Hi, I'm Josh Hayes, an industrial designer and product strategist based in Austin, Texas with a design approach that is grounded in empathetic observation, driven by dedicated curiosity, and realized through considered attention to detail.
Currently in my role as Industrial Designer at IN2, I work to develop purposeful design outcomes across products, packaging, brand strategy, furniture, and more– collaborating with partners of various skillsets, scales, and sectors to redefine product experiences while championing meaningful, long-lasting, and sustainable solutions.
I’ve had the opportunity to work in a diverse range of markets, like home water treatment, sports training, commercial beverage dispensing, children’s toys, and footwear. This varied experience has allowed me to adapt my design approach across contexts, cultures, and technologies.
I’m passionate about learning and exploring new skills - like rapid prototyping, 3D printing, pattern-making, soft-goods construction, virtual reality, and 3D animation. I graduated summa cum laude from the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design with a BFA in Industrial Design, and aim to grow in my craft each day.
SKILLS SNAPSHOT
ETHOS
The value of an object lies in what it means to someone. To the designer, we derive our meaning from the process of creation. We try to make our work more emotive, expressive, find the middle ground between sculpture and utility. We are inspired and enamored with the process; developing refined forms and working with considered materials. That process of making is, in itself, why we do what we do.
A smartphone can be perfectly weighted in the hand, engaging to the touch, and impeccably machined, but it’s useless to its owner until it holds text messages from loved ones, a cracked screen from, “That day we were hiking, and I almost dropped it off a cliff trying to take a picture,” or a voicemail from someone you miss more than anything.
A fan is just a fan until it sits in your room, humming incessantly as you fall asleep next to the one you care about most, on an insufferably humid, unbearably hot, sublimely and perfectly unforgettable summer night.
No matter how elegant the aluminum finish or engaging the touch points, the computer itself doesn’t matter; what matters are the photos, the videos, the memories, and the possibilities it stores.
That’s why design matters to me. Not because it can change the world, but because it can mean something, to someone. It means something to me. And that is enough.
SOFTWARES & CAPABILITIES
Solidworks
Keyshot
Hand Sketching
Prototyping
Photoshop
Illustrator
Digital Sketching
Miro
Figma
XD
Blender
After Effects
