Jonathan Yoshida Rowell (1984) graduated from Art Center College of Design in 2009 with a bachelor’s degree in product design. After his first job with the design consultancy frog, in San Francisco, he moved to Google, where he spent the next three years developing consumer products, ranging from devices for collaboration, the connected home, to ones with on-device machine intelligence. In 2015 he moved to New York, and is now design director at an innovation lab at Cartier, focused on retail experiences.

Rowell strives for lasting products that seek to elevate life’s quieter moments through beauty and ritual. His work exhibits a nuanced beauty, with a simplicity that belies an underlying complexity. He often finds inspiration in his travels, and delights in uncovering how others solve similar problems in distinct ways. Rowell’s background has earned him a rich understanding of manufacturing and an appreciation for the work required in fully realizing an idea.