Born in Shropshire, England, in 1966, Roger Swales studied Industrial Design at Bristol Polytechnic, earning the 1987 Royal Society of Arts Design Bursary for Small Electrical Goods. His career began as a Junior Designer at Pentagram (London) from 1988 to 1989. 

In 1999, Roger co-founded GRO design with fellow designers Roland Bird and Graham Hinde. For 25 years, GRO collaborated with global industry leaders across Consumer, Healthcare, and B2B markets, working with brands including: Siemens, Nespresso, Sonos, Stanley Black & Decker, Microsoft, Grohe, Toto, Novo Nordisk, Philips Healthcare, Shark Ninja, HP, Beats by Dr. Dre, Haier, Unilever, Vodafone, Nokia, LGE, Samsung, Panasonic, Denon, Heineken, Masterfoods, Ultimaker, Gillette, Dell, Axion Biosystems, and many more. GRO design received multiple international design awards. www.grodesign.com 

 

Prior to that, Roger was part of Philips Design in the Netherlands for over a decade. He contributed to groundbreaking projects such as Philips Alessi (1994), designing the water kettle and citrus press concept that earned the Kho Liang Design Award, and Philips Vision of the Future (1995), where he was a core team member on this strategic project, which won IDSA Gold. 

Roger’s design expertise has been recognized globally through numerous prestigious design awards. He has served as a juror for: iF Product Design Awards (2010); International Design Excellence Awards (IDEA 2013 - 2014) — Hosted by IDSA, promoting innovation, best practices, and industry growth; Hong Kong Exporters’ Association Adjudication & Forum (2012, 2013, 2021).