Whatup, I'm Joe Riehl. I grew up in Issaquah, studied industrial design in Bellingham, took a working holiday in Brisbane that turned into a family, and spent two years in Honolulu with a newborn daughter before coming back home to Seattle. Every one of those places shows up in my work. I borrow from what I've seen, like everyone does, and since no two people have seen the same things, no two people have the same ideas to offer.
That used to be a nice sentiment. Now that making things has gotten cheap and fast, it's most of what's left. Anyone can render a building or ship an app. What remains is choosing what to make, who it's for, and who you want to be while you're making it.
Most of my work is anticipation. I gather as much context as I can, read what people actually need, and make the call a little before it's obvious. Lately that means building the tools as much as using them.
If something here is close to what you're working on, get in touch.
Skills
- # skills.md
- > Joe Riehl. Designer, Seattle WA. Twenty-plus years, four disciplines, one way of working.
- ## Design
- - Industrial design, B.S. WWU 2008
- - Retail fixtures, displays and POP
- - Store-of-the-future experience strategy
- - Concept development from a brief
- - Spatial planning by zone
- - Brand integration in retail space
- - Concept through production handoff
- ## Visualization
- - Photoreal renderings, concept to marketing
- - Architecture, interiors, retail and product
- - 3D modeling at real scale
- - Lighting, materials and camera
- - Animation and real-time walkthroughs
- - VR and drone capture programs
- - 3D scanning: photogrammetry and splats
- - Post-production and compositing
- ## Fabrication
- - Dielines and contour-cut prep
- - Print mechanicals and large-format specs
- - BOMs and fixture pricing
- - Client CAD intake (SolidWorks, SketchUp)
- - 3D printing, from CAD to slicer to G-code
- - Woodworking and furniture building
- - Mechanical and automotive work
- - Most home projects: carpentry, installs, wiring
- ## Software and agents
- - Agent harnesses: skills, rules, checkpoints
- - Claude Code and Codex workflows
- - MCP bridges into design apps
- - Google Apps Script web apps
- - Python and Node tooling
- - Windows desktop apps (.NET, WPF)
- - React Native mobile prototypes
- - Static sites on Cloudflare
- - Local AI: Whisper, ComfyUI, local LLMs
- ## Leadership
- - Principal Designer, The Bernard Group
- - Built and ran a visualization team of five
- - Senior Associate, Ankrom Moisan
- - Mentoring interns with real ownership
- - Rolling out new tools to designers
- - Client presentations and reviews
- ## Tools
- - 3ds Max, Corona, V-Ray, Chaos Vantage
- - Unreal Engine 5, Cinema 4D, Blender
- - SketchUp, SolidWorks
- - Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign
- - Marvelous Designer, Postshot, Meshy, ComfyUI
- - Claude Code, Codex, Apps Script
- - Slicers and G-code
Clients and collaborators
Résumé
Principal Designer · The Bernard Group · Seattle, WA
Design and visualization for retail environments and brand experiences, from first sketch through fabrication. Lately also the studio's in-house toolmaker: agent pipelines that take a brief to finished renders.
Senior 3D Artist · Eight Inc. · Honolulu, HI
Pretty pictures of experiential design concepts for one of the studios behind the Apple Store.
Visualization Manager / Senior Associate · Ankrom Moisan Architects · Seattle, WA
Led a team of five 3D artists across three offices: renderings, animations and VR for design review, competitions and marketing.
Industrial Designer · Retail Logic · Brisbane, Australia
Retail and fixture design for the food and beverage world: Coles, Woolworths, Masterfoods, Diageo.
Industrial Designer · Built Design · Everett, WA
Products, tradeshow booths and fixtures for the outdoor industry: K2, Outdoor Research, Arc'teryx, MSR, Osprey.
Retail / Industrial Designer · Formfly Design @ Synsor · Everett, WA
Fixtures, kiosks and retail spaces for Microsoft, T-Mobile, Nintendo, Starbucks and friends.
The early years · Resolute Lighting · Avalanche Ranch Lighting · WWU
Custom light fixtures, a rustic-contemporary lighting line, and campus media design while finishing school.
B.S. Industrial Design · Western Washington University · Bellingham, WA
Where most of the personal work on this site was born.
