Nichole Rouillac

Co-Founder

San Francisco, California, United States21 yrs 4 mos experience

Most Likely To SwitchHighly Stable

Key Highlights

Founder of award-winning design studio level.
Advocate for diversity in industrial design.
Mentor for future generations of female designers.

Stackforce AI infers this person is a leader in Industrial Design with a focus on consumer electronics and design strategy.

Contact

Skills

Core Skills

Industrial DesignDesign StrategyCollaborationProduct Design

Other Skills

Design ManagementMentorshipSketchingConcept DevelopmentModel MakingAlias Studio ToolsRenderingUser-centered DesignIllustratorDesign ThinkingConcept Design

About

Nichole is the Founder and Creative Director of level, a women-led industrial design studio in San Francisco. She leads with a mission to create intelligent, thoughtful designs that shape industries and enhance lives.Her work has propelled breakthrough products into the global spotlight, with an award-winning portfolio that includes Microsoft, Google, Logitech, Fitbit, HTC, AliveCor, and Tempo. level’s impact has been recognized with top accolades, including IDEA Gold, Red Dot, iF, and Spark Platinum awards, as well as Fast Company’s #3 Most Innovative Design Company. Beyond design, Nichole is a dedicated advocate for diversity in the industry. As the former chair of IDSA’s Women in Design, she mentors and champions the next generation of female designers, helping to reshape an industry where women remain underrepresented.

Experience

Baukunst

Collective Member

May 2022 – Present · 3 yrs 10 mos · San Francisco Bay Area

Baukunst is a collective of creative technologists advancing the art of building at the frontiers of technology and design. Collective members are a select group of top practitioners in their field, invited to advise founders in the portfolio, support company building, and promote collaborative learning across the collective.

Industrial designers society of america (idsa)

SF Chair - Women in Design

Dec 2017 – Jan 2021 · 3 yrs 1 mo · San Francisco Bay Area

Our goal is to create connections and bring together the community to help more women succeed in the field of Industrial Design. Our focus is on creating events and networking opportunities that help establish mentorship programs between more experienced female leaders and the future generations of designers as well as engage in honest discussions on the challenges of being a woman in ID and how we can come together to create positive change in our industry.

Level design sf

Founder + Creative Director

Oct 2016 – Present · 9 yrs 5 mos · San Francisco Bay Area · On-site

A West Coast women-led Industrial Design shop.
We design and realize timeless products that people love.
level’s work has garnered wide recognition, including design awards such as Fatsco. Inc., IDEA Gold, Red Dot, iF and Spark Platinum. Most notably, level was awarded as an Inc. Power Partner in 2022 and recognized as #03 in FastCompany’s Most Innovative Design Companies of 2021.

Industrial DesignDesign StrategyProduct DesignDesign Management

Htc

2 roles

Associate Creative Director

Jul 2016 – Oct 2016 · 3 mos

Lead Industrial Designer

Apr 2013 – Jul 2016 · 3 yrs 3 mos

Created multiple strategic design visions for the HTC brand including overseeing smartphone design language programs as well as creating design vision for new product categories.
Bringing iconic and innovative design to market through close collaboration with multi-disciplinary teams including, engineers, product planners, and marketing teams.
Responsible for creating and presenting design stories for HTC’s executive team as well as selling the vision to the executive team’s of our partners and retail channels.
Helped secured and cultivate strategic partnerships and manage design initiatives with our partners.
Leading a team of designers including reviewing design progress as well as handling employee engagement and skill development through mentorship.

Design StrategyCollaborationMentorship

One & co

Senior Industrial Designer

Apr 2010 – Oct 2013 · 3 yrs 6 mos · San Francisco Bay Area

Created innovative designs for clients in the electronics and lifestyle industries.
Developed designs from initial concept, through detailed development and the production process; delivering beautiful design down to every last detail.
Worked to establish a positive working relationship between our design team and the HTC engineering team; eventually leading to One & Co. becoming a part of HTC.

Product DesignCollaborationMentorship

New deal design

Senior Industrial Designer

Nov 2006 – Mar 2010 · 3 yrs 4 mos · San Francisco Bay Area

Created award-wining designs for multi-national clients including Google, Logitech, Fujitsu, Huawei, NetGear and Medtronic.
Executed design strategy and iconic industrial design for start-ups, most notably FitBit, aiding in the start-ups ability to gain recognition and funding.

Design StrategyIndustrial Design