development as I am, however, most have not been members of IDSA nor do they see the value in joining. I believe now is the time for me to step up and provide the leadership and support needed to increase IDSA membership by positioning IDSA as a reputable organization that provides knowledge, support and fresh ideas to members.

I would like to use this leadership role as a means to reach out to students in grades K-12 and introduce young minds to New Product Development (NPD). I believe it is important to introduce them to the field so they can better understand the opportunities that await them after high school. My goal is to get schools involved with design education in these younger grades by developing programs and events that not only introduce students to the field, but also teachers and faculty who may not know what product development entails.

In addition, I believe there is the need to connect more designers and business professionals through networking events with educational speakers relevant to both industries. The Midwest has great schools and businesses and if we can set up events that enable these entities to work together, it will be a great thing for the community and IDSA.

I care about the prosperity of IDSA. As Midwest District VP, I want to help drive the organization’s growth by providing more value to being a member on both the student and professional level. I will work with fellow designers, both young and seasoned, to ensure the success of IDSA in both the short and long term and expand the design community.

Michael Prince is founder and president of Beyond Design Inc., a strategic design consultancy located in Chicago, IL. He has spent over 25 years using his product development and marketing expertise to create viable and memorable solutions for a global audience.

Prince grew up in New York and attended Syracuse University, earning a bachelor’s in industrial design (BID). His career took him from product designer at a start-up design firm in Hartford, CT to product planner at Sony Corp., to a design manager at Thomson Consumer Electronics and eventually back to product design as the owner of his own multi-disciplinary design consultancy, Beyond Design Inc.

In addition, as an entrepreneur, Prince launched an award-winning line of consumer storage and organization products and established the brand “Ultimate Hanger®”, in which he sold to Contico International in 1998. Currently, he is expanding his entrepreneur ventures with the development of the BuzzBrush®, a two-in-one computer keyboard cleaning accessory and LCD screen cleaner, and its future sister products.

Prince has a particular expertise in design for manufacturing (DFM) and has carried that through to Beyond Design—making it one of their core competencies for the past 17 years. His firm’s design awards include IDEA®, red dot, Good Design, the appliance DESIGN EID Award, Spark Design, Pentaward, International Design Award, CES Innovation and I.D. magazine.

Prince joined IDSA while in school and has continued to participate throughout his professional career. IDSA provides an outlet to stay current with the latest trends and technologies in industrial design, and to be a part of the “bigger picture." He devotes much of his time to mentoring design students from around the world. Prince believes that by providing young designers with the opportunity to learn in a professional environment they will greatly improve their skills and be better prepared to meet the expectations they will encounter upon graduation.

To learn more about Michael Prince and his company, visit Beyond Design.