038 - Leon Fitzpatrick

For today’s podcast, we feature Industrial Designer Leon Fitzpatrick, who we call the designer of the future, a globetrotter, and a gifted visionary. Originally from Australia, he made his way to the States to study at the College for Creative Studies (CCS) in Detroit, Michigan, where his father was the Chair of Transportation Design department. Born to the distinguished designer and educator Bryon Fitzpatrick, Leon carved his own path in the years that followed, working for brands such as Motorola, Nike, XBOX, Microsoft, Dell, Ford, Magic + Might, Artemide, and MNML. We discussed technology, the original Microsoft Razor, and how the iPhone disrupted that industry. In 2014, he co-founded AUXILIARY, an independent industrial design school based in Brisbane, Australia. He came to realize a growing gap between education and the needs of industry. AUXILIARY was created to address this skill deficit by developing rigorous design courses that teach the foundations right through to connecting design students with real clients. The end goal was part school, part design consultancy. Thank you @lebenfitz for being amazing and inspiring so many! Thanks for tuning in, be on the lookout for our next podcast! Send us a DM or email at [email protected] to provide us with your thoughts and comments on our dialogue with designers!