Draft:David Hill (designer)
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Comment: In accordance with Wikipedia's Conflict of interest policy, I disclose that I have a conflict of interest regarding the subject of this article. Laptop Retrospective (talk) 22:48, 29 June 2025 (UTC)
 | This user has publicly declared that they have a conflict of interest regarding the Wikipedia article David Hill (Designer). |
David Hill | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | May 15, 1957 |
| Occupation | Industrial Designer |
| Notable work | Design of the ThinkPad |
David Wayne Hill (born May 15, 1957) is an American industrial designer known for his work on the design of the ThinkPad.[1] He worked as a designer at IBM from 1985 until the 2005 acquisition of their PC business by Lenovo, where he continued until 2017.[2] Afterwards he founded a design consulting business. He is currently an advisor to the University of Kansas School of Architecture and Design.[3]
Early life
[edit]David Hill grew up in Bartlesville, Oklahoma, where his father was a research chemist. From a young age, he built machines with Tinker Toys and developed an interest in motorcycles, which he continued to restore and race in his adult life.[4] David attended Oklahoma State University from 1975-1978 studying architecture in the School of Engineering. He then studied industrial design at Kansas University under Professor Downer Dykes in graduating with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in 1982. He first encountered Richard Sapper at a design conference in Aspen, Colorado, in 1981, and was impressed by Sapper's grounded approach.[4] David won a IDSA Student Merit Award in 1982 for promise in the field of industrial design.[5]
Career
[edit]Hill worked for the design consulting firm Baugh-Deines Incorporated, Design Consultants based in Wichita from 1983 to 1985[6].
IBM
[edit]Hill's career at IBM began in 1985 in the minicomputer division in Rochester, Minnesota, where he designed large machines. He later worked as a Senior Industrial Designer in the AS/400 Division.[6] He also designed a computer display, an electronic clipboard for diagnostic work on mainframe computers.[4] In 1995 he would become the Manager of Industrial Design for the AS/400 Division the same year he became Director of Personal Systems Group Design.
He was involved in the design of the ThinkPad as the manager of Design for the Personal Systems Group and later the manager of Market Research and Worldwide Intelligence for the IBM Personal Systems Group.[7] David Hill became head of PC design for IBM, including ThinkPad design in 1995.[4][8][7]
At IBM, Hill collaborated with Richard Sapper, John Karidis, Tom Hardy, Tomoyuki Takahashi and Kazuhiko Yamazaki, the latter being an industrial designer at IBM Yamato.[7] With Sapper he worked on the T560 Monitor,[9] NetVista X41,[10] ThinkPad A30[11] and NetVista X41 Articulated Arm.[12] With Karidis he worked on several prototype computers and jointly hold several patents for computer design with Karidis, Sapper, Takahashi and Yamazaki.[13][14]
Lenovo
[edit]When Lenovo acquired IBM's PC division in 2005, Hill became Lenovo's executive director for corporate identity and design[4][8] forming a design headquarters in Raleigh, North Carolina[11]. Hill would also write entries for the "Design Matters" blog from 2005 to 2017. This was done to help build bridges between the design and engineering teams within the company.[4][15]
David worked on projects such as Project Kodachi in June 2006 which would become the ThinkPad X300[8], David originally wanted the X300 to feature a "butterfly" keyboard like the ThinkPad 701c, reffered to as "Bento-Fly" but it was ultimately dropped during development.[4][8]
David would continue to collaborate with Richard Sapper on the ThinkPad X300,[11] Lenovo Skylight[16] and the design the ThinkPad X1 Carbon.[17]
In 2009, David became Chief Design Officer and Vice President of Experience Design until June 30, 2017.[2][18]
In 2015, he was part of the American management team celebrating the ThinkPad’s 100 million sales mark.[8] For the 20th anniversary of ThinkPad, David Hill created a book about ThinkPad design titled ThinkPad Design: Spirit & Essence for the exhibit that took place at the Museum of Modern Art in 2012.[19] This book was later updated and included with the 25th anniversary edition ThinkPad called the T25.[20]
References
[edit]- ^ "David Hill on ThinkPad's evolution design strategy". uxpod.com. Retrieved 2025-06-30.
- ^ a b "Rewirement - Industrial Designers Society of America". www.idsa.org. 2017-07-06. Retrieved 2025-06-29.
- ^ "Professional Advisory Board". University of Kansas School of Architecture & Design. Retrieved 2025-06-30.
- ^ a b c d e f g Hamm, Steve (2008). The race for perfect: inside the quest to design the ultimate portable computer. New York: McGraw-Hill. ISBN 978-0-07-160611-0.
- ^ "IDSA South District Spotlight | National Industrial Design Day 2022 - Industrial Designers Society of America". www.idsa.org. 2022-02-23. Retrieved 2025-06-29.
- ^ a b Simonds, John (2006-08-15). "David Hill – Chief Lenovo Designer, a Man Who has Created Much, and Touched Millions". Delusions of Adequacy. Retrieved 2025-06-30.
- ^ a b c Dell, Deborah A.; Purdy, J. Gerry (2000). ThinkPad, a different shade of blue. Indianapolis: Sams. ISBN 978-0-672-31756-9.
- ^ a b c d e Naitoh, Arimasa (2017). How the ThinkPad Changed the World and Is Shaping the Future. William Holstein. New York: Skyhorse Publishing Company, Incorporated. ISBN 978-1-5107-2499-0.
- ^ "T560". Richard Sapper. Retrieved 2025-06-30.
- ^ "Netvista X41 PC". Richard Sapper. Retrieved 2025-06-30.
- ^ a b c Olivares, Jonathan; Fazel, Ramak; Sapper, Richard, eds. (2016). Richard Sapper. London New York: Phaidon. ISBN 978-0-7148-7120-2.
- ^ "Netvista X41 Articulated Arm". Richard Sapper. Retrieved 2025-06-30.
- ^ "IBM DESIGNERS BRING ORIGAMI INTO THE FOLD". Orlando Sentinel. 2003-09-20. Retrieved 2025-06-30.
- ^ "INNOVATION: Fall 2003, IDEA Yearbook - Industrial Designers Society of America". www.idsa.org. Retrieved 2025-06-30.
- ^ Shah, Rawn (2010). Social networking for business: choosing the right tools and resources to fit your needs. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Wharton School Publ. ISBN 978-0-13-235779-1.
- ^ Hannaford, Kat (2010-01-15). "Sapper, Stradivarius and Skylight: Designing Lenovo's Smartbook". Gizmodo. Retrieved 2025-06-30.
- ^ "ThinkPad X1 Carbon". Richard Sapper. Retrieved 2025-06-30.
- ^ "Rewiring". Lenovo Blog. Archived from the original on 2017-07-09. Retrieved 2025-06-29.
- ^ Burns, Chris (2012-10-05). "Lenovo ThinkPad 20th Anniversary Celebrated With Tribute And Legacy Collection". SlashGear. Retrieved 2025-06-30.
- ^ Churbuck, David (2017-11-15). "25 Years of ThinkPad". Churbuck.com. Retrieved 2025-06-29.