User:Sche0502/Rob Grey

Rob Grey
In 1969 Rob Grey was born in Johannesburg, South Africa. At the age of 4, Rob’s family moved to Zimbabwe where he relished in all that farm life had to offer him and his creative spirit. Whilst at junior school this creativity transformed into art as he began painting in oils.

Inadvertently, Rob happened upon his first business in boarding school after renovating his plain tan satchel using acrylic paints. The design was wildly popular among his schoolmates thus creating the first-ever demand for a Rob Grey inspired fashion statement. The young entrepreneur did not stop at customized satchels. Business boomed for Rob all throughout his years in boarding school as he handled the bank for poker nights and ran a dormitory barbershop. He also designed a clothing line, which was made on the family farm and sold to the boys in his boarding school hostel.

Having qualified as a Mechanical Engineer, Rob designed and completed various projects, locally and as far wide as Chile, Vietnam, Hong Kong, Germany, and the U.K. At 30, Rob’s career did an about turn. His entrepreneurial spirit led him to launch the now successful Rocketfuel Brand as a Product Design Agency in Cape Town. The company started in 1999; by 2001 an authoritative, racing-inspired clothing line was added under the Rocketfuel umbrella. The line, which was stocked in YDE for 9 years, won a plethora of awards for design from the Men's Health Style Awards to FHM's most popular local brand as judged by the public for two consecutive years and numerous YDE awards for the best Menswear Brand and Best Performing Brand. Furthermore, Rob brought out a range of racing furniture under the Rocketfuel label that has since done exceptionally well and been exported. Although under wraps, it is expected that a Rocketfuel concept store will be opening soon.

Rob's desire to create a variety of design disciplines encouraged thought on 3D Product Identity Design, as he envisioned where it could take brand building. In 2007,the well-established Rocketfuel Product Design Agency was re-launched as RF4D, a product design agency specializing in 3D Corporate Identity. '3DCI' (patent pending) is what Rob believes is creating a shift in the philosophy behind branding in its various applications. Three years later, in 2010, Rob Grey took RF4D international by opening an office in London.

Rob’s passion of design has drawn inspiration for a specialized home interior collection. The Rob Grey Collection consists of an innovative combination of highly engineered stainless steel and Corian inlay detailing, at trademark 60 and 30-degree angles. Wood used in the collection is sourced from FCC approved suppliers, meaning that the plantation is logged in an ecologically friendly and sustainable manner. Details of the wood’s plantation will be included on the product, giving each owner a truly unique piece. The materials selected for the aspirational range create a simple timeless design. The Rob Grey Collection is soon to be sold in Switzerland.