Mario Gagliardi | Biography

Mario Gagliardi is designer, theorist, and principal of mg strategy. He was chief executive at Qatar Foundation, advisor of the Austrian Federal Ministry of Education, Science and Culture, and chief designer of LG. Mario taught in universities in Europe and Asia and authored articles on design, creativity and strategy which have been published in 7 languages. He holds an MBA from the University of Westminster in London and is Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.  

After having studied design in the master classes of Alessandro Mendini and Richard Sapper and having won, with three entries, the first three prizes at the Austrian Post Shop telephone design competition in 1989, Mario got his first job as product designer at Philips. For his concept for digital fabrics he got another design prize from the Italian architecture magazine Domus, and he went on to work as design director in the telecommunication, fashion, and banking sectors, in between designing interiors, products, and tableware which sold at premier department stores such as Bergdorf Goodman and Takashimaya.

In the mid to late nineties he contributed in shaping a design vision and a design culture for Korea as an advisor for the Korea Institute of Design Promotion (part of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy) and the Innovative Design Lab of Samsung. In 1997 he was the first non-Korean national appointed to a management position in the LG headquarters in Seoul. At a time when LG faced strong pressure from international competitors, Mario developed new design and marketing concepts, developed the future design direction, and designed a host of best-selling brands and products. His work was awarded several design prizes including the Good Design Mark of the Korean Republic. In the FMCG sector, his strategy and design concepts for high-end cosmetics became the most successful products of LG Care, generating more profit than any other product and establishing LG Care firmly ahead of its competitors.

In 2001, Mario founded allevio innovation and mg strategy, a first of its kind think-tank and multi-disciplinary studio for design strategy and design futures. There he pioneered new processes for creativity, cross-disciplinary collaboration models and innovative design concepts such as user-generated branding, touch-screen mobile phones and generative/parametric design processes.

As advisor to the Austrian Federal Ministry for Education, Science and Culture, Mario designed knowledge systems and new learning experiences. These initiatives have been instrumental for the nationwide implementation of e-learning in Austria and contributed to a 88% adoption of e-learning in Austrian schools. 

In 2008 he was invited by Sheikha Mozah Bint Nasser Al Missned to Qatar Foundation, where he worked as chief executive and created the vision, strategy and frameworks for a future creative sector in the Gulf region. In 2009 he was invited by Heinz Fischer, the Federal President of Austria, to discuss the creative industries and to compile a strategic dossier.

Mario was professor at the International Design School for Advanced Studies in Seoul, South Korea and at Aalborg University in Denmark, and he taught at Salzburg University of Applied Science in Austria. He delivered speeches at international congresses such as Innotown in Norway, the European International Design Management Conference in Barcelona, the Marketing Conference in Istanbul, Era 05 World Design Congress in Copenhagen, Tasmeem Doha 2006 and Icograda Design Week Doha 2009. He held lectures and workshops at London Business School (UK), The University College for the Creative Arts (UK), Tsinghua University (China), Bogazici University (Turkey), Zollverein School of Management and Design (Germany) and Kaospilots (Denmark).

As theorist, he wrote articles for publications such as the Design Management Review (US), Designmatters (Denmark) and Form (Germany). He also authored the columns "Mario Gagliardi On Design" for Danish Designers (Denmark) and "Design Observations" for Korea's largest design magazine, Monthly Design.