23 December 2008

Nokia, Leaders in Innovation:
Video Interview With Nokia's Alastair Curtis

In a video interview with Business Week’s Reena Jana, Nokia’s primary designer, Alastair Curtis, discusses how the mobile phone maker creates handsets appropriate for different markets around the globe and the various design decisions involved.

He also talks about future of mobile devices, upcoming Nokia phones and especially services.

For those who don't know who is he, Alastair Curtis is the man with one of the coolest job in the wireless industry.

He joined the company in 1993 and has held a number of senior positions including Design Director of Nokia’s Los Angeles Design Center and Head of Design for Mobile Phones, Nokia’s largest business unit.

As Nokia’s chief designer, a post the company veteran has held since 2006, he influences the look and feel of the millions of cellphones the Finnish communications giant produces each year. Curtis describes his role as promoting “the intelligent use of creativity” within Nokia. He says he feels privileged to work in a fast-moving industry–his team just completed a first take on the firm’s 2010 product portfolio–but also stresses the importance of doing something right, as opposed to first.

He holds a Master of Arts degree in Industrial Design Engineering from the Royal College of Art in London, a Diploma of Engineering from Imperial College, and a Bachelor’s degree in Industrial Design from Brunel University.