Meet Lars Fischer of Redfish Product Development in Downtown

Today we’d like to introduce you to Lars Fischer.

Lars, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I was raised in the small farming community of Standish, Michigan by immigrant parents. My mother is from Denmark and was an RN, (registered nurse), and my father is from Germany and was a surgeon. They met while finishing their training at Harper Hospital in Detroit, Michigan. They moved to Standish shortly before I was born, with my father accepting a position at the new hospital being built in Standish. Unlike most of my friends, my summers were spent traveling in Europe visiting relatives with my two sisters.

Lynn, the oldest, works with IBM in Colorado, where she is a programmer on their Ricoh line of printers. Lori, the youngest, lives in Ohio where she is a Senior Business Systems Analyst with AcuSport. It was through these experiences where I began to develop my interest in design, being exposed to the art, architecture and design in Denmark, Germany, and Italy. I also became aware of the cultural differences which drive my user-centered approach to design to this day.

I earned my BFA in Industrial Design from the University of Michigan in 1987. After working in Michigan, I decided to pursue opportunities in the Boston area following the larger markets for high tech and medical product development. I was fortunate to meet a gentleman named Jack Carroll who ran Carroll Design, a smaller design consultancy that was looking to grow. Jack ironically also had roots in Michigan growing up outside of Detroit, working on the design team at American Motors, and even working on his uncle’s farm which just happened to be in my hometown of Standish.

This began a sixteen-year journey where I learned how to be the designer I am today under his guidance and mentorship that continues even today. Fortuitously Jack also taught at the Massachusetts College of Art and Design, where he was the instructor for their Product Rendering class and an undergrad Design Studio. This began my exposure to teaching, as I was brought into the classroom to give demos to the students or fill in for instructors from time to time.

Fortunately, in 1997, a position opened up with Massachusetts College of Art and Design and I was asked by Richard Keohan, one of the Industrial Design Professors, to apply for the position. I began teaching at Mass Art in September of 1997 with an introductory Animation course using the 3DStudioMax software. I had roughly two months to prepare and master the software as I had never done computer animation to an extent prior to that.

This nevertheless, was my foot in the door which I have now crafted into being a tenured full-time faculty member in the Industrial Design Department. On a personal level, I also married Linda Simon in August of 1997, who was at the time a Math teacher having begun her studies at Michigan State University, completing her Undergrad and Masters at Simmons in Boston. We now have 3 children ages 17, 16, and 13 and live in Bolton, Massachusetts. Linda is now a Realtor with Keller Williams, and also continues to tutor students in math at our home.

In 2006, two years after the retirement of Jack Carroll, I left Carroll Design for Ideology, to help a toy and juvenile product company diversify their portfolio. During this time, I worked on a variety of programs with clients like Fisher-Price, Nerf, Nickelodeon, Dorel, and Hasbro. In order to facilitate my next professional chapter, I enrolled in Suffolk University’s EMBA program, which at the time offered an MBA with an Innovation and Design Management focus. Along with the terminal degree, the experience in the Suffolk program introduced me to eighteen other professionals, forging a friendship over a grueling shared experience.

I continued to teach and work with Ideology throughout the completion of my MBA. In May of 2009, Redfish was born, and I secured a full time teaching status with the college.

By this time I had added a drawing class to the curriculum, replaced their CAD class with Solidworks and was teaching at least one design studio as part of my three class load as a full-time professor. Redfish was born out of challenges I was facing of furthering my design career while following my passion for teaching. Many of the firms I was approaching were satisfied with my portfolio of work and my academic credentials, yet reluctant to share my time with Mass Art.

I also recognized the excess capacity of my fellow colleagues at Mass Art who were also balancing a Studio and an academic life. In 2009, James Read and I launched Redfish, combining James’s sporting goods background with my portfolio of high tech and medical. We worked together into 2012 when James decided to relinquish his share of Redfish to pursue the development of the MDes graduate program at Mass Art. James successfully launched the Grad Program in the autumn of 2016 and I was asked to teach in the program as well.

James and I run a Boot Camp each Fall with the incoming and existing students where we sequester them away in a mansion in Vermont and run an intensive three-day group immersion as the students socialize over evening bonfires and shared cooking experiences. The MDes program attracts a very diverse cohort where we have to date had the pleasure of interacting with students from India, Portugal, China, Iraq and the US. This past Spring we graduated our first cohort of eight students and look forward to hearing their stories as they begin new chapters in their professional lives.

My Redfish journey continued in 2012. Now flying solo, I rebranded the company while maintaining the Redfish name which I really liked, and which was becoming recognized in the industry. I enjoy a very diverse array of clients ranging from the small startup to multibillion-dollar established companies looking for a more personal service experience. I learned with my years with Carroll Design that building relationships were more important than an exorbitant billing rate. Many of my clients followed me over the years and roughly 80% of my Redfish work comes from returning clients.

James and I enjoyed a Core77 Social Impact Design Award in 2014 for our work on the Saajhi Treadle Pump. This was a manual pump used by farmers in India to irrigate their fields. Think of it as a stair master that converts your steps into moving gallons of water from a pond to the field increasing the yield per field for the farmer. This is a design that really matters, and Redfish is proud to participate in this type of work. Similarly, in 2015, Redfish began a collaboration with Mass General Hospital and doctors in Uganda on a Smart Ambu bag that would guide medical staff through the delivery of that all-important first breath of air to newborn babies.

This program is still ongoing with Philips Medical now leading the effort. Redfish was integral to the early development as we helped develop early images of what this device could be, and worked with their engineers on developing functional early prototypes, affording them the ability to secure much-needed grant monies to push this very important product forward. 2012 also marked my achievement of Tenure with Mass Art.

As with many things in life striking a balance is very important. Being involved in multiple markets where products are readily recognized, and other work that challenges us to focus on the greater good. In 2013, I was given the opportunity to collaborate with Patrick Thrailkill, who, at the time, was Design Director with The First Years, a juvenile product company in Canton MA. Patrick had been toying with the idea of starting his own firm and had been approached by Piper Aircraft to redesign their throttle and pilot controls for the M-Series of aircraft. Patrick and I had known each other for years, and this was an opportunity for him to take the leap.

For Redfish, this was an amazing opportunity to broaden our market reach—and let’s face it who would not want to work on airplanes! Patrick formed Blokx Design in 2013, and we are both chief collaborators for each of our companies. We each share business cards for both companies, leveraging our ever-diversifying portfolios to continue to grow and challenge ourselves. As our expertise is Industrial Design, we find ourselves working primarily with internal engineering and marketing groups of our clients.

When a company does not have the internal engineering resource, we bring in Acorn Product Development in Cambridge. The business model for Redfish has always been our ability to assemble a team of talent specifically suited for the project at hand. When additional design talent is needed beyond Patrick and me, I enjoy bringing student interns into the office where I can give them a professional experience that is so valuable. However, our network of other very specific freelance design talent is extensively based on our combined years in the industry.

The field of Industrial Design has changed significantly since I began this journey. I am sure this is why my passion for it has only grown. Though it has always been closely tied to the latest tech advancements, it has also blossomed into very specific areas such as Service, Experience, and Interaction. As industrial designers, we have the ability to translate these new technologies into meaningful human experiences. I am very excited to see how the field will grow and hope to play an important role in that growth until I retire.

Teaching has given me the joy of lighting that spark in a young student that I was given at the University of Michigan by my professors Alfredo Montalvo, and Allen Samuels. I am grateful to see many of my students go on to become successful designers and to call them colleagues and friends. Many still reach out to me as they face professional career decisions or that are looking for an introduction or recommendation to another firm.

The Boston design community is vibrant, fueled by many of our fine academic institutions, and a startup culture that rivals Silicone Valley. Boston is Strong and I have been proud to call it home since 1989. I look forward to watching my children realize their dreams, as over these next few years Linda and I will find our nest resume to just the two of us again.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Moving across the country from Michigan to Massachusetts was a pretty big leap for someone coming from such a small town. Fortunately, my life experiences, traveling in Europe, prepared me for life in a bigger city. Deciding to go back to school and obtain my MBA while in my 40’s working two jobs and raising three kids was exhausting.

So, as you know, we’re impressed with Redfish Product Development – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
Redfish is a full-service product development firm, committed to building loyal clients by developing identifiable opportunities for innovation that resonate with consumer needs. Close examination of user behaviors makes it possible to develop products that directly answer user needs.

By observing and analyzing social patterns, Redfish achieves innovative solutions that tie the user emotionally to the product and appeal to the user on a visceral level.  Redfish achieves this goal by aligning all core constituents around a helical development team model, where design is used as the catalyst, transforming concepts into workable and profitable realities, thus designing high-impact strategic plans.

As a design consultancy, we don’t really have a specialty though I would have to say the majority of my work has been in the laboratory and medical fields. I most enjoy working on projects which I know will have a real impact on society. Thankfully all the work we do and the clients we serve provide us with design challenges that push us to be creative.

I feel what makes us most unique is just the personal level of service we provide to our clients. We are there with them throughout the entire process. We are not just the face of the company, we are in the trenches working on the solutions. This foundation of relationship building will fuel the future growth of my company for years to come.

So, what’s next? Any big plans?
Obviously, I would like to see Redfish grow to have a core design team beyond Patrick and me. Currently, I am consistently busy affording me a nice balance between my teaching life and my design consultancy.

Relinquishing a bit of control by adding in some key players will help me achieve that goal. I love having my studio right downtown as it puts me at the pulse of the city and very convenient for my students who intern with me.

Contact Info:

• Address: 36 Bromfield Street, Suite 300 Boston MA 02108
• Website: www.redfishpd.com
• Phone: cell: 978.729.3187
• Email: lcfischer@redfishpd.com
• Instagram: redfish_pd
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Redfish-Product-Development-105453970238/
• Twitter: redfishpd
• Other: Pinterest: redfishpd LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/redfish/

Image Credit:
Natasha Moustache, Joanne Smith, Jorg Meyer

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