Today we’d like to introduce you to Michael Ditullo

Hi Michael, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?

I grew up in New York State, a little more than an hour north of New York City. It was an interesting place to grow up because I knew there was a big world out there and I knew I wasn’t in it! Getting occasional intense exposure to the New York City I think made me a lifelong observer of people, architecture, and culture. Stepping off the train in Grand Central Station was like stepping off a spaceship onto another planet.

I was so lucky that when I was little we lived with my grandfather who taught me how to be kind, empathetic and curious and my Uncle Mark LaFalce who was going to art school and taught me how to draw in perspective at a very young age.

I think all of those things combined to make me the person and designer that I am today.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?

What I wanted to do always seemed obvious to me though it wasn’t always easy for others to understand. Where I grew up there was no sense of being able to be creative as a way of life. We had artists and musicians in our family but it seemed expected that at some point you would put away those things and get a normal job. I lucky that I learned what I wanted do was called industrial design, which is the design of everyday objects like cars, watches, chairs and sneakers, but this was pre internet. There was no easy way to show my family, my school teachers, or my guidance counselor what I could be and there weren’t books on industrial design in the local library. They thought I should be a mechanical engineer or that I would end up a starving artist. All I wanted to do was imagine the future.

Then, one day, I was drawing in the back of math class. I would do these drawings of what I thought the future of something would be like, and I really got lost in it. I didn’t hear my teacher Mrs Jacobus come up behind me. She slammed her hand down on my paper, crumpled it up and said “see me after class!”…. which elicited a chorus of “oooooh’s” from the the other students.

After class Mrs Jacobus carefully unwrinkled my drawing and at the top she wrote in all caps “RHODE ISLAND SCHOOL OF DESIGN”. She apologized for wrinkling up my drawing and said her brother went to RISD for architecture. She told me to write to the school and get a catalog…. “oh, and Michael, stop drawing in the back of my class”.

Mrs Jacobus changed my life that day. I went to Rhode Island School of Design and majored in Industrial Design.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?

Everything you use was touched by an industrial designer. I like to tell people to think of what an architect does for buildings and what a fashion designer does for clothes. Well I do that for everything else in your life… and sometimes I do it for buildings and clothes too. Within industrial design, I think I’ve build a reputation for creating what I think of as iconic design. I define that as objects that are memorable. They server their purpose, they are innovative, but above that they leave you with a feeling. Sometimes I intentionally push against a common accepted trend out in the world, sometimes I’m referencing art, sculpture, and architecture in an object’s design to elevate it. Sometimes I’m intentionally using nostalgia to pull forward a sense of familiarity and comfort. My goal is to always get you to care about this thing, whatever it is. My philosophy is that when we love something, we take care of it and it lasts longer.

What was your favorite childhood memory?

For me it is probably the day I learned to ride a bike. I just had this overall sense of freedom. I could go see my friends, I could bike to the general store and play an arcade game and get some Now And Laters candy. There was this deep sense of attachment to my bike because of what this object did for me. It was a blue Huffy with blue tires and matching blue grips and seat. It was my favorite color blue all over and everyone knew that was my bike when they saw it out front of a friend’s house. I think good design connects with us like that.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.michaelditullo.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/d2lo/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/michaelditullo