Kevin Short

Product Design and Development Consultants - President/Owner Leveraged experience in the fitness industry to gain new clients and become a valued partner in their product development process. Grew the company by managing a group of freelance designers and engineers and applying their skill sets as needed on various programs. *Instrumental in helping clients create new products that grew market share and redefined the company's brand image. *Provided solutions that were well suited for clients supply chains and manufacturing strengths. *Introduced new materials and process to clients to differentiate products. *Partnered with Asian manufacturer to provide design services for new and existing clients. *Worked as main point of contact for client and the factories building products and components. *Analyzed trends in styling, materials and finishes and applied to new product lines. *Developed conceptual use models in medical industry used for consumer research testing. *Performed reverse engineering on existing product lines and created proper engineering documentation. *Developed part strategies and assembly methods to meet the client's requirement. *Streamlined service and user manual production by leveraging software and outside vendors. *Worked with entrepreneurs, advising on business strategy and product line positioning. *Managed creation of appearance prototypes and created 3D printed proof of concept mockups. Life Fitness A commercial fitness equipment manufacturer.

on multi-disciplinary product development teams responsible for the next generation of fitness equipment for commercial and residential markets. Direct responsibilities included brainstorming product concept generation/development/refinement establishing project timelines user research trend research and executive presentations. * Created the Elevation Series of advanced treadmills for a global market resulting in $15 million of additional sales for the company. * Refocused the company's brand identity by creating the new design language for its products. * Maintained design integrity and reinforced the brand of new products by discovering and introducing new manufacturing processes into the company. * Delivered new product innovations to market by collaborating with outside design services and component suppliers. * Created patented designs for machine controls and heart rate monitoring by observing and analyzing user interactions with equipment. Developed and implemented product design strategies and plans for new product areas. * Ambassador for good design within the engineering function by helping build design a core competency within the company. A product design and merchandising firm. Elmhurst, IL

A full service product development firm. Chicago, IL

A full service product design and development firm. Wheaton, IL

A subsidiary of Created a wide range of plumbing products for the consumer and professional plumbing markets. * Reinforced brand presence at retail by unifying design languages for several lines of product for the company. * Created a patented installation process for faucets by establishing observational research and evaluation in plumbing products installation.