Sid Ramnarace is a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

-born American designer, and consumer

strategist A strategist is a person with responsibility for the formulation and implementation of a strategy. Strategy generally involves setting goals, determining actions to achieve the goals, and mobilizing resources to execute the actions. A strategy ...

who has worked with the

Ford Motor Company Ford Motor Company (commonly known as Ford) is an American multinational corporation, multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, United States. It was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. T ...

, in Dearborn, Michigan, United States, and has designed automobiles, furniture, jewelry, textiles, glassware, and home decor.

Background

At the age of 12, he submitted letters to Chuck Jordan at

General Motors General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. The company is most known for owning and manufacturing f ...

and

Jack Telnack Jack Telnack (born John J. Telnack in 1937) is the former global Vice President of Design of the Ford Motor Company from 1980 to 1997. He is best known for his work with cars like the 1979 Ford Mustang (Ford Mustang (third generation), third gene ...

at Ford in the hope of receiving advice on landing a job as an automobile designer. Based on the reply from those letters, Ramnarace subsequently enrolled at the prestigious

Brooklyn Technical High School Brooklyn Technical High School, commonly called Brooklyn Tech and administratively designated High School 430, is a public specialized high school in New York City that specializes in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. It is on ...

, majoring in Industrial Design. He went on to study at the Cleveland Institute of Art, where he graduated with a degree in industrial design, studying under design pioneer,

Viktor Schreckengost Viktor Schreckengost (June 26, 1906 – January 26, 2008) was an American industrial designer as well as a teacher, sculptor, and artist. His wide-ranging work included noted pottery designs, industrial design, bicycle design and seminal ...

Career

Automotive and Transportation

After a brief stint at

as a contract designer, Ramnarace began at Ford working at Ford's Global Design Center and developed textiles, color and trim for the

Ford Explorer The Ford Explorer is a range of Sport utility vehicle, SUVs manufactured by Ford Motor Company since the 1991 model year. The first five-door SUV produced by Ford, the Explorer, was introduced as a replacement for the three-door Ford Bronco II ...

, Ford Prodigy and 24.7 show car concepts, where he worked under VP of Design J Mays and Chief Designer Laurens van den Acker. He has contributed to automobile interiors and exteriors including the Ford Edge and

Lincoln MKX The Lincoln MKX is a mid-size luxury SUV#Luxury SUV, luxury crossover SUV manufactured by Ford Motor Company and marketed its Lincoln Motor Company, Lincoln brand over two generations, as a badge engineering, rebadged variant of the Ford Edge cro ...

Ford Flex The Ford Flex is a full-size crossover SUV manufactured and marketed by Ford over a single generation from 2009–2019, as the successor to the Ford Taurus X. The Flex was introduced in 2005 as a concept vehicle based on the Ford D4 chassis ar ...

Ford Thunderbird The Ford Thunderbird is a personal luxury car manufactured and marketed by Ford Motor Company for model years 1955 to 2005, with a hiatus from 1998 to 2001. Ultimately gaining a broadly used colloquial nickname, the ''T-Bird'', Ford Introduce ...

and most notably, the 5th generation

Ford Mustang The Ford Mustang is a series of American Car, automobiles manufactured by Ford Motor Company, Ford. In continuous production since 1964, the Mustang is currently the longest-produced Ford car nameplate. Currently in its Ford Mustang (seventh ...

which was cited as one of the most iconic cars of the last 20 years.

IoT and Media Technology

New York City Metropolitan Transit Installation Grand Central Videri 2019 219

In 2019, Ramnarace became EVP at Videri, an early-stage IoT and media technology firm, responsible for the development and implementation of addressable displays, cloud distribution, engaging content capabilities, and a unique app-enabled infrastructure. Through a partnership with the New York Transit Authority and Outfront Media, the firm implemented a strategic deployment of its ON Smart Media platform, throughout the

New York City Subway The New York City Subway is a rapid transit system in New York City serving the New York City boroughs, boroughs of Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, and the Bronx. It is owned by the government of New York City and leased to the New York City Tr ...

system and subsequently to stadiums retail environments and public spaces around the world.

Consumer Goods

International Housewares Association TradePanel 2015 219

In 2021, following the acquisition of

Conair Corporation Conair Corporation is an American company based in Stamford, Connecticut which sells small appliances, personal care products, and health and beauty products for both professionals and consumers. It is majority-owned by private equity firm Am ...

by the New York-based private equity firm,

American Securities American Securities LLC is an American private equity firm based in New York with an office in Shanghai that invests in market-leading North American companies with annual revenues generally ranging from $200 million to $2 billion and/or $50 mill ...

, Ramnarace joined to lead a brand and product revitalization for

Cuisinart Cuisinart ( ) is an American kitchen appliance and cookware brand owned by Conair Corporation. Cuisinart was founded in 1971 by Carl Sontheimer and initially produced food processors, which were introduced at a food show in Chicago in 1973. The ...

. Partnering with international product development and innovation firms, Harman, Karim Rashid, Inc. alumnus, Steve Cozzolino, Ramnarace launched the One Cuisinart Strategy to promote the brand globally. Ramnarace worked extensively with members of the CMA in Asia to promote trade, focusing on emerging technologies and manufacturing expertise. In 2022, Ramnarace led an effort with the executive team from

to engage Berlin-based MetaDesign, part of the

Publicis Groupe Publicis Groupe S.A. is a French multinational advertising and public relations company. As of 2024, the company is the largest advertising company in the world by revenue. Based in Paris, it is one of the 'Big Four' advertising commpanies, al ...

in a strategic redesign of the Cuisinart brand experience. Subsequently, agency partners

Publicis Sapient Publicis Sapient is a digital consulting company belonging to Publicis Groupe, with 20,000 people and over 50 offices worldwide. It was originally established as Sapient in Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1990. In 2015, Sapient became an independent ...

were brought in to manage a comprehensive redesign of the brand e-commerce and web experience based on the work done by Ramnarace and MetaDesign. Ramnarace has also spent time teaching at his alma mater as well as appearing as a guest speaker at the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

Ross School of Business The University of Michigan Ross School of Business (branded as Michigan Ross) is the business school of the University of Michigan, a Public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The school was originally established ...

at the MBA in Marketing program.

Selected projects

File:2005 Ford Thunderbird Hardtop front 4.28.18.jpg, Ford Thunderbird (11th Generation) File:2005 Ford Mustang GT Deluxe Coupe, front right, 07-02-2023.jpg, Ford Mustang (5th Generation) File:2009 Ford Edge Sport NY.jpg, Ford Edge File:Lincoln MKX -- 11-10-2011.jpg, Lincoln MKX File:2002-2005 Ford Explorer -- 06-16-2011.jpg, Ford Explorer (3rd Generation) File:Prodigy sm.jpg, Ford Prodigy Concept

References

External links

Core 77 Interview with Sid Ramnarace
Q+A with Sid Ramnarace at the International Home and Housewares Show
Car and Driver
Car and Driver feature on Ramnarace designs {{DEFAULTSORT:Ramnarace, Sid Canadian furniture designers Living people American automobile designers Ford designers People in the automobile industry 1973 births Canadian jewellery designers