Rob Forbes

Exploring the impact that design aesthetic has on society and the interrelated nature of art and commerce are the main subjects of Rob Forbes' keynote speeches.

He has experience both in business and in the arts and is best known for his work with Design Within Reach, where he created a retail venture geared toward making modern furniture designs available not only commercially but publicly as well. After leaving that position in 2007, he created Studio Forbes where he encourages open discussion about emerging patterns in color, pattern and overall visual interest.

It was the combination of his arts and business-based education, attaining a BA in Aesthetics from University of California at Santa Cruz, an MBA from Stanford University and an MFA from Alfred University, that has allowed him to explore commercialized design practices with efficiency.

Rob Forbes' keynote speeches also delve into the work he has done with his most current venture at PUBLIC, where he works on creating bicycle designs that can effectively compete with a car-dependent culture to become seen as an efficient and prominent form of transportation.