Newell Brands appoints Brian Rice as head of global design

ATLANTA — Brian Rice has joined Newell Brands Inc. as vice president, global head of design.

The appointment comes as Newell modernizes its design function, including the development of a new design center, recently relocated to the company’s global headquarters here after nearly a dozen years in Kalamazoo, Mich.

The new center will serve as a hub for industrial design, brand design, digital visualization, prototyping, and AI-enabled innovation, the company said.

Rice brings extensive experience elevating design as a strategic growth driver across world-class consumer and enterprise brands. Most recently, he served as senior vice president and global chief brand and design officer at 3M, where he led corporate brand, design, and partnerships to connect purpose, innovation, and customer experience at scale.

Rice has also held senior design leadership roles at Georgia-Pacific, Procter & Gamble, Bristol-Myers Squibb, and The Coca-Cola Co. 

 At Newell Brands, he will be responsible for advancing design as an integrated enterprise capability across the 123-year-old company’s portfolio of brands, including Sharpie, Rubbermaid, Coleman, and Yankee Candle. 

Rice will focus on strengthening design governance, building best-in-class capabilities, accelerating design and innovation through artificial intelligence and embedding design excellence more deeply into strategy, innovation, and decision-making.