Case studies

Work

Six projects across consumer electronics, AIoT, accessories, architecture and a self-initiated brand. Each one starts with the same question: what is the real problem behind the brief?

TCL Design Innovation Center · via Build Republic · 2025–present

Three mandates. One escalating trust.

Engaged as an industrial design expert consultant, then appointed Acting Director of Industrial Design to keep delivery moving ahead of a permanent hire, and after IFA, Acting Director of X-Lab, the Design Center's innovation department.

TCL booth at IFA 2025 showing the future-home white goods range

Furniture-like air conditioner in a living room

Art-home washing machine with fluted front

Furniture-like mini bar fridge in a bedroom

3Months to deliver the IFA 2025 range

5Designers led

6Products: ACs, TV, fridge, purifier, washer

0Days of delay on the CES 2026 redesign

In-car AI companion robot on a vehicle dashboard beside dual displays

CES 2026: in-car AI companion

Problem

The initial design was too close to a competitor's, a commercial liability for a B2B white-label platform.

Approach

Moved the debate from opinion to competitive evidence, then maximised differentiation inside the existing engineering timeline.

Outcome

Full redesign delivered within the original window and launched at CES 2026 as a globally viable platform for OEM partners.

Before

Engineering feasibility unit

“How do we build this?”

Passive order-taking

After

Strategic foresight & category incubation

“What should we build next?”

Active innovation & new-track creation

X-Lab: from prototyping service to foresight unit

As Acting Director I authored X-Lab's repositioning, with a new mission and roadmap, and presented market-led proposals to senior leadership. Executive Office approval was secured and new-track incubation programmes were funded.

Samsung · Jozeph Forakis Design, Milan · 2010–12

CMF innovation at scale

How do you achieve differentiated, premium aesthetics at mass-market scale? Through deep understanding of materials, finishes and manufacturing processes, and how they give a brand a distinct character. I delivered CMF and product innovation for Samsung across cameras, phones, laptops and home appliances.

Samsung Flow fridge integrated into a wood kitchen

Samsung Dune stove with 3D-formed glass top

Flow Fridge

Layered ALPI wood veneer moulded into three-dimensional detailing reminiscent of high-end furniture, combining advanced woodworking with moulding technology.

Dune Stove

A technical 3D glass-forming process creates smooth, continuous dune-like surfaces that reduce food residue and simplify cleaning.

Holster Galaxy Camera

A micro four-thirds camera that reimagines the vintage leather holster in soft over-moulded materials, bridging heritage and innovation.

Project credit: this work was designed by Jozeph Forakis Design, Milan, where I was a Senior Industrial Designer. All rights belong to Jozeph Forakis Design and Samsung.

Visit jozephforakis.com ↗

Ambi Labs · AIoT · Fractional Design Director, 6 years

Reframed the brief. Scaled the brand.

Ambi Climate is an AI-learning air-conditioning controller. The brief was a device-only industrial design project; I diagnosed brand consistency as the real problem and expanded the scope to device, packaging, point-of-sale display and brand guidelines.

Ambi Climate controller with companion app on a bedside table

Interchangeable wood and coloured mounts for Ambi Climate

6Year design partnership

LCPlacement in Lane Crawford and premium retail

2International design awards

CESInnovation Award

Industrial design · Packaging · App UI · Branding · DFM

CASETiFY · Senior Industrial Design & Innovation Manager · 2023–24

Translated a fashion trend into tech accessories

The “over-accessorising” trend, popularised by the artisanal personalisation of the Hermès Birkin, marks a shift from brand-led status to user-curated identity. This work brought that maximalist movement into consumer electronics, repositioning tech hardware as a modular canvas for self-expression.

Rope cross-body straps with MagSafe cases

Redesigned slim power bank and accessories

Snappy strap with one-handed phone release

The diagnosis

A hardware audit across carry accessories resolved inconsistent quality and a fragmented design language. Result: reversed declining sales of cross-body straps.

The language

Redesigned the slim power bank to upgrade the technology and unify the category's design language. Result: 60% of total category revenue.

The innovation

A Fidlock snap strap with one-handed phone release for tap-to-pay, from user insight, not a trend cycle. Plus a structured prototyping workflow that halved development cycles from 4 weeks to 2.

Henderson Land · Architectural innovation · via Build Republic

Two industry firsts.

Two first-of-kind products for one of Hong Kong's largest developers, both category firsts with no prior precedent. The media facade was recognised with a Red Dot award.

Residential tower with media facade at dusk

Balcony with split AC cover that doubles as a laundry rack

Media facade chandelier

Architectural lighting as a programmable media surface, a typology with no prior precedent.

Split AC cover / laundry rack

A space-saving AC unit cover that doubles as a balcony laundry rack. One product, two functions, space saved.

MOUU · Self-initiated venture · Co-founder & Design Director · 2019

Saw the consumer nobody was designing for. Built the brand.

In 2019 the slim-pod vape category was emerging and designing for hardcore enthusiasts. MOUU was built for a different consumer: the urban professional who wanted premium, discreet and considered. The name is a tonal transliteration of the Cantonese word for fog — short, global, referential without being literal.

Patented click-seal lid: open to vape, closed to keep dust out

6Months from kickoff to shipping

4KUnits in the first month

1Registered design patent: leak- and dust-proof lid

6Disciplines owned end to end

Brand identity & naming · Go-to-market · DFM & manufacturing · Packaging · Industrial design & CMF · Design patent

More work

Design languages, CMF and digital products

Leader appliance range in a retail setting

Leader · Haier Group

Product design language

A full PDL framework repositioning the brand for Gen Z and Millennials across China's emerging markets.

Haier Innovation Design Center · 2018

Leader CMF innovation

Project director for trend analysis, creative direction and material development.

Casarte · Haier

Premium appliance interior

Research-led around Chinese household behaviour, not Western template assumptions.

Dom Pérignon luminous bottles with control app

Dom Pérignon · LVMH

Luminous bottle & app

App design and luminous label design.

Yardbird HK · 2020

A pandemic pivot, in an app

When evening dining was banned, led concept directions and on-site usability testing for a new ordering model.

Sake Central · Juice

Consumer & retail apps

Product definition and UX/UI for sake discovery and for Juice's product-launch management.

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