Design has always played an important role across Newell Brands’ portfolio of iconic consumer brands. Today, the company is strengthening how design operates across the enterprise, bringing it closer to strategy, innovation, decision-making and AI-enabled capabilities.

Brian Rice joins Newell Brands as VP, Global Head of Design at a pivotal moment with a mandate to modernize the design function and build a world-class organization anchored by the new Atlanta-based Design Center, set to be completed in Summer 2026.

In this Q&A, Brian shares his vision for design at Newell Brands, the opportunity ahead, and what it means for creative talent looking to make an impact at scale.

What attracted you to the role of VP, Global Head of Design at Newell Brands — and what opportunity did you see in this moment?

What drew me to Newell Brands is the combination of iconic brands and untapped design potential. When you look across the portfolio from Sharpie® to Rubbermaid® to Coleman®  you’re talking about products that millions of people use every day. That kind of scale creates a real opportunity for design to shape how people work, play and perhaps, express themselves.

What made the moment especially compelling is the chance to build something meaningful at an enterprise level. Design here isn’t just about individual products, it’s about creating a capability that can accelerate growth across our portfolio of brands.

There’s a lot of momentum in the company right now, and the opportunity to connect great brand heritage with modern design thinking, faster AI-driven innovation and ideation, and stronger consumer experiences. As a designer and design leader, getting the chance to help shape that future across so many loved brands was hard to pass up.

How would you describe the role of design at Newell Brands today — and how could it contribute to growth across the portfolio?

Design already plays an important role across many of our brands, but the real opportunity is to elevate it as an integrated enterprise capability.

What that means in practice is bringing design physically closer to strategy, innovation, and decision-making across the business. When design is integrated with product management, engineering, insights, and marketing from the beginning, it doesn’t just make things look better, it helps teams make smarter, more seamless decisions earlier.

As we evolve, design could become a multiplier for the portfolio. It can accelerate innovation pipelines, strengthen brand differentiation, and create more cohesive experiences for consumers.

How can design create competitive advantage for a company with iconic brands across multiple business segments?

Competitive advantage often comes down to clarity and speed.

Design helps clarify what a brand stands for and how that shows up in the product, packaging, and overall consumer experience. When that’s done well, consumers don’t need a long explanation they simply know why they prefer one product over alternatives.

It also helps companies move faster. With strong design processes and clear principles, teams can prototype, test, and refine ideas much more quickly. That speed matters in today’s market.

Across a multi-brand portfolio like Newell’s, design also plays another role: creating consistency without making everything the same. Every brand should have its own voice and distinctive look and feel, yet the quality of thought behind the design should remain unmistakable.

How is design helping accelerate innovation and smarter decision-making — particularly as AI becomes more integrated into the business?

AI is becoming an incredible amplifier for design and innovation. It helps us explore more ideas, faster, and gives teams better insights earlier in the process. It’s an accelerant for all of us.

For example, designers can rapidly prototype concepts, visualize possibilities, and test directions before we invest significant resources. That means we can learn faster and make smarter decisions along the way.

But the key thing to remember is that AI doesn’t replace creativity...it amplifies it! The real value comes when talented designers combine human insight, brand understanding, and empathy with powerful new tools.

If we do that well, AI allows us to spend less time on the mechanics and more time on the thinking and creating that actually drives breakthrough innovation.

What is the Newell Brands Design Center in Atlanta — and what does “rebuilding” it mean in practice?

The Design Center in Atlanta is really about bringing together talent, capability, and collaboration in one place. Our new Design Center will never replace the history and legacy built in previous iterations, we’re simply building the next chapter.

Rebuilding it means creating a modern design organization with the tools, environment, and culture that allow creative teams to do their best work. That includes expanding capabilities from industrial design and brand design to digital tools, prototyping, and advanced visualization.

It’s also about setting high standards and a strong creative culture. Great design organizations aren’t built accidentally, they’re built intentionally. That means clear expectations, strong collaboration with the business, and an environment where bold ideas are encouraged.

In short, we’re building a place where great designers and creators can come together and do work that truly impacts our brands.

Why is Atlanta the right place to build the Newell Brands Design Center — and what makes this an exciting moment for creative talent?

Atlanta is an incredibly dynamic city right now. It has a growing and thriving creative community, strong universities, and a culture that blends entrepreneurship, design, and technology.

For Newell Brands, having the Design Center here also creates visibility and connection across the company. Designers are able to collaborate closely with leadership, brand teams, and innovation partners.

What makes this moment exciting for creative talent is the opportunity to help shape something as it’s being built. This isn’t just joining a design organization it’s helping define what it becomes and the creative culture we desire to grow. Those opportunities don’t come around very often.

What kind of design organization are you building — and what leadership principles will define it?

The organization we’re building is grounded in a few core principles: clarity, creative excellence, collaboration, and courage and of course, empathy at the core.

Clarity means designers understand the business context and the outcomes we’re trying to achieve. Great design happens when creativity and strategy are aligned.

Creative excellence is equally important. If we want to build a world-class design organization, we have to hold ourselves to that level every day.

Collaboration is essential because design doesn’t happen in isolation. I’ve often said, “Design is a team sport. Full Stop.” The best ideas emerge when designers work closely with engineering, R&D, marketing, and commercial teams.

And finally, courage. Great design often requires challenging assumptions and pushing for better solutions. That’s something we want to encourage across the entire organization.

For designers exploring career opportunities at Newell Brands, what kind of impact can they expect to have?

The biggest thing designers will find here is real ownership and real scale.

When you work on brands that reach millions of consumers around the world, the work you do truly matters. A single idea can influence how people cook, write, organize, travel, play, or enjoy the outdoors.

Designers here also have the chance to help build a design organization from the inside out and the outside in. That means shaping how we work, how we innovate, and how design contributes to the company’s growth. We are hiring some amazing leaders, designers, ops specialists, and just great people.

And honestly, those kinds of opportunities are pretty rare.

If you’re someone who wants to do meaningful work and help build something lasting, this is a great place to do it. Come join us!