Rob Forbes is an American designer and entrepreneur. He is the founder of the furniture company Design Within Reach,[1] and of the bicycle retailer Public Bikes (stylized "PUBLIC").[2]
Forbes grew up in Pasadena and Laguna Beach, California.[3] He studied aesthetics at UC Santa Cruz and received an Masters of Fine Arts in ceramics from New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University.[3][4]
Forbes received a National Endowment for the Arts grant, and spent his early career as a potter[5] and exhibiting artist; he also taught at Philadelphia College of Art.[4] After earning his MBA at Stanford University,[6] Forbes worked as a marketer at Williams Sonoma, Smith & Hawken, and the Nature Company.[7]
In 1999 Forbes founded the company Design Within Reach, which marketed European modern furnishings to American buyers.[8] Products were shipped directly to the buyer through catalogue and online ordering.[7] After rapid initial growth, Design Within Reach became a public company in 2004. Shortly thereafter Forbes left the company;[9] by 2009 it was in financial difficulty, delisted from the stock exchange and was sold to hedge fund Glenhill Capital Management.[6][10]
In 2010 Forbes founded Public Bikes, an online bike retailer.[11] The company designs and sells European-style bicycles aimed at urban cyclists.[12][13]
Forbes opened an art studio in San Francisco. In 2011, he curated an exhibit of pottery and ceramics at Frakn Lloyd Gallery in Santa Monica.[14]
Forbes writes and lectures on visual thinking and modern design. He presented a TED Talk, "Ways of Seeing" in 2006,[3] and has also spoken at AGFA SF. Forbes has written a book called See For Yourself, released in May 2015. He created and contributes to DWR Design Notes, a monthly newsletter on modernism and design.