Forty Under 40: Media

Josh Rubin | Internet maven | 35 | New York City

If, as economic historians have long insisted, recessions and depressions foster invention and entrepreneurship, then Josh Rubin is in exactly the right place at the right time. The poly-hyphenate Rubin is a designer (of websites and interfaces, mobile software, Web apps, iPhone-friendly gloves…), consultant, new media publisher, editor, and trend forecaster. Of his many remarkable brainchildren -- also including his firm Bond Art + Science, with clients like W and F ast Company -- CoolHunting.com stands out. As a prescient, lovingly curated catalog of what's going to be hot in technology, art, design, and culture, and the technicians and artists responsible, the blog reflects the fluid, convergent nature of how we talk, play and create today. "I'm a designer, but I'm also a geek," Rubin says modestly. On a recent day his agenda included a meeting with a fashion client, code fixes for CoolHunting, some design work, calls, e-mails, and sprucing up the apartment in anticipation of a visit from the dog groomer. He lives with his business partner and husband, Evan Orenstein (they married in Toronto two years ago after eight years together), and their dogs, Otis and Logan. One thing the multitasking mogul doesn't have time for: the closet. "I don't think that I could do everything that I do if I wasn't out. I have enough going on in my head. The burden of having to stay in the closet would hold me back."