Dan Martin

Dan Martin is a managing partner at Octo Design - an Industrial Design agency that combines excellence in both early-stage idea exploration and the design of manufacturing-ready products. Octo’s studio is based in the North East (tucked just behind the Sage Concert Hall), from where Octo’s team works with national and international clients primarily in B2B markets. After graduating from Northumbria University with a BA(Hons) in Design for Industry in 1995, Dan has spent more than a quarter of a century developing his practice as an Industrial Designer - successfully delivering projects ranging from veterinary devices to train interiors.

His consultancy work is now focused on the exciting if foggy space of early-stage idea exploration, where as an innovation facilitator and coach, he brings insight and energy to helping clients create and test new business, product, and service ideas. Increasingly, this includes consideration of how they address sustainable development goals. From 2010 to 2019, Dan was a founder and director at Curar Animal Therapeutics, a disruptive start-up in the veterinary devices space, formed to bring the latest human med-tech into the animal treatment space.

Weekends are spent in beautiful locations with a selection of sharp implements and great company as he volunteers to help revitalize and create woodlands across the North East