Founder, Forbes Design · Edison Award · Crain’s 40 Under 40
Michael Forbes
I started Forbes Design to give startups and small businesses the kind of design thinking big companies take for granted, because I’m building a business from the ground up too.
It isn’t my first. In college I started Anymile Clothing, an apparel brand that supported local families facing hardship, and ran it on the side for eight years while working full time as a designer. That’s where I learned what it really takes to keep a small business going.
For more than 14 years I’ve worked across industrial and product design, UX/UI, medical devices, automotive R&D and consumer products, with teams at Henry Ford Health, Materialise, Hyundai-Kia America Technical Center, Inspire Rx and Elm Park Labs. My work at the Henry Ford Innovation Institute earned an Edison Award, multiple patents and a spot on Crain’s Detroit Business 40 Under 40.
The Model G hospital gown I designed there was carried nationally by the Associated Press, with coverage in The Dallas Morning News, CBS News Detroit, MedCity News and The American Scholar.
Just as important as the design is how the work gets done. I’ve managed projects from first sketch to launch: setting scope, coordinating engineers, clinicians and executives, keeping timelines honest, and making sure the finished product solves the problem it was meant to. Time on the sales floor taught me the rest: design only matters if it helps you connect with customers and sell.
Through Forbes Design, I bring that same process to brand and content, websites and online stores, apps, and product development from sketch to CAD, sized for where your business is today.
I know what it takes to build something from scratch. Let’s build yours.
How I Work
I do primary research.
I don’t design from assumptions. I interview, observe, and shadow. The cardiologist who showed me how he mentally models anatomy during TAVR planning changed how I designed the entire planning interface. That kind of access is what separates a design that ships from one that gets used.
I work across the table from engineers.
I can read a CAD file, have a constraint conversation, and adjust the design — not the engineering timeline. 14 years of cross-functional work means I know how to find the version of the idea that’s actually buildable.
I build the case, not just the design.
Design decisions need to survive stakeholder scrutiny. I write the rationale, run the research, and present the finding — not just the deliverable. Especially in regulated environments, that documentation is part of the work.
I build what I design.
I don’t stop at the mockup. I design in the browser and ship real, working sites, using AI tools to move faster without cutting corners. You see the actual thing early, not a picture of it.
Skills & Tools
Design
- UX & UI design
- Industrial design
- User research & testing
- Prototyping
- Design systems
- Human factors
Build
- Figma & Adobe CC
- CAD & rendering
- 3D printing
- Shopify & web design
- HTML / CSS
- AI-assisted development
Domains
- Medical devices
- Surgical & clinical software
- VR training
- Automotive R&D
- Consumer products
- E-commerce