About
Two partners, one team from the first sketch to the install.
Gray Raven is Chris Connor and Juan Hernandez. Design, engineering, fabrication and project management stay under one roof, so the idea you approve is the thing that shows up.
Chris Connor
Founder · Ground Control
Chris Connor is a creative leader and entrepreneur with over 20 years of experience launching and scaling design-forward ventures.
His career spans a wide creative spectrum—from leading interactive media teams at Leopard Communications (now part of Ogilvy) to building acoustic guitars and high-end wooden bicycles. At Leopard, he directed digital marketing campaigns and managed cross-disciplinary teams serving major clients like IBM, Agilent, and Western Union—experience that sharpened his ability to guide complex, high-stakes projects from concept through execution.
Before launching Gray Raven, Chris led fabrication and product development at The Public Works / Supple Collection, producing brand environments and experiential builds for clients such as Red Bull, Smartwool, Aspen Ski Company, and Moët Hennessey. He also founded Connor Wood Bicycles, a globally recognized line of handcrafted wooden bikes that reflect his signature blend of aesthetics, sustainability, and engineering.
Driven by a passion for bringing ideas to life through form and function, Chris specializes in building teams, systems, and creative processes that deliver beautiful, high-impact work. Outside the studio, he enjoys skiing, hiking, and riding the bikes he designs.
Juan Hernandez
Co-founder · Test Pilot
Juan Hernandez is a designer and maker working where architecture and industrial design meet. Born in Ames, Iowa, and raised in Venezuela, he studied architecture and industrial design in Caracas, then earned a BFA in Digital Animation from the University of Colorado.
His career covers the whole path from idea to object. He framed houses, spent ten years in architectural design at a Denver firm, and in New York designed and built modern children’s furniture at Casa Kids under architect Roberto Gil, for the most honest critics there are.
Before co-founding Gray Raven, Juan spent six years at The Public Works as design director and CNC programmer and operator. That is where he and Chris started working together.
Juan believes quality is non-negotiable and that efficiency only matters when it makes the work better. He listens first, makes the complex simple, and will argue the other side of a design when that serves the result. His motto is the Medici family’s “Festina lente”: hasten slowly. Away from work, he’s into music, reading, puzzles, tennis, friends and dogs.
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