Fadi Shuman

Fadi Shuman is the Co-Founder of global digital agency, BORN. Fadi's experience spans over 15 years within the digital industry having started his career in London at the BBC before establishing his first agency POD1 in 2001.

His hybrid background in strategy, design and technology means he has insights into the building blocks of the internet and what makes it tick. Responsible for BORN's global creative and commerce vision, Fadi ensures that BORN is at the forefront of of e-commerce innovation, with a focus on user-centered design and omni-channel marketing. During his career, Fadi has delivered global e-commerce and marketing solutions for leading brands such as TAG Heuer, DKNY, Salvatore Ferragamo, DvF, Net-a-Porter, Skullcandy, UNIQLO, John Varvatos and many more.

10 questions for Fadi Shuman:

• What did you do before becoming a designer?

  I worked in the Film industry as an Assistant Director.

• Where do you turn for inspiration?

  My kids, people out in the real world doing stuff, offline… I believe that everything we do digitally is about people and their needs. Where better to be inspired then looking at the offline world and seeing how humans interact and achieve their goals?

• Which are your favorite studios, designers or agencies?

• Always been a fan of AKQA.

• Is your city a good place for designers?

  Having experienced living and working in both London and New York, I think both are incredibly creative places with so much going on to inspire designers.

• Which technologies are you excited about in 2015?

  I've always loved the interaction between the online and offline, so all the home based tech like Nest, Dropcam etc are where I'm looking at now to see what comes next.

• Do you listen to music while you work? Describe your playlist.

  Haha - yes totally listen to music when I'm trying to focus. My tastes are eclectic so I use Pandora quite a bit for discovery and randomness!

• What are you cultural influences?

  As much of the work we do is focused around fashion, luxury and lifestyle I have to look at all elements of life for influence.

• Have you got an academic background or are you self taught?

  Studied Economics at university as it was pre-internet (damn just gave away that I'm not twenty something). Otherwise self taught.

• What do you do in your free time?

  Movies, cocktails, eating, traveling.

• Where do you see the industry in 5 years?

  The same but different. That's not a cop-out answer it's just i've done this now for 15 years and clients are still clients, design is still about creating something beautiful yet usable and it's always been about innovating to meet the customer needs. Who knows what devices etc we'll be using but that's kind of irrelevant if you're someone who's passionate about what you do.

• Are you working on any personal projects?

  I have a number of projects that have all been on hold for years now! So I guess no. For now ;-)

• If you could give one piece of advice to newbie designers, what would it be?

  Be passionate about what you do and success will follow.