BEHIND THE SCENES
Supporting the Next Generation
I look forward to speaking with Dr. Zambonelli’s students whenever I can, and I always come away inspired by the students and their passion for design excellence. The class also gives me an opportunity to reaffirm some of the major tenets we live by at Stacey Leong Design. The advice I offer to the students are things I’ve learned over the past 20 years and values we live by every day at SLD. Some things I’ve shared with Dr. Zambonelli’s students are:
“The quieter you become, the more you can hear.”
We work hard every day to listen to our clients more and talk less. Taking the time to really listen and reflect on what we’ve heard allows us the opportunity to truly understand our clients’ goals and more effectively determine creative solutions that directly address their needs.
“Don’t half a– it, Always use your full a–.”
At SLD, we put 100% effort into everything we do. We never want to have regrets and the only way to do this is to put forth our best effort for every project. We treat our clients’ needs as our own and make it a personal responsibility to give everything we’ve got.
“Stay simple. Stay true.”
We don’t use every tool in the box for every project on purpose. To create a visually interesting design that shares a clear and compelling message, we focus on what is most important and make sure that message emotionally resonates with the primary audience and directly aligns with our clients’ core values.
“Never stop learning.”
Actively seeking opportunities to learn and grow allows us to continue to be inspired and maintain our passion for innovative, creative work. One of our favorite parts of finding opportunities to learn is meeting new people in the process and becoming inspired by their work and expertise.
“Use your creativity to do better for society.”
Using our creativity for the benefit of society has made our lives meaningful and fulfilling. At SLD, we love using our skills to make the world a better place. It sounds corny, yes, but over the years we’ve learned that it’s not corny at all. It’s why we do what we do and why we constantly choose projects that allow us to say at the end of the day that what we did helped people. It allows us to say that what we did, mattered.