Design thinking
Business direction

Finding new value has been the red thread running through my career. I work at the intersection of design, business and technology helping leadership teams forge strategies that transform businesses and grow new ones. I combine deep industry knowledge with a creative edge, turning big ideas into coherent strategies and successful products.

Robert Forrest, design strategy and innovation consultant, Cambridge
How I work
01

Strategic Advisory

Finding clarity amid ambiguity. When the direction is unclear, the assumptions are untested, or the organisation has reached the limit of its own perspective, an outside view changes everything.

02

Innovation & Product Strategy

From concept to market. Including diagnosing where propositions fail to land and rebuilding them. With a focus on durable outcomes and technology-led products.

03

Fractional Leadership

Senior design and UX leadership without the permanent hire. Organisational design, capability building across multidisciplinary teams, mentoring, and connecting the design room to the boardroom.

04

Thought Leadership

I challenge assumptions, encourage divergent thinking, and shape the narrative that takes ideas to market.

What people say
“There are few people I know who are as deeply knowledgeable about design as Robert. He sees the big picture and the smallest details at once — connecting how a seventies Merc reflects its cultural moment just as easily as explaining how AI is reshaping how we generate ideas today.”
Vladimir Khokhlov
Product Design Leader, formerly Microsoft, Sony, Skype
“Robert represents the customer perspective to ensure a seamless design narrative, working closely with design teams and technical partners to coordinate strategies and agree targets for a consistent brand identity. He is adept at recognising new areas for growth by synthesising a variety of influences.”
Christopher Weil
Head of Exterior Design, BMW
“There are few people I know as erudite in design matters small and large — from the radii of a car door handle to the sociology and economic drivers behind a market appetite for a quieter aesthetic.”
Sam Livingstone
Director, Car Design Research
“When it comes to strategy and understanding how you can position yourself in the current and future automotive market, it is difficult to imagine a better professional.”
Karina Tjugen-Luper
Senior Director UK, FrankfurtRheinMain GmbH
About
Robert Forrest, design strategy consultant

Robert has spent twenty years at the intersection of design and business, leading experience design inside some of the world’s most demanding organisations, and helping founders and leadership teams find direction when the path forward isn’t obvious.

My strength is turning insight and ambiguity into clear strategies and products that create lasting business value.

He has worked across automotive, consumer technology and B2B SaaS, from early stage startups to global OEMs, moving easily between blue sky strategy and hands on delivery. Equally at home in the boardroom and the design studio.

MA(RCA) Vehicle Design, Royal College of Art. Based in Cambridge.

Let’s talk.

“When it comes to strategy and understanding how you can position yourself in the current and future automotive market, it is difficult to imagine a better professional.” Karina Tjugen-Luper, Senior Director UK, FrankfurtRheinMain GmbH
Thank you — I’ll be in touch shortly.
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LinkedIn · Global · Based in Cambridge, UK