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Andrew Bjornson is a seasoned design leader who is passionate about empowering young creative to find pathways to careers in design fields. Andrew is an alumnus of Rochester Institute of Technology, with a BFA in Industrial Design Program and Associate Degree in Graphic Design. He has many decades of experience in footwear and action sport product design, working on Inline and Advanced Concept teams at brands such as Vans, New Balance, and Reebok, in addition to freelance design. He has led intern programs and collaborative experiences with college and high school programs. He is currently Senior Director for the digital footwear and apparel product design teams at Vans.

Andrew has designed and lead teams of designers creating industry leading product such as snowboard boots, bindings, helmets, and all types of footwear including running, cross training, basketball, outdoor, and more. He holds patents for several of the innovative projects on which he has worked. Andrew believes in a collaborative approach to design using consumer insight, athletic performance testing, and global trend research to produce solid solutions.

Andrews philosophy is, Patience and Persistence. There are no overnight successes. Success comes from failure. Like trying a new trick in snowboarding or skateboarding; you know you will wipe out- you just need to keep getting up, figuring out what went wrong, and try something different until you succeed.