Native Design
British design company
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Native Design is a London-based independent design and innovation consultancy, with teams in the UK and USA, founded in 1997. Specialising in strategy, industrial design, digital product design, AI-driven innovation and engineering, Native has delivered award-winning work across consumer electronics, automotive, telecommunications, life sciences and healthcare.
| |
| Type | Independent |
|---|---|
| Founded | September 1997 in London, England |
| Headquarters | London and San Francisco |
Area served | Worldwide |
Key people | Morten Villiers Warren, Founder and CEO Marcus Hoggarth, President and CCO |
| Services | Strategy User experience Digital and Physical Product design Interaction design Service design Industrial design Engineering Technology services Business Transformation and Consulting Product development |
| Website | https://native.com/ |
History and work
Native Design was founded in 1997 by former Manager of Design at Bowers & Wilkins, Morten Villiers Warren. Morten designed the "Emphasis Speakers" on the cover of Art of Noise's Below the Waste album.
After the success of their early work, the company developed a long-standing relationship[1] and collaboration with Bowers & Wilkins, designing earphones[2] the Zeppelin iPod dock and loudspeaker[3] and the PM1 loudspeaker.[4]
Working with the HP Design Team in 2014, Native created the Sprout, a touch screen computer with both vertical and horizontal screens.[5]
In 2015, HP's CEO Meg Whitman called for a unification across HP's GBUs and thus kick-started concept visioning with Native.[6]
In 2015, Native was commissioned to create the new user experience (UX) and homepage for the BBC.[7]
Coloplast employed Native to create the "Design DNA" in 2016, which won a Gold Lion at the Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity.[8][9][10] Subsequently, Forbes named the company as one of the "Top 25 Most Innovative Companies of 2016".[11]
In 2018, Native was honoured with the International Design Excellence Gold Award[12] for its work with the Ford Motor Company on the creation of their future car experience known as the Autonomous Vehicle Simulator (AVS). AVS is a demonstration platform.[13]
Native announced the founding of Zuma in 2018; launching Lumisonic[14] a fully integrated wireless multi-room lighting and audio ecosystem, taking full end-to-end responsibility from concept through to market launch as both design authority and systems engineering lead. The system combined a bespoke ultra-compact loudspeaker integrated into an LED ceiling fixture with an ARM-based quad-core processor, custom wireless infrastructure delivering synchronisation accuracy of 100 microseconds, and a patented detachable bezel enabling voice control and home automation. The programme resulted in 22 patents[15], several of which have since been licensed globally. The Times described Zuma as "one of the most ingenious developments in home tech"[16].
Native partnered with Illumina to design and develop the NextSeq 1000 & 2000[17], NovaSeq X[18], and MiSeq i100[19] genomic sequencers across physical and digital experience. The NextSeq instruments incorporated over 75 patented innovations[20] and were recognised with multiple awards, including from IDSA and Red Dot Design[21] in 2021.
In 2023, Native was approached by iFIT to design and develop the NordicTrack Ultra 1, a high-end treadmill launched to critical acclaim. Forbes described it as "the Ferrari of treadmills"[22], and Time magazine named it a Best Invention of 2025[23].
Awards and recognition
The company was the first British design company to win both Gold and Best in Show at the IDSA International Design Excellence Awards (IDEA).[24]
A selection of Native’s collection of over 170 international design and innovation awards:
- Gold at the IDSA International Design Excellence Awards for the Definitive Autonomous Car Experience for Ford Motor Company[12]
- Gold at the IDSA International Design Excellence Awards for the Zeppelin iPod dock and loudspeaker for Bowers & Wilkins.[25]
- Gold and Best in Show at the IDSA International Design Excellence Awards for the Design DNA for healthcare company Coloplast.[26]
- Gold at the Cannes Festival of Creativity for the Design DNA for Coloplast.[27]
- 5 Red Dot Awards for the HP PHI Design Language Strategy.[28]
- Red Dot for the Illumina NextSeq 1000/2000.[21]
- Red Dot Best of the Best for HP Pavilion[29] and ENVY[30] All-in-One desktops.
- iF Design Award for Zuma Lumisonic.[31]
- iF Design Award for Boehringer Ingelheim Diabetes management platform[32].
- Time Magazine Best Invention of 2025 for NordicTrack Ultra 1[23].