Matthew Bird

Matthew Bird has spent the past 25 years working in different parts of the art, design and gift professions. Trained as an industrial designer and metalsmith, he designs products that are distributed to gift stores, museum stores, galleries and catalogues throughout the US and overseas. He regularly participates in trade- and craft-show juries and is a frequent guest critic and lecturer at various schools and universities. He has developed and managed multiple retail environments and participated as a designer and buyer for several others. First as an exhibitor, then as a marketing consultant and later as a buyer, Bird has attended hundreds of wholesale and retail trade shows, bringing him in contact with a wide range of manufacturers, designers and consumers.

Knowledge of contemporary product design and familiarity with manufacturing techniques got Bird involved as an expert witness in copyright infringement cases. He frequently designs and manufactures custom wares for a wide variety of institutions (including RISD, for which he designed the popular RISD tote bag, umbrella, multiple keyrings and even a school tie). His passion for history has led him more recently to focus on design projects for museums. He continues to claim his only true expertise to be song lyrics from the 1930s.