Currently creative director at Seattle-based design consultancy Teague, Tad Toulis, IDSA manages and mentors the studio’s design staff and its processes to ensure design excellence. Before joining Teague, he spent several years as the lead industrial designer at Motorola’s advanced concepts group, two years as design manager at Samsung Telecommunications and seven years as senior industrial designer at Lunar Design. In 1996 and 1997, Toulis conducted independent research as a Fulbright Scholar in Italy. During that time, he was affiliated with the Politecnico in Milan and the American Academy in Rome. Later he founded designRAW, a provocative design co-op that investigated cultural conventions through design. His work has received awards from numerous organizations, including IDSA, ID magazine, CES, Good Design, Red Dot and iF. He’s also a featured columnist for Core77 and often contributes to magazines, including Fast Company and Seed. In 2011, he was the chair of IDSA’s 2011 International Conference and was appointed to the advisory board of SVA’s master’s in fine arts program in products of design. Toulis has a master’s degree in industrial design from the Pratt Institute and a bachelor’s degree in English literature and studio art from Wesleyan University.
