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About
I have over 15 years of design experience, focused primarily on Industrial design. After graduating with my degree in architecture from Philadelphia University and working for many renown firms, I returned to school to receive my degree in industrial design from Art Center College of Design.
Since graduating I've worked for Target, Pentagram and New Deal Design before setting out to create Upwell Design. I started Upwell in order to have the flexibility to work with a wide range of clients: startups, well established companies, and other design studios – as well as the freedom to explore projects that interest me. Upwell has since done work with Belkin, Sol Republic, Bernhardt Design, Lunar, Teague and others. -
Education
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Bachelor of Science (BS) Industrial DesignArt Center College of Design2001 - 2004
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Barch ArchitecturePhiladelphia University1994 - 1999
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Experience
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Principal ConsultantUpwell DesignApr 2009 - Present (15 years 8 months)An industrial designer focused on crafting thoughtful products and experiences for his clients.
Upwell was created by Justin Porcano, an industrial designer with over a decade of design and production experience. He’s worked for and with many top design firms and a wide range of clients. Using what he’s learned from working with other firms and listening to clients needs he’s been able to develop a lean, flexible studio model that allows him to work solo on a project – as a design contractor – or assemble a finely skilled team of freelance designers and engineers. -
Senior Industrial DesignerNew Deal Design2007 - Mar 2009 (1 year 3 months)New Deal Design is a design consultancy based in San Francisco, specializing in consumer
electronics for clients such as: Dell, Google, Netgear, Better Place, Fujitsu, etc. I was often given the lead position because of my creative strengths as a designer, and my ability to interact effectively, and professionally. I was responsible for a wide range of tasks that often included: managing a design team, concept ideation, setting and managing internal deadlines and goals, corresponding w/ clients and engineers to set project deadlines, design refinement in 3-D, and presentation preparation. I was exposed to all steps of the design process; client kickoffs to final appearance models, and everything in between. -
Industrial DesignerPentagram Design, Inc.2006 - 2007 (1 year)Pentagram is a multidisciplinary design firm working in a broad array of product fields: consumer electronics, packaging,sporting, house-wares, etc. As a staff designer for Pentagram I as was given a significant amount of design responsibility; working mainly on high profile consumer electronics: cell phones, laptops and monitors. Job responsibilities included: trend research, concept development, design refinement through sketch and 3-D modeling, as well 3-D prototyping, rendering, preparing presentations, and consulting with engineers and managing deadlines.
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Furniture DesignerTarget2005 - 2005Working as a Home Decor designer for Target I worked mainly on furniture, storage systems, and other
house-ware goods. The core responsibility of my position focused on trend forecasting – the ability to
research and identify emerging trends, then defining these new trends, and translating them into
tangible product lines by designing within the established trend guidelines that define each category:
materials, colors, form language and details. I also had the opportunity of working closely with buyers,
while learning the business side of big box retail. -
DesignerAshcraft Design2004 - 2004
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Awards
IDSA Gold - 2009 Better Place: New Deal Design.
IDEA Silver- 2009 Dell Precision: Pentagram.
RED DOT Award 2009 Dell Precision: Pentagram.
RED DOT Award 2009 Dell Latitude: Pentagram.
ICFF 2005 Best New Designer(s) for Bernhardt.
Gold Award Neocon 2005 for Bernhardt. -
Affiliations
IDSA
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Skills
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Elsewhere on the Web
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On Coroflot@justinporcano, member since 2005
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Following 6
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Followers 126
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