Roger Wood, Creative Director of Orion Labs, On This Week's Identities [EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW]

This week's "Identities" features co-founder and lead designer of Orion Labs, Roger Wood. Based in the city of San Francisco, Wood is introducing fresh product designs to the realm of wearable tech, fusing his comprehensive knowledge of mobile technology and experience in fashion design, to improve businesses and individuals around the globe.

Wood has developed an impressive resume in various fields over 20 years, forging him to carefully cultivate an eye for innovation. Orion is enhancing the way individuals engage and communicate today through stylish, one-touch devices that instantly connect team members and lessen unnecessary distractions. Ultimately, Wood hopes Orion products will improve the day-to-day structure of today's traveling exchange.   

Read further as we tap into the lifestyle of Roger Wood.

MB: First thing in the morning, you...

RW: Run. I run along the San Francisco's Embarcadero to Burton Park that overlooks the Golden Gate Bridge. 

MB: Inspired by?

RW: Admiral Grace Hopper. The ultimate Hartridge woman, the barriers that she encountered along the way to a Ph. D. from Yale in 1934 and becoming a working computer scientist before WWII, inspires me to work hard and without complaint.

MB: Favorite item in your wardrobe?

RW: Three button hand me down. No, not the song by The Faces, but a brown and cream colored houndstooth sport coat that my father gave to me when I was 20 years old. 

MB: Ideal vacation spot?

RW: Vail, Colorado. I love Vail Village—accept no substitutes! 

MB: Your customer is?

RW: My customer is a young woman sculpting her identity, making her mark on the world. She is the modern woman mapping her own path on her own terms and our Orion products support her journey as she discovers her sense of self. This woman is familiar—an independent woman who navigates the wings of her Ruby, while holding steadfast to her values. 

MB: Idol/Icon? 

RW: John von Neumann, the best dressed scientest that ever lived. Oh, and, he gave a great party. He made contributions to quantum physics, meterology, computer science and economics, all while cutting a Bella Figura. 

MB: Designer/label you would collaborate with?

RW: To work with Jason Wu or Robert Brunner would be a dream come true. I'd love to work with emerging talents like Jérôme LaMaar, Daniel Silverstain and Sheena Trivedi as well. 

MB: Books you would read religiously? 

RW: I am an avid reader. For design, I read "Scandinavian Design" by Ingrid Sommar. For history, "Indian Summer: The Secret History of the End of an Empire" by Alex von Tunzelmann. And for fiction, "The Sound and the Fury" by William Faulkner.

MB: Favorite quote?

RW: "To conquer fear is the beginning of wisdom." - Theodore Roosevelt 

MB: Best career advice?

RW: "It's not necessarily about what career you pick. It's about how you do what you do." - Cory Doctorow 

MB: The song in your head...?

RW: When I am running? Dutch hi-NRG music like Armand Van Helden. It's like audible caffeine. While I am driving? Anything by Tracy Thorn of Everything but the Girl. Still the greatest voice in a long line of British Soul Singers. When I am designing? Alabama Shakes. A voice straight out of the Singing River. 

MB: Best childhood memory? 

RW: Summers in Huntsville, Alabama. 

MB: Recent self-discovery?

RW: I don't like accounting.

MB: One thing most don't know about you...? 

RW: I have a membership with Piston & Chain, the best little motorbike social club in America, but I can't ride a motorcycle. 

MB: Most proud of? 

RW: My family. 200 years of family identity is no small thing to pull off. 

MB: Your legacy is?

RW: My small contributions to professional development of the people I've worked with. So many have become fine leaders on many levels. 

MB: The future...?

RW: The generation of you people born at 1990 will change everything we know. They are the first generation raised largely by machines. 

MB: Happiness is?

RW: A weekend in German wine country, Rheinland-Pfalz with the Kaiser Family. 

MB: There is a time and a place for...

RW: A bow-tie.

MB: Career in your next life? 

RW: A matador.

MB: Must have what?

RW: Bourbon in a tumbler glass looking at the Singing River.

MB: A great idea is...?

RW: It's like writing a song. As soon as you think of it, you have to act on it, play it, feel it.

MB: Thoughts before bed? 

RW: How can I make it more beautiful?

MB: At the end of the day...

RW: Our galaxy is at least 13 billion years old. The Earth is 4.55 billion years old. Humans are about 2 million years old. This party is just getting started.