Jozeph Forakis

Jozeph Forakis was born in New York City. He received his BFA in Industrial Design from the Rhode Island School of Design and a Master’s of Industrial Design from the Domus Academy in Milan. His work as a designer is recognized for its innovative use of materials and manufacturing techniques, and its ongoing research into ‘behavioral’ influences of digital technologies in products and everyday objects.

His strategic design consulting studio jozeph forakis … design, based in Milan, works across a variety of sectors with international clients including Arper, Epson, Foscarini, Fujitsu, Kikkerland, LG Electronics, Magis, Swarovski, Swatch, Tecno, and Yamaha Motors.

From 1999-2002, Jozeph was the European Design Director for Motorola and led the team responsible for the design of the Motorola V70 mobile phone. From 1993-1997 he consulted with the Domus Academy Research Center (DARC) in Milan as Coordinator of the “SmarTools Lab” where he designed the award winning Logitech Cordless Mouseman Pro — the first “vertical” mouse concept.

His designs have won many awards and have been featured in numerous publications, including the recent books “Design Now” (Taschen), “SPOON” (Phaidon) and “International Design Yearbooks” (Laurence King), and have been displayed in many galleries and museums around the world.

Jozeph was the subject of the first solo exhibition ever organized by ADI (Italian Design Association), presented first in Rome (IKONOS gallery) and then New York (Felissimo Design House).

The landmark HAVANA lamp helped establish Foscarini as a preeminent global producer of contemporary lighting, and is in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), in New York.