Todd Bracher on light (and designing Net Positive products).

Material Matters with Grant Gibson

Todd Bracher is a US-based product designer who has worked with brands such as Humanscale, 3M, Herman Miller, Georg Jensen and Issey Miyake through his eponymous studio, winning a slew of awards along the way.

More recently, he created another company, Betterlab, in which he collaborates with scientists and innovators to, in his words, ‘shape emerging research and foundational technologies into game-changing products’. The company has taken a particular interest in the potential of light, for medical and other, perhaps unexpected, uses.

Todd’s latest project is a book. Design in Context, which is out now, illustrates how design – and design-led thinking – has the potential to change and shape every facet of business.

In this episode we talk about: generating value for different clients; the importance of collaboration; why he launched Betterlab; how he’s using light to combat myopia; finding truth in design; how light becomes a material; learning to shape rather than style it; working with UVC and creating extraordinary products for health environments; leaving the US to study in Copenhagen; working in Milan; learning the ‘business of design’ under Tom Dixon; and designing net positive furniture for Humanscale.

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