Chris Down

Chris Down is a creative executive whose career spans more than three decades at the intersection of design, play, and brand innovation. He has led the creation of award-winning products, packaging, and experiences across multiple industries, including designing board games for Parker Brothers, producing video games, and building globally recognized toy brands. Down has designed toys and games at Parker Brothers, executive produced video games for Hasbro Interactive, led online game creative and development at Games.com, and co-created the branding and innovation lab Atari Labs for Atari Interactive. He founded the mobile media company SomaGames, which was later acquired to become a division of Dwango Wireless.

Down joined Mattel as Global Creative Director for boys and girls brands and advanced to Vice President of Global Creative. As design director, he led the product design team responsible for the Disney Pixar "Cars" toy line, one of Mattel's most successful launches. He later served as Senior Vice President and Global Brand General Manager for Vehicles, overseeing "Hot Wheels," Disney Cars, and "Matchbox." In this role, Down managed all aspects of the Hot Wheels global brand, including product design, global marketing, packaging, and brand creative.

Down was appointed Senior Vice President and Chief Design Officer, leading Mattel's global design and product development, and was later promoted to Executive Vice President and Chief Design Officer. In this capacity, he leads global innovation, design, packaging, and consumer insights, influencing Mattel's entire portfolio of brands, including "Barbie," "Hot Wheels," "Fisher-Price," and "UNO." His work has made him a key architect of Mattel's design-led strategy.

Down has served as a U.S.-based juror for the iF DESIGN AWARD, an international design accolade, and has represented Mattel at Milan Design Week, discussing the company's creative collaborations with global design brands. His experience spans a range of functions, brands, and categories at Mattel, as well as leadership roles at Hasbro and Atari Interactive.

Down holds a Bachelor of Arts in industrial design from the University of Notre Dame and has completed an executive program in management at UCLA Anderson School of Management. His expertise bridges creative vision with business strategy across Fortune 500 companies, startups, and major toy manufacturers. Down has spoken publicly about Mattel's evolution into a design-led company, strategies for navigating industry disruption, and perspectives on the future of content and play.