Local Limelight with Michael Laut of Raleigh's Laut Design
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Michael Laut, CEO of Laut Design. Photo: Courtesy of Laut Design
Michael Laut was just a junior in college when he decided to start his own industrial design firm inside his cramped apartment near N.C. State, using a table as a workbench instead of a place to eat.
Why it matters: Now, 18 years later, his firm Laut Design has traded the apartment for a modern workshop in Northwest Raleigh, with a team of more than 20 designers and staff.
- Laut now makes products and graphic designs for some of the biggest companies in the country, like Bayer and Pepsi, and local favorites like Burt's Bees and Murphy's Naturals.
We talked with Laut for our latest Local Limelight conversation. This Q&A has been edited for length and clarity.
🪖 How did you end up in the Triangle? My dad was a foot and ankle surgeon in the Army, fixing up the 82nd Airborne paratroopers after hard landings, so I grew up on Fort Bragg. My extended family moved to Southern Pines and I stayed in Raleigh after attending N.C. State's College of Design.
🧆 Favorite place to eat in the Triangle? Recently, Ajja, near Five Points. My assistant turned me on to it and it's become a definite favorite.
🌳 What do you think the Triangle is missing? We need our government leaders to stop selling our green spaces out from under us. Raleigh should be outraged about Lake Crabtree. Green spaces are a huge part of what makes Raleigh amazing.
📲 What's your first read in the morning? The Daily Stoic newsletter, followed very quickly by a flurry of company updates in email.
📚 Last great book you read? I re-read — or listen to — the Ian Fleming (James Bond) novels on a rolling basis, and "Every Tool's a Hammer" by Adam Savage is a semi-recent favorite.
🎧 Do you have a go-to podcast? I'm big into mountain biking, and you can't beat The Pinkbike Podcast for that.
🏝️ Favorite place to go for a long weekend? Big Pine Key, Florida. If you know, you know.
🔨 How do you unplug at the end of the day? My garage is full of the best tools and machinery I've collected throughout my career in making things (so far...) and is absolutely my happy place at home. My favorite evenings are spent in there with my wife and two kids.
🐶 Do you have any pets? Opal, our English black Lab, has been the shop dog since 2013.
💻 Where do you go for design inspiration? Some names that will likely be familiar only within the industrial design industry: leManoosh, Core77, Recomendo/Cool Tools Lab, Tested and recently anything by Dan Gelbart.
✏️ Any advice on breaking into the design industry? No hiding. Designers who shy away from the tough skills — sketching, complex surfacing, fabrication and materials knowledge — only fool themselves. It all comes out in the interview, or worse yet, during the first weeks on the job. Lean into the hard part and ask for help.