Robert Brunner started out in civil engineering but now heads San Francisco design studio Ammunition, creating products for brands including Apple, Adobe and Beats By Dre. He told Dezeen Jobs how he got there.
His career began in the model shop of a local design firm in Palo Alto. Working closely with a colleague in engineering, he developed design concepts and assisted with the mechanical design side of things.
"It was a great place to learn ? and fail," he told Dezeen.
Several years later, Brunner left to establish his own industrial design company Lunar Design in San Francisco: "It was great timing ? the launch of the golden age of Silicon Valley," he said.
It was during his time at Lunar Design that he began working with Apple, starting on small projects that grew to become major programmes, including the original PowerBook family. He was soon approached by the tech company to become industrial design lead, but initially declined the offer.
"My perception of Apple industrial design at the time was that the creative work was largely done by outside designers, and I wanted to be part of that, not an internal manager," he explained.

Months later, he was again offered the position by Apple, and accepted.
He subsequently founded the Industrial Design Group within the company and spent the next four years creating an in-house design team that would become one of the most renowned corporate design studios in the world.
"Of course my most not...