colorado springs / Co usa
STUDIO
I’m Derek Bennion. GT11 is my design practice. Based in Colorado Springs, I design physical and digital products.
My work starts with curiosity and observation. I pay attention to what people enjoy about a product, what frustrates them, and what they’ve learned to put up with. That helps me decide what to simplify, what to preserve, and what’s worth taking further.I develop form and function together, working through the details with engineering and manufacturing. How a product looks, feels, and works should make sense as a whole. Design language is a central part of my work: giving products a recognizable identity that can carry across a family without making everything the same. I look for what makes a product recognizable, then decide what should remain and what can evolve.
I’m Principal Industrial Designer at Weber Blackstone, where I’ve helped shape Weber’s design language across product families including Traveler, Genesis, Spirit, and Searwood. My experience spans early concepts through development and production. Before Weber, I worked at consumer-product startups Plum and VSN Mobil. I hold a BFA in Industrial Design from the College for Creative Studies in DetroiT, MI.
Alongside GT11, I’m building THOP, a health and performance app designed to help people understand what matters and what to do next. It’s an extension of the same product thinking I bring to physical design—reducing friction, clarifying decisions, and shaping an experience that feels considered as a whole.
EXPERTISE
Industrial Design + Development
I develop physical products from early concepts through production, working across form, function, ergonomics, and architecture. Together with engineering and manufacturing, I resolve proportions, surfaces, materials, and construction, working through the practical constraints without losing what made the design worth pursuing.
Strategy + Design Language
I help define what a product should be, who it is for, and how it fits within a brand’s wider offering. User needs, existing products, and technical constraints inform that direction. I build and evolve design languages that connect products into a recognizable family, with enough flexibility for different functions, architectures, and generations without making everything the same.
Product Experience
I focus on how people understand and use physical and digital products, from first impressions to everyday use. What feels intuitive, what creates frustration, and what people enjoy all inform decisions about controls, interactions, and feedback. The aim is to remove unnecessary effort while building on what makes a product satisfying to use.
Visualization
I create product imagery that communicates form, material, and detail. Visualization serves both as a way to explore ideas during development and as finished work in its own right. Through lighting, composition, and context, I bring out what makes a product distinctive, whether I’m helping a team evaluate a direction or presenting a resolved design.
AWARDS
Core77 Design Awards
Design for Social Impact
Student Runner-Up · 2011
MOTOROLA Coral RASA
International Design Excellence Awards
IDSA IDEA
Bronze · 2011 · MOTOROLA Coral rasa
Finalist · 2012 · tri handle
Red Dot Design Award
Product Design
Winner · 2022
Weber SmokeFire Stealth Edition
PATENTS
US D1,149,881
US D1,036,964
US D1,013,439
US 11,808,072
US D996,134
US D979,317
US D972,888
US D972,887
US D972,360
US D971,661
US D959,905
US D959,904
US D959,779
US D959,153
US D958,545
US D953,792
US D951,000
US D943,350
US D926,408
US D925,265
US D925,264
US D920,740
US D915,824
US D915,812
US D915,139
US D915,138
US D915,137
US D915,136
US D915,120
US D914,429
US D914,428
US D902,515
US D899,852
US 10,519,703
US D805,829
US D805,340
EP 3,593,685
colorado springs / Co usa
STUDIO
I’m Derek Bennion. GT11 is my design practice. Based in Colorado Springs, I design physical and digital products.
My work starts with curiosity and observation. I pay attention to what people enjoy about a product, what frustrates them, and what they’ve learned to put up with. That helps me decide what to simplify, what to preserve, and what’s worth taking further.I develop form and function together, working through the details with engineering and manufacturing. How a product looks, feels, and works should make sense as a whole. Design language is a central part of my work: giving products a recognizable identity that can carry across a family without making everything the same. I look for what makes a product recognizable, then decide what should remain and what can evolve.
I’m Principal Industrial Designer at Weber Blackstone, where I’ve helped shape Weber’s design language across product families including Traveler, Genesis, Spirit, and Searwood. My experience spans early concepts through development and production. Before Weber, I worked at consumer-product startups Plum and VSN Mobil. I hold a BFA in Industrial Design from the College for Creative Studies in DetroiT, MI.
Alongside GT11, I’m building THOP, a health and performance app designed to help people understand what matters and what to do next. It’s an extension of the same product thinking I bring to physical design—reducing friction, clarifying decisions, and shaping an experience that feels considered as a whole.
EXPERTISE
Industrial Design + Development
I develop physical products from early concepts through production, working across form, function, ergonomics, and architecture. Together with engineering and manufacturing, I resolve proportions, surfaces, materials, and construction, working through the practical constraints without losing what made the design worth pursuing.
Strategy + Design Language
I help define what a product should be, who it is for, and how it fits within a brand’s wider offering. User needs, existing products, and technical constraints inform that direction. I build and evolve design languages that connect products into a recognizable family, with enough flexibility for different functions, architectures, and generations without making everything the same.
Product Experience
I focus on how people understand and use physical and digital products, from first impressions to everyday use. What feels intuitive, what creates frustration, and what people enjoy all inform decisions about controls, interactions, and feedback. The aim is to remove unnecessary effort while building on what makes a product satisfying to use.
Visualization
I create product imagery that communicates form, material, and detail. Visualization serves both as a way to explore ideas during development and as finished work in its own right. Through lighting, composition, and context, I bring out what makes a product distinctive, whether I’m helping a team evaluate a direction or presenting a resolved design.
AWARDS
Core77 Design Awards
Design for Social Impact
Student Runner-Up · 2011
MOTOROLA Coral RASA
International Design Excellence Awards
IDSA IDEA
Bronze · 2011 · MOTOROLA Coral rasa
Finalist · 2012 · tri handle
Red Dot Design Award
Product Design
Winner · 2022
Weber SmokeFire Stealth Edition
PATENTS
US D1,149,881
US D1,036,964
US D1,013,439
US 11,808,072
US D996,134
US D979,317
US D972,888
US D972,887
US D972,360
US D971,661
US D959,905
US D959,904
US D959,779
US D959,153
US D958,545
US D953,792
US D951,000
US D943,350
US D926,408
US D925,265
US D925,264
US D920,740
US D915,824
US D915,812
US D915,139
US D915,138
US D915,137
US D915,136
US D915,120
US D914,429
US D914,428
US D902,515
US D899,852
US 10,519,703
US D805,829
US D805,340
EP 3,593,685
colorado springs / Co usa
STUDIO
I’m Derek Bennion. GT11 is my design practice. Based in Colorado Springs, I design physical and digital products.
My work starts with curiosity and observation. I pay attention to what people enjoy about a product, what frustrates them, and what they’ve learned to put up with. That helps me decide what to simplify, what to preserve, and what’s worth taking further.I develop form and function together, working through the details with engineering and manufacturing. How a product looks, feels, and works should make sense as a whole. Design language is a central part of my work: giving products a recognizable identity that can carry across a family without making everything the same. I look for what makes a product recognizable, then decide what should remain and what can evolve.
I’m Principal Industrial Designer at Weber Blackstone, where I’ve helped shape Weber’s design language across product families including Traveler, Genesis, Spirit, and Searwood. My experience spans early concepts through development and production. Before Weber, I worked at consumer-product startups Plum and VSN Mobil. I hold a BFA in Industrial Design from the College for Creative Studies in DetroiT, MI.
Alongside GT11, I’m building THOP, a health and performance app designed to help people understand what matters and what to do next. It’s an extension of the same product thinking I bring to physical design—reducing friction, clarifying decisions, and shaping an experience that feels considered as a whole.
EXPERTISE
Industrial Design + Development
I develop physical products from early concepts through production, working across form, function, ergonomics, and architecture. Together with engineering and manufacturing, I resolve proportions, surfaces, materials, and construction, working through the practical constraints without losing what made the design worth pursuing.
Strategy + Design Language
I help define what a product should be, who it is for, and how it fits within a brand’s wider offering. User needs, existing products, and technical constraints inform that direction. I build and evolve design languages that connect products into a recognizable family, with enough flexibility for different functions, architectures, and generations without making everything the same.
Product Experience
I focus on how people understand and use physical and digital products, from first impressions to everyday use. What feels intuitive, what creates frustration, and what people enjoy all inform decisions about controls, interactions, and feedback. The aim is to remove unnecessary effort while building on what makes a product satisfying to use.
Visualization
I create product imagery that communicates form, material, and detail. Visualization serves both as a way to explore ideas during development and as finished work in its own right. Through lighting, composition, and context, I bring out what makes a product distinctive, whether I’m helping a team evaluate a direction or presenting a resolved design.
AWARDS
Core77 Design Awards
Design for Social Impact
Student Runner-Up · 2011
MOTOROLA Coral RASA
International Design Excellence Awards
IDSA IDEA
Bronze · 2011 · MOTOROLA Coral rasa
Finalist · 2012 · tri handle
Red Dot Design Award
Product Design
Winner · 2022
Weber SmokeFire Stealth Edition
PATENTS
US D1,149,881
US D1,036,964
US D1,013,439
US 11,808,072
US D996,134
US D979,317
US D972,888
US D972,887
US D972,360
US D971,661
US D959,905
US D959,904
US D959,779
US D959,153
US D958,545
US D953,792
US D951,000
US D943,350
US D926,408
US D925,265
US D925,264
US D920,740
US D915,824
US D915,812
US D915,139
US D915,138
US D915,137
US D915,136
US D915,120
US D914,429
US D914,428
US D902,515
US D899,852
US 10,519,703
US D805,829
US D805,340
EP 3,593,685