HLB is an employee-owned, international product design consulting firm with offices in Chicago, Boston and Los Angeles. HLB was founded in 1963 in Chicago, IL, by renowned industrial designers Walter Herbst, Ralph LaZar and Randy Bell.

In 1996, HLB became the first official 100% employee-owned product design firm in the United States. In 2001, partner, Walter Herbst created the Master of Product Development graduate program at Northwestern University. Those in senior design positions at HLB became university professors and recognized expert speakers, lecturing at events, conferences and universities around the world on such topics as design trends, innovation, and the strategic value of design.

HLB created multi-disciplinary teams that offer expertise in human factors and market research, business strategy, industrial design, materials and processes, mechanical engineering and electrical engineering, software development, bio-med technology, manufacturing management, and prototype and modeling services.

HLB is recognized for its contributions to help companies uncover new product and service opportunities with its process of innovation. HLB was consistently honored in the Business Week’s Global Top 10 annual survey of the best industrial design firms and the Industrial Designers Society of America (IDSA). HLB is responsible for such diverse and widely recognized designs as the Motorola NFL Coaches Headset, the first Internet Gas Pump, the Papermate Liquid Correction Pen, and lifesaving products such as the Ethicon Mammotome Handheld Breast Biopsy System, the ZOLL AED Plus defibrillator, and the CardioVations Heart Stabilizer.

Source: Wikipedia

The company was also involved in exhibition design for the Smithsonian National Air and Space museum and for several US government agencies including the Dept. of Commerce and the Dept. of Interior.
 

2018