James Thomas

Responsible for the design and development of residential light fixtures and ceiling fans for the Progress and Thomasville Lighting brands. I manage my design projects from the initial concept sketch stage all the way through product introduction and travel to Asia about 4 times a year to work directly with our overseas manufacturers during the development process.

My designs are consistently among Progress Lighting’s top selling families in the builder, retail, and showroom markets and my Bingo wall/ceiling fixture was recently featured in the Wall Street Journal’s “Five Products That Caught Our Eye at IBS”.

BicycleDesign.net is the source for news and discussion about industrial design in the bicycle industry. All types of pedal powered machines are covered, from heavy duty cargo bikes to ultra-light racing machines. The site currently has over 25,000 RSS subscribers and receives more than 100,000 page views per month from visitors in over 150 different countries.

The website is a small side project that I started for fun, but I have learned quite a bit from designing, developing, and writing the blog. Web design, SEO, social media marketing, communication skills, and time management are just a few of the skills that I have developed or improved through the process of publishing and maintaining the site.

Designed and developed new ceiling fans for the Hunter and Casablanca brands. I researched the market to identify and define design, color, and finish trends and recommend new design directions. I applied for U.S. patent protection for key designs and currently hold over 35 design patents. I communicated with our factories in Asia to develop new finishes and to source materials for ongoing fan projects. I created computer renderings and physical models for trade shows, photography, and customer presentations.

Responsible for the design and presentation of large scale custom exhibits and corporate environments for a variety of companies including Home Depot, Coca-Cola, Reebok, Bellsouth, and Kohler.

Responsible for the design and development of ceiling fans, residential light fixtures, humidifiers, air purifiers, and thermostats from conceptual sketches to working prototypes. Finalized designs were rendered using Alias software for presentations, catalogs, advertisements, and packaging. Initial 3-D computer models were later used by the engineering department to create final mechanical drawings for tooling.

Responsible for all phases of exhibit design from conceptualization to final development for eight sales people and a nationwide network of dealers. Presentation mediums included photorealistic computer renderings and animations as well as video walk-throughs.