Hello, I'm Benjamin (Ben) Herda! Some background info about me is that I am originally from Sussex, Wisconsin (about 20 minutes north west of the city of Milwaukee). Growing up I always loved building and making things, such as Legos. I vividly remember filling up a large Rubbermaid tote full of extra Lego pieces to build whatever creation I came up with. I was also very fortunate to have shop classes when I was in middle school (6th-8th grade) and high school (9th-12th grade). These classes really peaked my interests and allowed me to do so many things, from building our own rockets, thermoforming RC car bodies, and so much more in the wood shop, metal shop, engineering, and automotive classes.
I moved to the city of Minneapolis, Minnesota to pursue an education at the University of Minnesota - Twin Cities. I chose the University of Minnesota because I had originally wanted to pursue Architecture as my area of study because I loved making things and building so I thought this would be more suited for me instead of an engineering school, and the only school in Wisconsin that had Architecture was the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee. I thought that would be a little too close to home, so I ended up in Minnesota.
After my first semester in college, it wasn't like how I thought it would be, the whole college experience and Architecture. It was an eye opening experience and was a lot of work and finding myself and what I wanted to do. Luckily I was able to learn about Product Design through a guest speaker in one of my Architecture courses. It was at that time that I knew I wanted to go into Product Design because it was everything I loved growing up and being a blend of design and engineering. However, when I was looking to pursue a major in this area of study it was still under development and wasn't completely fleshed out. This is when I started to look at other options for my major area of study so I could graduate in four years and still have Product Design be my minor.
When talking to friends and advisors I was introduced to Business and Marketing. I'm an analytical and logical thinker, so this came naturally to me and I feel as though it blends my unique knowledge and experiences I've had in my life with work and my education. Having this blend of Product Design along with Business and Marketing is the best of both worlds. Knowing how something is made and why it was designed means you can better market and sell it compared to those who don't and understanding the market and consumer base allows you to design in a whole different way to have products with functional use and real-world value.
Now here I am as a graduate of the University of Minnesota with a bachelors degree in Business and Marketing and a minor in Product Design, ready to take on the world. Take a look at some of my work and the projects I've made, and reach out if you have any questions or would like to talk about different opportunities, or just to say hello!