Leadership
With more than 70 years of combined tenure at Michael Graves Design, Donald Strum, Rob Van Varick, and Ben Wintner worked closely with Michael Graves, helping define design-led consumer products at scale. All three learned his design approach firsthand, building it alongside him, and have spent the years since carrying that standard forward. At MGD, a product is not defined at the shelf. It is understood over time, in the small, repeated moments of use. That perspective continues to guide the company today, shaping a body of work grounded in Design for Every Body.
Donald Strum
President
With the company since 1984, Donald is the President of Michael Graves Design and focuses on product, furniture, and graphic design, where he has brought to market thousands of products. His first project was the iconic “Whistling Bird Teakettle” for Alessi. In 1997, under Donald’s leadership, Michael Graves Design began a relationship with Target Stores that pioneered Target’s ultra-successful Design for All strategy. In 2005, after witnessing the issues and indignities Michael Graves was experiencing after an illness left him paraplegic, Donald and the product design group made a passionate, life changing commitment to transform healthcare through design, raising people’s expectations within the hospital environment and at home. Donald’s primary mission is harnessing the power of design to tell stories and improve lives.
Rob Van Varick
Chief Design Officer
With the company since 2003, Rob believes that great design is delightful, purposeful, pioneering, and extraordinary. As the Chief Design Officer for Michael Graves Design, Rob leads a multi-disciplinary team of product designers, graphic designers, researchers, and strategists all focused on one goal: enhancing the human experience with great design. His mission is to apply the right blend of research, psychology, creativity and strategy so that root causes are identified, allowing the best solution to be designed. Rob’s capacity to balance his passion to reimagine what’s possible with his professional pragmatism is what leads to Michael Graves Design products that create moments of joy that enhance people’s lives.
Ben Wintner
Chief Executive Officer
With the company since 2002 and in his role as CEO, Ben is responsible for general management, strategy, financial planning, and brand management for Michael Graves Design. He plays a critical role in the strategic planning of the Michael Graves Design consumer brand, as well as the execution of its direct-to-consumer marketing. Ben manages relationships with and is known for developing innovative deal structures with channel partners, including the many national retailers and manufacturers with whom we collaborate. More so than ever before, people understand the power of the product design methodology to identify, define and solve a multitude of challenges that transcend the look, feel and function of an object, and Ben is passionate about utilizing design’s disruptive power to lead business strategy forward.