Product designer Duane Smith received a bachelor of industrial design in 1996 from Carleton University in Ottawa and studied at the Bauhaus in Dessau, Germany. A native of Newfoundland, he worked as a design consultant at various North American firms before beginning his own venture with partner Stfane Barbeau. In 1999, they co-founded Vessel, a housewares design and distribution company. Smith is also a founding member of Release1, a collaborative that explores design as a cultural activity independent of commercial forces. His firm's work has earned Industrial Excellence Awards, Medical Design Excellence Awards, and Virtu Awards, and has been featured in* I.D.*, *The New York Times*, *Adbusters*, *Real Simple*, and *Wired*.