Ron Pompei

This article is about the artist and designer. For the American inventor and informercial star, see Ron Popeil.

Ron Pompei is an American designer born in Washington, D.C.. Trained as an artist, sculptor and designer, he received a Bachelor of Architecture from the Cooper Union in New York, a B.A. in Fine Arts from the Philadelphia College of Art, and studied Industrial Design at Pratt Institute.

Career

He began his creative journey as an artist, creating light art installations and sculptures that Philadelphia magazine cited as “changing the face of Philadelphia". He taught design at Drexel University in Philadelphia in the mid-1970s. In 1990 Pompei co-founded Pompei A.D., a creative services firm based in New York City where he serves as principal and creative director. the firm has collaborated with Anthropologie, California Academy of Sciences, Coca-Cola, Fortune, Harley-Davidson, Herman Miller, Kiehl's, Kmart, Levi's, MTV, Old Navy, Rubin Museum of Art, Sony, Té Casan, The Discovery Channel, UCLA Neuropsychiatric Institute, and Urban Outfitters.

Work

Pompei's work is based on his design philosophy, C3: Commerce, Culture and Community. This integration is at the heart of the idea of the “transformative environment,” a running theme throughout Pompei's work. His approach earned him a spot in Mavericks at Work, a book written by Fast Company co-founder William C. Taylor and longtime editor Polly LaBarre, about the "most original minds in business".