Roman Gebhard has watched technology evolve across three continents and multiple design cultures—from LUNAR Design in San Francisco to frog in New York to Siemens Design in Munich, where he eventually co-founded FLUID Design in 2006. Through all these shifts, he's observed something encouraging about where design practice is heading.

"With the wealth of new technologies and the continued evolution of others, I'm most excited that the focus is shifting," Roman says. "The question is becoming less about the tech itself and more about creating great, user-centered, engaging solutions that genuinely improve everyday life."

As managing partner and co-founder of FLUID Design (formerly LUNAR Europe), the Munich-based design and innovation consultancy, Roman helps organizations humanize technology through strategic, human-centered design. His rare blend of industrial, UX, and interface design expertise, paired with strategy and insights, allows him to turn complex challenges into elegant, people-first solutions. He earned a B.Sc. (Hons) in Industrial Design from Art Center College of Design and has led workshops at the Design University in Lund, Sweden.

Roman leads multidisciplinary teams creating user-centric products, services, and experiences for clients in health, consumer tech, and critical industries. His approach combines the agility of a boutique studio with the rigor and scale of enterprise programs, ensuring innovation remains grounded in real human needs. His work has been featured in major professional publications and recognized with numerous international design awards. Active in the global design community, Roman has served as a juror for the iF Design Award, IDSA Design Awards, and the Spark Design Award, and in 2026 he leads the jury for the Consumer Technology category in the COre77 Design Awards.

Unlearning How to Think

Yet Roman's optimism about technology's trajectory comes paired with a pointed concern about how designers engage with emerging tools. "With AI technologies further on the rise, I worry we may start to unlearn how to do and think for ourselves," he reflects. "There's a real risk of losing connection to our core skills and crafts as creatives."

The consequence, as Roman sees it, extends beyond individual capability to the character of design output itself. "If that happens, we could end up with solutions that are properly designed but overly mainstream—lacking exploration, edge, and bold excursions into new, untapped territory of truly exciting solutions."

Technology as Enabler

As jury captain for the Consumer Technology category in the 2026 Core77 Design Awards, Roman will be evaluating entries through a lens that balances embrace of new tools with preservation of creative autonomy. His advice to entrants reflects this equilibrium.

"Explore and practice your creative craft and talent," Roman says. "Embrace new technologies like AI, but make sure your creative mind, and your passion to explore, stays at the core."

The strongest work, he suggests, will demonstrate a particular relationship between designer and tool. "The strongest projects will show how humanized innovation emerges from a clear point of view, thoughtful experimentation, and a design process that uses technology as an enabler, not a substitute for creativity."

For designers entering consumer technology work, Roman's standard is clear: show solutions where technology serves human needs, where creative vision drives the process, and where bold exploration leads to genuinely exciting outcomes rather than safe, mainstream iterations.

2025 Winner

Winning the Professional category in 2025 was the XBOX Adaptive Joystick from the Design Team at Microsoft which addresses the need for an affordable, singular joystick to use alongside the XBOX Adaptive Controller specifically for players with limited mobility. It can be controlled with one hand, mounted via tabletops, or used with non-hand body parts.

If you have a forward-thinking idea that could spark a fire with our jurors, share it with us through the 2026 Core77 Design Awards.

Don't delay - the final deadline for entries is Friday March 27!