About

Our Mission

Design shapes our world. Design Museum Boston envisions creative, engaging public art and design education for Boston and New England.

Our mission is three-fold:

• To educate the public on the role of design in their lives and the contributions of design within the creative economy.
• To unite the Massachusetts design community around our common purposes of educating the public and building the design economic cluster.
• To demonstrate the transformative power of design through its practical application to real world problems.

What We Do

We showcase exciting design work, and its impact, in a way that’s different from a traditional museum. Through a decentralized network of physical and virtual exhibits, Design Museum Boston brings programming to galleries, retail environments, public spaces and the web. In these spaces, audiences can be exposed to the design process from a social, economic, and environmental point of view.

Why

The creative economy in Massachusetts is strong in large part due to it’s thriving design industry. There are 48,000 designers working throughout Massachusetts in the fields of: advertising, architecture, entertainment, fashion, landscape architecture, urban planning, video game design, web design, graphic design, industrial design, interaction design and interior design. Their work increases the beauty and utility of our built environment and significantly contributes to the public well-being and economy of our state.

Who We Are

DIRECTORS

Sam Aquillano. Co-Founder, Director.

Sam Aquillano lives design. By day he's an award winning industrial designer at Bose Corporation; designing unique audio product experiences that enrich everyday moments. By night Sam is an adjunct lecturer at Wentworth Institute of Technology; bringing his product design experience to the next generation of designers. In between he's chairs the advisory council for the Industrial Designers Society of America Boston Chapter; and in his free time he travels the world and runs marathons (sometimes in that order).

Derek Cascio. Co-Founder, Director.

Derek Cascio is a coffee fueled dynamo with a passion for helping. His love for design is rivaled only by his love to talk, which is closely followed by his love of salad. A graduate of the Massachusetts College of Art and Design, Derek has been played an active role in the Boston design community as an officer in the Boston chapter of the Industrial Designers Society of America, an adjunct faculty member at the Wentworth Institute of Technology, and as a practicing product designer at Philips Color Kinetics, a world leader in LED lighting systems.

THE TEAM

Steve Aquillano. Interactive Team Leader.

Steve Aquillano was born to participate in the collaborative ecology that is Design Museum Boston. He is addicted to technology with a curiousity of how things work, but he is not interested in technology for technology's sake. He sees the creativity in the code and strives turn people's dreams into reality. He is committed to the application over the appliance - and pushes people to look at how their programs and designs will be used by real people in real situations. Steve is currently a graduate student in NYU's prestigious Interactive Telecommunications Program.

Brandon Bird. Exhibit Team Leader.

Brandon Bird is an interior designer with over 11 years of professional design experience that includes architecture, urban planning, and graphic design. He is principal of Brandon Bird Design, a firm that specializes in educational and interpretive exhibitions for libraries, museums, schools and non-profits. He also serves on the Board of AIGA Boston as the Director of Partnerships. Bird grew up as a buckeye and is proud of his Ohio roots.

Jenna Casey. Graphic Designer.

Jenna Casey is a freelance graphic designer in the Boston area and a graduate of the Massachusetts College of Art and Design. She is also the Administrator for the Boston Chapter of the Graphic Artists Guild. In her free time, she likes to go on walks, drink lots of coffee, and dance to 90's music.

Charles Crawford. Interaction Designer.

Charles Crawford is an award-winning interaction designer specializing in graphical and tangible user interface design for web, mobile and embedded interfaces. Charles is a graduate from Massachusetts College of Art and Design where he helped develop an iPhone app for the college's department of Industrial Design. He always loves a good design challenge as was seen in his appearance at the 3D finals of the 2009 Cut&Paste Boston digital design tournament.

Anna Engström. Project Manager, Designing A Difference.

Originally from Sweden, Anna came to Boston in search of her design career. Her education at Wentworth Institute of Technology complemented with work experiences from both Volvo and Converse provided her with a broad foundation that allowed her to quickly advance in her role as a lead Industrial Designer at ELEVEN. With more than 6 years of professional design experience, Anna brings creative thinking, design process knowledge and a unique perspective to the Design Museum Boston team.

Mary Fichtner. Fundraising Coordinator.

Mary is the Executive Director of Boston By Foot, Inc. In addition to three years in nonprofit management and fundraising, Mary has six years of experience managing and directing art galleries, including Hurst Gallery in Cambridge, MA. In 2001, Mary opened and managed a gallery in Gettysburg, PA, dedicated to promoting the work of local artists. Mary holds a BA in English Literature from Gettysburg College and a MA in Art History from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and taught Art History at the latter in 2005. Additionally, she serves as Chairman of the Board for Gallery 263, a nonprofit multipurpose art space in Cambridgeport, MA.

Flavia Gnecco. Correspondent.

Flavia Gnecco sees the potential for design to change the way we live our lives and how we see the world.  Her BFA in Photography from Tisch School of the Arts at NYU honed her keen observation skills.  She earned her Masters in Industrial Design from RISD and received the Industrial Design Award for the creation of The RISD Materials Library, a research center for materials exploration to encourage interdisciplinary dialogue. Her thesis focused on the modern nomadic lifestyle from a social and emotional perspective. She enjoys learning new things, unraveling knots, and anything that involves being outdoors.

Sidney Hoang. Graphic Designer.

Sidney Hoang is graphic designer currently located in Methuen, MA. Fascinated by the world of design in its whole entirety, Sidney seeks to find her own creative identity in the Boston design community and plans to make big things happen. However, if she could just reach one individual while being a part of the DMB team and educate them on the role of design within our creative economy, that would be great too. Other than that, Sidney loves gazing at the stars, riding her bike and going on road trips.

Gena Peditto. Community Organizer.

Gena Peditto builds communities. Trained as an urban planner and fascinated by all public spaces - digital and physical - she consults locally, nationally, and internationally to nonprofits and institutions, helping them build and empower their constituents by using low-cost emerging technologies. She earned a Master in City Planning degree from MIT in 2007, specializing in Cultural Policy. Her first job out of college was at the National Gallery of Art as an apprentice conservator, but these days she is more interested in the social responsibility of museums and the impact of artists and designers on the economy.

Craig Rubino. Promotional Developer.

Craig has a background in Graffiti and a BFA from RIT in Rochester, NY. During the day he works for Champ Spikes (www.champspikes.com) designing replacement cleats and systems for all major sports that require such; (Football, Golf, Track, Baseball, Lacrosse). Craig is the only industrial designer at the company, working closely with staffs in USA, Hong Kong and Thailand. He has worked hand in hand with most major footwear companies including but not limited too; Nike, Footjoy, Hi-tech, Asics, Puma, Adidas, Reebok etc... He has also been an active participant in the Boston Design community through IDSA as well as taking the time to visit local area schools for career presentations.

Thomas Svenson. Creative Media Producer.

Thomas Svenson is a filmmaker driven to create new and memorable features. He graduated from University of Massachusetts in graphic design specializing in multimedia, and gained certification in digital art and animation at The School of Communication Arts North Carolina. Thomas is the founder of 3DImagination Pictures, a media production company that has worked with clients such as the American Airlines, Mayors Office - City of Boston, WSI, and many more. He is currently working with Design Museum Boston, helping them to create dynamic visual content.

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Dan Borelli. Board Member.

Michael DiTullo. Board Member.

Michael DiTullo is a designer and passionate advocate for design. In addition to his work for Nike Inc, he is a contributor for the well-known design resource, Core77. He lectures at corporations, universities, and conferences on the effect, value, and how to's of design. Michael started his career at Evo Design where he worked on projects for a wide array of clients. DiTullo holds a BFA in Industrial Design from the Rhode Island School of Design and also studied at the Cleveland Institute of Art. His work has garnered international awards and has been featured in many media outlets.

Sarah Morris. Board Member.

Jordan Nollman. Board Member.

Jordan is a Boston born, award-winning designer who is inspired by the entrepreneurial spirit of design. He is Chief Creative Officer at Clio Design Inc. and the President Sprout Studios, a multidisciplinary design firm he founded in 2001. Over his twelve year career he has designed products and experiences for many of the worlds top brands & design firms including: Altitude, Astro Studios, Eleven, IDEO, Manta, Razorfish, and Ziba. Throughout his career Jordan has been an active member in the Boston and San Francisco design communities serving as chair of IDSA Boston.

Robert Reimann. Board Member.

Robert Reimann has spent the past 20 years pushing the boundaries of digital products as a designer, writer, and consultant. He has led dozens of web, desktop, and device-based interaction design projects for startups and Fortune 500 companies alike. Robert was a founding board member of the Interaction Design Association (IxDA), and became its first President in 2006. Robert has also held advisory board positions for AIGA Experience Design, the Information Architecture Institute, and UC Berkeley's Institute of Design (BiD). He is co-author, with Alan Cooper, of two bestselling editions of About Face: The Essentials of Interaction Design. Robert's current role is Lead Interaction Designer at Sonos, Inc. in Cambridge, MA; past positions include Associate Creative Director at frog design, Manager of User Experience at Bose Corporation, and Director of Design R&D at Cooper. He has lectured on Interaction Design methods and principles at major universities and to international industry audiences.