Driven by Design

Opportunities in the design field are greater than they may appear. However, aspiring designers are often discouraged from pursuing careers in the arts because of the perception that there is no money to be made. But today, more than ever, technology has extended its influence on the design world and created a variety of career opportunities that will extend into the future. Behind everything we touch and see is a designer.

According to the 2011 Otis Report on the Creative Economy of the Los Angeles Region, the city’s creative industry is expected to grow by more than 4.3%, or 13,100 jobs, by 2015. These positions include openings in entertainment, toy design, digital media, fashion, furniture, architecture, interior design, product and industrial design, communication arts, and visual and performing arts industries. Samuel Hoi, president of Otis College of Art and Design in Los Angeles, says, “Creativity has to be a part of our big picture … because the creative sectors are essential partners in advancing the economy, education, social health, and, of course, cultural vibrancy.”

Companies are in a constant search to hire young new talent who will bring fresh ideas and have a hunger for turning them into solutions. Through a passion for change, these five BE Nexters have been able to apply their artistic talents to shaping a new creative economy. They are the leaders, innovators, and enterprise thinkers of tomorrow. They are driven by design.

Andre Hudson, 35
Education:  Bachelor of Fine Art in Industrial Design, College for Creative Studies
Title: Design Manager, Hyundai America, Los Angeles
Creative Force: Lead designer of the 2011 Sonata

Doodling airplanes, cars, trains, and boats on his school assignments as a kid, Andre Hudson always had a passion for anything transportation related. Trips to local air shows in Colorado with his parents further sparked his interest. “My first love was planes. I loved the space shuttle, ships, and commercial planes. I really wanted to be a fighter pilot,” says Hudson, but his less-than-perfect eyesight disqualified him.

But an article in an auto magazine about a young designer who worked on the Dodge Viper concept car steered Hudson in a new direction. “I had always loved cars, but I never thought that there were actually people who designed them,” he recalls. “I thought ‘Wow, people get paid to draw and design cars. This is pretty cool.’”

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Hudson enrolled at the College for Creative Studies in Detroit in 1994, home to what were then the Big Three automakers. Competition is fierce and car design is one of the most competitive fields to break into. Hudson was one of three African Americans, all of whom were men, to graduate in 1998. Starting his career as a creative designer for General Motors, Hudson designed the gas and break pedals for a retro concept version of the Chevy Nomad. During his seven-year tenure at GM, Hudson designed the interior of the Chevrolet Super Sport Roadster (SSR), the Chevrolet Traverse, and the Hummer H3. He was the lead designer on the 2006 Saturn Sky.

Today he is the design manager at Hyundai America Technical Center Inc. headquartered

in Fountain Valley, California. Hudson and his team are the engines of innovation the $98.9 billion company relies on to create cutting-edge products and generate fresh new ideas. He oversees exterior design and has contributed to the Genesis Coupe, the Azera, and the 2009 Nuvis Concept. He was also the lead designer on the 2011 Sonata. Hudson says that by merging engineering and design, Hyundai strives to design a luxury vehicle that is affordable; the Sonata SE retails for about $23,000.

The Hyundai Sonata saw a sales increase of 93% year-over-year, leading to the company’s all-times sales record growth. And it sold nearly 20,000 units a month, putting Hyundai in the ranks of the Accord and Camry. The Elantra saw sales jump 47% year-over-year.
Hudson credits the success to the power of good design. The designers use clay modeling, one of the oldest and most traditional methods used in car design, and software programs such as Alias to visualize developing designs in three dimensions. The design process takes anywhere from eight months to a year.

The young innovator believes that the future of America will be led by creatives. “Designers have an amazing power because you affect people’s lives every day long after the product has left your sketchpad or computer; everything you touch was designed by someone. Great design changes the world. Young people that have the slightest inkling or enjoyment of art and design need to know that there is a future for them in the design industry, whether that be cars, shoes, products, or even video games and advertising. There is a place for them.”

Natischa Harvey, 29
Education: Bachelor of Art in Political Science, Clark Atlanta University
Title: CEO and Executive Designer of FEVER Tyrone, GA
Creative Force: Sketches all shoe designs creating distinctive styles

As a basketball player throughout her elementary and high school days, and as part of the Amateur Athletic Union, Natischa Harvey longed for a more feminine athletic shoe. She wrote letters to Reebok and Nike pitching ideas for women’s footwear, but never heard back. Taking matters into her own hands, Harvey would spray-paint her sneakers and buy colored laces to match her teams’ uniforms.

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Although studying fashion in college would have been a natural fit, Harvey enrolled in the Department of Political Science at Clark Atlanta University and set out to become an attorney. “My mother was in the military and very firm. She would not allow me to major in fashion because to her it was not a secure job,” says Harvey. But upon entering her junior year, she decided to make her dream a reality. That year, she sold all her stocks and took loans from her husband and uncle to raise the roughly $30,000 needed to open her first shoe boutique in Albany, Georgia.

Harvey says her previous job at a Bakers shoes location and her political science degree prepared her for the business. “[They] taught me how to manage, interact with people, how to stock shoes, and my [college] major showed me the legal aspect of running a business, such as dealing with customs issues, trademarks,  litigation, contract negotiations, international laws, and trade.”

Two years later she opened two other locations in Atlanta’s Cumberland Mall and in Union City, Georgia’s Union Station Mall. Although all three stores were doing well, they sold other designers’ shoes. So Harvey focused on creating her own brand: She depleted her life savings and used the money from the three boutiques to create FEVER, a women’s footwear line, in 2009. Harvey, the sole designer at FEVER, designs shoes manufactured in China and priced from $59.99 to $275 in sizes 5 to 11. Her upcoming line, Glam Goddess, will go up to a size 13.

Her shoes have been worn by celebrities such as Raven-Symoné, Megan Goode, LisaRaye, Wendy Raquel Robinson, and Rocsi of 106 & Park, among others. The collection is sold and distributed in stores throughout the U.S., U.K., Canada, Africa, and the Caribbean. Revenues from the brand reached $300,000 in 2011 with projections aimed at $650,000 in 2012. FEVER is a certified Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC) business that is valued at $1.5 million.

Harvey credits her faith and creativity for the company’s overall success. While several designers rely on manufacturers to create the look and feel of the shoes through their catalogs, Harvey actually sketches all of her designs on paper and then brings them to life using Adobe Photoshop and Microsoft’s Picture It Premium, giving her a competitive and creative advantage.

She also combines comfort and quality going against the industry standards of 3 millimeters of padding in shoes by inserting 5 millimeters to address the concerns of women who love high pumps but don’t want them to hurt. “My footwear collection stays within the box, but always colors outside of the lines.”

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Teman and Teran Evans, 32
Education: Bachelor of Science in Architecture,  University of Florida
& Master in Architecture, Advance Placement, Harvard Graduate School of Design
Title: Founders of DIOSCURI, New York City
Creative Force: Uses architecture degree for entrepreneurial advancement

Identical twins Teman and Teran Evans never imagined design as a career. “It was just something we did for fun. We would draw cities and buildings as a hobby,” says Teman.
But their mother, Bergita, noticed their passion at an early age and encouraged them to attend the University of Florida’s Design Exploration Program (DEP) the summer before their freshman year of college. The experience opened up a new world for the brothers.
“It took everything we loved–fashion, design, art–and bottled it up in one industry,” says Teman.  They decided on the University of Florida in Gainesville, and after earning their bachelor’s degrees in architecture they enrolled in Harvard’s Graduate School of Design where they would be recruited as researchers by world-renowned Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas.

A summer traveling to China, the Netherlands, Finland, and other countries, mainly spent studying each city’s changing urban conditions, exposed them to the inner workings of an architecture firm including merchandising, creating concepts for brands, and designing the stages for fashion shows. “It planted the seed in our heads that even though our degrees said architecture we can do much more than just put up brick-and-mortar buildings,” says Teman.

“That was a key moment for us,” adds Teran. “[We realized] we had an education in branding, problem solving, and graphics. We can do a number of things.”  After graduating in 2004 they headed for the design capital: New York City. There they founded their own company, DIOSCURI, the name given to Castor and Pollux, identical twins of Greek mythology.

The company started small with a line of silk scarves and high-quality woven fabrics, but struggled to find placement in stores. Even a spot in O, The Oprah Magazine didn’t produce results, so they moved on to their next venture: wooden bracelets. The Fruit Salad collection of high-gloss tropical wood bangle bracelets made in a vivid array of colors from mango trees in Thailand made Oprah’s list of favorite things, resulting in the sale of 30,000 units in the first month and placement in 200 stores across the U.S. and other countries, retailing from $98 to $126.  “We went from invisible men to meeting with Henri Bendel and Nordstrom,” says Teran.

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Today, DIOSCURI has evolved into a brand consulting firm for major players in the design industry such as David Rockwell, high-profile design schools, and television networks such as HGTV, which has allowed them to create design innovations for Starbucks, luxury hotels, and department stores. For example, they were the team behind the “for here” cups, which encouraged consumers to refill their mugs while surfing the Internet. They also helped create an attractive study environment for students at chains near college campuses and reduce their environmental footprint. Television appearances such as the The Rachael Ray Show, where they give affordable interior design tips, have helped bolster their business to $750,000 in revenues in 2011. Projections for 2012 are $1 million.

The twins say diversification is necessary to survive in the industry. “When the economy tanked, the designer who was versatile was a designer who could still afford to keep his lights on,” says Teman. “The problem is that when you’re educated as an architect most schools emphasize putting those skills to the service of another architect: Work in a firm, learn how to make buildings, then start your own firm. That’s not the case anymore. If you have that attitude you’re going to be dead because for a while nobody was building anything. So if they’re not building things, what are you going to do?”

Jason Mayden, 31
Education: Bachelor of Fine Arts in Industrial Design, College for Creative Studies & Master of Science in General Management and Social Innovation, Stanford Graduate School of Business
Title: Director of Innovation, Nike Digital Sports division; Portland, OR
Creative Force: Designs concept products using scientific and technological investigation

While many think of it as just an aesthetic profession, Jason Mayden says that the business of design has become much more. “Designers of today are moving away from just drawing pretty pictures,” says Mayden. “We’re being asked to create products, lead business, set vision, deploy strategies, and drive tactical executions companywide. We are radically changing the scope of what a designer can become at Nike and in the world.”

Growing up in Chicago, 9-year-old Mayden

would spend his weekends window-shopping at athletic stores studying every crease, insole, tongue, toe box, and lace of the newest Air Jordans and other sneakers. “I couldn’t afford the shoes so I would stare at all the details and then draw pictures in my notebook. I would redesign them, re-engineer them, and add the specifications I wanted,” he recalls. “I would try to make them better and ask myself, “If I were to redesign the Jordans, what would they look like?”’

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During the summer of 2001, Mayden, a 20-year-old senior at the College for Creative Studies in Detroit, was offered a design intern position at Nike. His first assignment: design shoelaces, a joke played by senior creatives on all interns. Although it was a joke to them, Mayden blew the task out of the box. “I designed a million and one ways for you to lace shoes, how you could monetize laces by selling them as a secondary item, and different fastening systems. It was one of the best experiences I ever had,” he recalls. The respect he earned paved the way for him to work on bigger projects, such as contributing his talents to the Air Jordan 16 and 17 designs.

His enthusiasm, fearless nature to present new ideas, and adding his own voice to his work landed him a job with Nike in 2002. In the years that followed, he designed Nike’s Air Monarch and, with the Jordan Brand, oversaw the design of innovative footwear platforms–cushioning, traction, upper design, footwear construction, detail execution, and material finish and material selection for Michael Jordan’s, Chris Paul’s, and Derek Jeter’s footwear lines. During his time with Jordan Brand– the second most successful footwear franchise behind the Air Force One–he helped the team’s  signature lifestyle line reach $1 billion in revenues in 2009.

In his newly created role at the $20.9 billion company, Mayden has moved into a design role that includes business, strategy, and organizational design. He is responsible for design concept products–footwear, apparel, equipment–for mobile and Web experience, and for services that test their consumer relevance, technological feasibility, and strategic alignment to the various product categories at Nike. Mayden manages a hybrid team of 15 designers and oversees budgets ranging from $500,000 to $2 million, depending on the project.

Designing a shoe is just part of the process, says Mayden. In following Nike’s design mantra, “body led, data informed,” designers at Nike use ethnographical studies to understand user behavior and embed sensors in products wirelessly tethered to such devices as the iPad, iPod, or Nike wristbands where data is captured and delivered to the Nike Plus website. It allows consumers to record their goals and progress, and it allows Nike designers to deliver a more personalized product.

“We’re moving away from just delivering a shoe and then that’s the end of the conversation. We’re building a service-based model so that once you buy our product, that’s when the true experience begins.”