Gavin Ivester, Director of Design & UX at Cisco, has taken his personal passions for brand, design, and production into a wide range of industries, forging his professional path through courage and curiosity. Beginning his career as a forklift driver at Apple, he parlayed his creative skills into becoming an industrial designer, creating the original PowerBook. Gavin’s next endeavor was entrepreneurial, founding Tonic Industrial Design, which serviced clients such as Nike, Samsung, and Sony. He pivoted into designing footwear for Nike as Global Creative Director, followed by leading the international team at PUMA for footwear design, development, and product management. Gavin’s next professional shift brought him to Gibson Guitar as Chief Creative Officer, before joining Under Armour to helm the turnaround of their footwear division. Following these already impressive endeavors, Gavin co-founded FLO | THINKERY, using his brand and innovation prowess to build and grow businesses. The next stop on his career roadmap led him to the luxury audio brand Bang & Olufsen, based in Copenhagen, Denmark, to update their distinctive brand story and product design portfolio.
Currently, at Cisco, Gavin leads design for collaboration devices. Tim Boerkoel recently met with him for a deep dive into his rich and unconventional career journey, a thoughtful discussion on career philosophies, and many valuable nuggets of wisdom for our readers
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