Josh Rubin

Founder of Cool Hunting, Photographer & Interaction Designer

Josh Rubin

Founder of Cool Hunting, Photographer & Interaction Designer

Add to List Availability & Fees

Biography

“There are no new ideas, just great executions.” This has been Josh Rubin’s mantra for over a decade – a realization that actually opened the door to both creativity and productivity. As an interaction designer, Rubin is always looking for both inspiration and an understanding of the way people do things. His presentations motivate “creatives” and businesspeople alike by demystifying the relationship between these seemingly foreign but totally interdependent roles. His lessons and stories are rooted in his ability to bridge design and technology, but are relevant to all disciplines.

In 2003, Rubin decided to start a catalog of what he found and launched Cool Hunting (CoolHunting.com), named after a phrase synonymous with finding inspiration. Now a Webby award-winning online publication, this is more than just trends; it is about curated observations. The Cool Hunting global team of editors and contributors sift through innovations in design, technology, art and culture to create a publication consisting of cutting-edge daily insights and weekly mini-documentaries. Rubin is also responsible for the design of coolhunting.com and the Cool Hunting iOS apps, as well as the distribution through social media and content partnerships. In 2007, he helped launch Largetail — a studio that creates original content for brands and distributes it through niche publishers — where he serves as the Executive Creative Director.

In addition to editing Cool Hunting, Rubin consults for select clients on strategy, content and design for digital products, services and publications. His clients have included Apple, Adobe, Vodafone, Nike, Google and MTV, among many others. Rubin also helped to found the digital consultancy Bond Art + Science, was a Lead User Interface Designer at Motorola, a Design Director at Razorfish, in charge of product development at Upoc Networks and an intern at IDEO. He parlayed his loves of aesthetics and technology in to a focus on interaction design and user experience that began at Hampshire College and continued at NYU's Interactive Telecommunications Program where his 1999 graduate thesis was focused on modular, scalable touch-screen interfaces.

Rubin has been in such high demand as a speaker and consultant because of his ability to help people understand what makes an idea great, how to execute that great idea and how to drive successful innovation. It is all about how to make it happen and turning vision into reality. Rubin gets excited about obsessive-compulsive art, elegant uses of technology, creative design executions, delicious local food and general paradoxes.

Speech Topics

From Great Idea to Successful Innovation

What makes a great idea? And when you find one, how do you execute a strategy to make it happen? As an interaction designer Josh Rubin explores both the creative juices that create great ideas and provide the critical ingredients to turn these ideas into innovative and successful products, services, and social movements. His lessons and stories are a fascinating journey for any audience.