Founder & Creative Director, Box Clever
Bret Recor is an industrial designer, entrepreneur, and investor. Founder and director of San Francisco based design studio Box Clever, Bret is a veteran in the industry, having worked with brands like Knoll, Herman Miller, Away, Nebia, and more, and is an expert in creating physical experiences that delight consumers and help companies lead market categories. Under Bret’s leadership, Box Clever was recently included in Fast Company’s Most Innovative Design Companies of 2021, because of his vision of changing the way design consultancies work. In 2022, he is launching a fund that will work with startups in a different way, merging funding and design to fuel innovation and create bespoke solutions for partners.
The San Francisco-based design practice operates at the intersection of industrial design, brand strategy, and investment. Bret’s expertise lies in balancing creative vision with real-world experience and engineering prowess. He understands the nuances of taking an idea from concept to market and has a proven track record with DTC and purpose-driven brands. The studio is responsible for designing best-selling products includingAway luggage, Caraway cookware, and July air conditioners, amongst many others.
Bret has taught and lectured widely at universities, including the Pratt Institute in New York and California College of the Arts. He has served on numerous international juries, including D&AD, Clio, Core77 and Spark. Bret’s work has earned several global awards including IDEA, INDEX, Spark, iF, Clio, D&AD, FX, and Red Dot, and is part of the permanent collections of the Museum of Modern Art (New York), SFMOMA, Art Institute of Chicago, and the Centre Pompidou.
