Tom Hardy (born 1946) is an American design strategist and Professor of Design Management at Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD).[1][2] As corporate design advisor to Samsung Electronics (1996-2003) Hardy was instrumental in transforming their brand image from follower to innovation leader by creating a new brand-design ethos: "Balance of Reason & Feeling", and building significant global brand equity through judicious use of design strategy and management.[3][4][5] While at IBM (1970-1992), he was an award-winning industrial designer [6][7][8][9][10][11] and later served as corporate head of the IBM Design Program responsible for worldwide brand-design identity.[12][13] His leadership contributed to the revitalization of IBM's brand image via differentiated design such as the iconic ThinkPad.[14][15]
^Catalog, Savannah College of Art and Design, 2015-2016. Programs of Study: School of Design, Design Management Program: Faculty, pp.100-03
^Cain, G, (2020) Samsung Rising: The Inside Story of the South Korean Giant That Set Out to Beat Apple and Conquer Tech, New York: Currency, pp.113-116
^Chung, K.; Freeze, K., "Design Strategy at Samsung Electronics: Becoming a Top-Tier Company″, [2]Design Management Institute Case Study - Harvard Business School Publishing, 2008, p.8
^International Information Technology Exhibition: SMAU, (Italy) Industrial Design Award: IBM 5230 Data Collection System/Series 1, 1977. Pizzi, M., Grilli, N., (1998) Thirty Years of SMAU Industrial Design Award, Milano: Amilcare Pizziart grafiche S.p.A., p.28
^Annual Design Review,I.D. Magazine, Product design award: IBM 5230 Data Collection System/Series 1, 1977, p.110
^Industrial Design Excellence - Gold IDEA. Industrial Designers Society of America, Product design award: IBM 5120 Computing System, 1980, p.3