Award-Winning Design Team Paves The Way For Faucet Innovation In Carmel, Indiana

INDIANAPOLIS, Feb. 27, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Headquartered in Carmel, Indiana, one of Money magazine's 2012 "Best Places to Live," Delta Faucet Company has earned its reputation as an innovation leader in kitchen and bath design. Nestled in the heart of the Midwest, the company's promise to deliver unique faucets and fixtures with distinctive design characteristics has drawn some of the world's top design talent to the crossroads of the U.S., including the recent addition of two new industrial designers, whose backgrounds in fine art and automotive safety reflect the team's ability to approach design differently.

"Creating a beautiful faucet can take years - from conceptualization to production. The strength of our expanding team comes from its ability to approach design from all angles, anticipating people's needs and developing products that look timeless but are also reflective of current design trends," said Judd Lord, director of industrial design, Delta Faucet Company. "This approach helps us to create products that are more than just faucets but integral design elements in the kitchen and bath space and has resulted in numerous innovations that continue to spur excitement within our team and the design world."  

Working closely with Delta® product engineers to evaluate ethnographic research and incorporate new technologies that address consumers' unmet and unarticulated needs, innovations from Delta Faucet Company's industrial design team have been recognized by multiple industry awards, including most recently four Design Journal Awards for Design Excellence (ADEX); the International Design Excellence Award (IDEA) and the Catalyst Award from the Industrial Designer Society of America; and a GOOD Design Award presented by the Chicago Athenaeum and Museum of Architecture and Design as well as the European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies.

One of the team's most notable faucet designs is the new, internationally available, Delta Cassidy™ single-handle pull-down kitchen faucet. Inspired by the classic shape of the female silhouette, the traditionally designed faucet features a tapered base that mimics the look of a woman's cinched waist and also integrates Touch₂O^® Technology, which allows the flow of water to be activated with a simple tap anywhere on the spout or handle of the faucet. 

Meet the Delta Faucet Company Industrial Design Team
Judd Lord
Director of Industrial Design

A designer for Delta Faucet Company for more than 19 years, Judd Lord took over the reins of industrial design in 2000. His work has received hundreds of design patents and numerous design awards. Lord designed many of Delta Faucet's most successful product lines and was instrumental in laying out the groundwork for its Brizo® product portfolio, personally designing several of the initial marquee product suites. Lord holds an undergraduate degree in design engineering and a master's degree in product design. He also helps educate tomorrow's innovation leadership by teaching and supporting Delta Faucet scholarship and mentor programs at Purdue University and the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design (MIAD).

Tony Spangler
Project Manager, Industrial Design

Responsible for hundreds of design patents over the course of his tenure of more than 33 years with Delta Faucet Company, Tony Spangler has contributed in capacities ranging from graphic to product design. Spangler now spends much of his time researching and developing new designs and technologies often focused on enhancing the end-user experience with water. His love of ancient history, human-powered transportation and hand-building period objects fuels his unique creative perspective.

Seth Fritz
Lead Industrial Designer

Inspired early on in life by Rube Goldberg, Seth Fritz knew he was born a designer. His enthusiasm for all things design leads him to view the world around him differently – much like Goldberg. A part of the Delta Faucet Company team for ten years, Fritz's strong background in consumer friendly design, market research, and creative problem-solving has led to many design patents and numerous successful product suites in the current Delta and Brizo product catalogues.

Mercedita Andrew
Lead Industrial Designer

With a multicultural background, Mercedita Andrew is one of the most recent additions to the Delta Faucet Company industrial design family.  Born and raised in Puerto Rico, Andrew moved to New York City to pursue her master's degree in industrial design. Her interest in the creative applications between art and design has influenced her career since its start, when she co–founded a fine art studio in Puerto Rico. Andrew's unique take on art and design will continue to fuel new and innovative designs.

Celine Garland
Lead Industrial Designer

Born and raised in Singapore, Celine Garland earned her degree in graphic design and then worked as a graphic designer before coming over to the United States to pursue a degree in furniture design. For the last six years, she has been working as an industrial designer at Delta Faucet Company where she firmly believes the best design resides in the attention to details. Her background in design, combined with her unique cultural and educational experiences, allows Garland to bring a distinct perspective to the design process.

Jordan Bahler
Industrial Designer

Even after years of living in places like Texas and Germany, Jordan Bahler believes the Midwest has always been her home. A graduate of Purdue University, Bahler was drawn to design by a combined love of both physics and fine arts. Bahler believes her diverse interests are driven in part by her engineer father, who encouraged her to enter every science competition since grade school and by her mother, who made sure the majority of their time in Europe was spent exploring art museums. Most recently working in automotive safety design, Bahler now hopes to push the limits of what defines a faucet.

About Delta Faucet
There is a philosophy at the heart of every Delta® product: there is a better way to live with water. It goes beyond excellent design to incorporate smart thinking that anticipates people's needs. From proprietary Touch₂O® Technology that turns faucets on and off with just a touch to H2Okinetic™ shower technology that uniquely shapes the water to create larger water droplets that retain heat longer for a more drenching shower experience, Delta products incorporate thoughtful features that delight. Paired with beautiful, inspirational design, it's another way that the Delta® brand is more than just a faucet. Delta products are offered by Delta Faucet Company, which was named 2011 WaterSense® Manufacturer Partner of the Year by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Delta Faucet Company is a worldwide leader in kitchen faucets, bath faucets, showerheads, shower systems, toilets and related accessories and sells products in more than 53 countries. For more information, visit www.deltafaucet.com.

About Masco
Masco Corporation (NYSE:MAS) is one of the world's largest manufacturers of brand-name consumer products for the home and family, including Behr^® paint; Delta and Hansgrohe^® faucets, bath and shower fixtures; KraftMaid^® and Merillat^® cabinets; and Milgard^® windows and doors. Masco is also a leading provider of services that include the installation of insulation and other building products through Masco Contractor Services. Visit www.masco.com for more information on the Masco family of brands.

Links to additional resources
Cassidy™ Kitchen Collection
Delta Online Press Room

SOURCE Delta Faucet Company