Managing Partners
Nico Michler
Born in 1969, Nico Michler has been engaged in product design and development for more than 10 years. He has worked with international clients such as Walt Disney, Motorola and Shimano while at frog design, New York. In 2002 he joined the designaffairs team in Munich where he led numerous projects as a Design Manager in the Industrial Design unit. Since March 2007 he is one of the four new Managing Partners of the designaffairs GmbH. At designaffairs he is in charge of new business development and finance.
Michael Lanz
Born in 1965, Michael Lanz joined designaffairs in 1991, back then the design department of the Siemens AG. There he primarily worked as an Industrial Designer for various branches and in the Advanced Design Studio. Since 2001 he was a Key Account Manager for Siemens Cordless Products. In 2005 he took over the direction of the Color & Material Design team and the Color & Material Lab. In this position he has been responsible for trend research and the development of color and material concepts including their implementation into new products. Since March 2007 he is one of the four new Managing Partners of the designaffairs GmbH where he heads PR and the unit Industrial Design.
Claude Toussaint
Born in 1969, Claude Toussaint owns degrees in mechanical engineering and industrial design. He has been a part of designaffairs since 1999 where he built up the unit Interface Design. Since March 2007 he is one of the four new Managing Partners of the designaffairs GmbH. He keeps leading the interdisciplinary User Interface Design team.
Gerd Helmreich
Born in 1956, Gerd Helmreich has been at the Siemens design department since 1985 where he conducted projects in the medical care and industry branches. In 1999 he took over the direction of the team in Erlangen where he is in charge of medical and industry projects within the unit Industrial Design.