Samsung Rising

the company’s ad agency review years later. “Six years ago we had a small share [of the U.S. electronics market], and six years ...

who invested $700 million. Instead, Samsung invested a much smaller amount, $60 million, in New Regency, the production company ...

acquisition talks. “We know we have to stand back and let you guys do what you do best,” an executive on Samsung’s side of the t ...

The boss called the team two months later with further instructions from Samsung. “Put the LCD on the computer.” The battle line ...

Seoul Searching GORDON BRUCE PICKED UP the phone. It was his boss, college president David Brown. “Ever heard of Samsung?” “Yeah ...

Peter Arnell, the larger-than-life Madison Avenue advertiser. Bruce brought along a team of Asia hands at ArtCenter to help. By ...

good. “In Asia,” he told the group, “form is everything.” “We agreed to set up an educational institute at Samsung, but only as ...

“That’s just Korean stuff,” one of them said dismissively. When Bruce met Samsung’s internal design staff, he quickly learned ab ...

Gordon Bruce, as an industrial designer, homed in on the need for Samsung to win over customers with products of beauty and qual ...

chairman, his wife, and his inner circle in the chairman’s living room. They encountered a penetrating and reverent silence. Cig ...

was right. Gordon and James were scheduled to depart, but Miky asked them to stay longer to help implement the chairman’s vision ...

— GORDON BRUCE INTRODUCED ME to Ted Shin, one of his best Korean designers. Ted had approached Bruce and Miho when they had star ...

PHOTO USED WITH THE PERMISSION OF SALLY ANDERSEN-BRUCE. Gordon Bruce leads an industrial design exercise with his students at th ...

Perhaps Bruce’s landmark trip was to the Taj Mahal. “I took off my shoes and gazed at the majesty around me. I’d seen the pictur ...

“I just couldn’t answer,” he said. “I never thought that my opinion mattered.” Ultimately, he made the difficult choice. “The le ...

Design Revolution “THE UPCOMING TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY marks the Age of Culture,” the chairman of Samsung proclaimed in his New Ye ...

design. Apple designers threw out the internal floppy drive—a much- criticized decision—and installed a trackball mouse. It was ...

WIKIMEDIA COMMONS The taegeuk symbol on the South Korean flag. “I thought that might be something that could really resonate wit ...

designers to work at its young office in Palo Alto, California, which opened in 1994, and set up design centers in London in 200 ...

When he showed the concept to his managers, his boss said, “You can talk to people on a phone. Why do you need to send a text me ...