Fear & Clients Almost Killed His Billion-Dollar Designs - With Robert Brunner | Ep 355

The Futur with Chris Do

The Futur

Design, Self-improvement, Education, Business, Marketing, Arts

5 • 976 Ratings

🗓️ 14 June 2025

⏱️ 49 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

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In this episode, I sit down with Robert Brunner — the design mind behind Beats by Dre, former Apple design director, and founder of Ammunition — to unpack what it really takes to build enduring, emotional, and market-shifting products. We explore the tension between risk and restraint, the power of story in industrial design, and what separates mediocre products from cultural icons.

Robert shares hard-won wisdom from 40+ years in the field, working with legends like Jimmy Iovine, Paula Scher, and the teams behind Apple and Beats — and how he now helps startups design with both craft and business outcomes in mind.

Timestamps:

(00:00) – The Fascination of Objects and Their Stories

(05:49) – Navigating Client Relationships in Design

(11:26) – The Evolution of Design Partnerships

(23:20) – The Rise of Beats by Dre: Origins and Inspirations

(30:17) – The Evolution of Design and Craftsmanship

(41:37) – The Challenge of Perfection in Design

(45:30) – Design Perspectives and Personal Favorites

Check out today's guest, Robert Brunner:

Robert's Website: https://www.ammunitiongroup.com/

Robert's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robertbrunner

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Transcript

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0:00.0	One of the reasons I got in this profession was I found it fascinating the relationship that
0:04.5	people have with things.
0:06.0	You know, objects and the attachment of you mentioned stories and emotions and they
0:10.5	use it to define who they are.
0:13.3	Developing a product, like a lot of things, is this sort of 10% inspiration, 90% perspiration
0:18.2	thing, right?
0:19.2	What happens in development is as time goes on, the amount of money
0:23.1	you spend and the cost of mistakes goes way, way up. Hi, I'm Robert Brunner. I'm an industrial
0:29.7	designer and you are listening to the future. On today's episode, I'm talking to Robert Bruner.
0:37.2	He has a long list of accomplishments.
0:39.2	So he's worked at everywhere that you want to be.
0:41.1	And I dream of being at.
0:43.0	And he was named by fast companies.
0:45.6	I mean, this is a really lofty title, Robert.
0:47.6	Most creative people in business.
0:50.0	How does one even live up to that?
0:51.6	Yeah, that's a tough one.
0:52.7	But, you know, I try.
0:56.1	Okay.
0:56.8	You're a rare breed because you've been, you have your own firm.
0:59.6	It's called Ammunition.
1:00.5	You've worked as director of industrial design at Apple.
	...

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