Newell's New Design Center to Feature Digital Visualization, Physical Prototyping, AI Capabilities
Newell Brands, which manufactures Rubbermaid, Coleman and Yankee Candle, among others, is modernizing its design processes, opening a dedicated center in Atlanta that will act as a tech-enabled hub to elevate design as a strategic enterprise capability.
Newell said the integrated approach puts design at the center of consumer understanding and business decisions and brings together industrial and brand design, advanced digital visualization, physical prototyping and AI-enhancements.
The locations will include kitchen and children's user experience labs through which researchers can simulate real-world environments for those who enjoy cooking and for parents, caregivers and kids interacting with Newell products.
Newell will use these design tools and spaces to help its teams explore more possibilities, prototype faster, and make smarter creative and commercial decisions.
This builds on the company's digital transformation efforts, which in recent years have heavily leaned on AI as an accelerant to innovation. The company has launched AI-enabled capabilities enterprise-wide in more than 100 use cases as shared in 2024 by then-president of brand management and innovation Melanie Huet.
“We test and test and test for quite a while before we go make a large investment,” she said of the company's test-and-learn approach to AI. “Once you start to validate in your test case that it's working for you, then take the next step and the next step.”
More About the Facility
The Atlanta Design Center spans nearly 37,000 square feet across two locations: the Queen Tower at Concourse Office Park, located at Newell's Atlanta headquarters, and a photo and creative studio at the company's Morgan Falls location. Newell said co-locating the design center at its Atlanta global headquarters was a strategic decision so designers can engage leadership and business partners earlier in the process and more frequently.
Brian Rice, VP, global head of design, said the goal is building design capability that helps Newell's brands innovate with greater clarity, speed and impact and creating a space where talent can work in a collaborative environment.
"Design has the power to shape how consumers experience our brands and products," Nick Hammitt, chief marketing officer at Newell Brands, said in a statement. "By bringing together design, consumer insights, brand teams, R&D and innovation partners, we are creating stronger connections between our consumers and brands and how we bring products to market."
