Boutique Design - April 2016 - 62

CEO | SONNY + ASH,
Chicago,

ASH

Chief Creative Officer |
SONNY + ASH , Chicago

Sultani: The conversation of inclusiveness is something that is coming to life
at a lot of different companies worldwide. Some of things I have seen firms do:
1. Creating a more a la carte benefit package. I think this helps to create a
diverse workforce if you get to pick what you value in benefits. 2. Allowing
people to work from home and focusing in on deliverables rather than on how/
where they were achieved. 3. Creating a culture in which people have a sense of
autonomy and self-expression at the workplace so long as it doesn't negatively
impact others. 4. Making the work completely about the quality of work-a
place for meritocracy.
One small step: We don't show enough diversity in industry publications.
In my volunteering with inner-city organizations, I'm seeing that young people
in those communities have trouble imagining the idea of becoming a designer
as they don't see professionals in those industries reaching out to them and
exposing them to this industry as an option for success.
Ash: Diversity is an opportunity, not an obstacle. Our firm's diversity offers
our clients a chance to fine-tune design so that it's embraced by the cultural
values in places we are designing. For example, we were involved in creating
creative communications (CGI) for a restaurant and design firm for a project in
Dubai. The designers specified food on table [in the images] that was not appropriate to the culture. The error was quickly caught before the design review
meeting. Design is about embracing and amplifying culture.
We want to make sure each team member feels accepted for who he/she is,
so that what is left on the table is a dialog about how we're solving challenges
for our client rather than why you and I look different. Our hiring practice is
first a merit based interview test, and second a cultural fit interview
The best way to combat prejudice: If you're good, they can't ignore you.
We live in an ROI-driven industry. If your value offer is unbeatable, you create a
winning culture around you that anyone could get behind.

boutiquedesign.com APRIL 2016

BRIAN G.
THORNTON
Design Director, Principal |
Brian G Thornton Designs,
Las Vegas

G E N O M A L U S E K , G E N O I M AG E S ( S U LTA N I , A S H ) ; T E R R Y M A H A N N A ( T H O R N T O N )

SONNY SULTANI

On more than one occasion I learned that there was an advantage to being the
black designer with the not-so-black name, or so I was told. Long before you
could Google someone, or check them out on the internet, more often than I
can recount, I'd be sitting in a lobby waiting for an interview. The greeter would
bypass me to the nearest majority person with their hand extended calling
"Brian Thornton"? As I revealed that I was indeed the person being interviewed, there would be either remorse or a muttered scoff under their breath. I
had to prove I can deliver like the person they thought I was.
A few years later, I found myself sitting across the table as part of the team
designing a Princess Cruise ship interior; or presenting to a board of directors
meeting at one of the most exclusive golf and country clubs in Alpine, N.J.;
meeting directors at clubs where I was the only person of color NOT wearing a
uniform or carrying a towel draped across my arm. I got the stares-not so much
from the client side, but the staff. Occasionally, workers would quietly approach
me: "Brother, what are YOU doing here?" Since then, I have worked directly or
indirectly for three of the last four sitting U.S. Presidents: George H.W. Bush, Bill
Clinton and Barack Obama. The latter was a renovation for three Presidential
Guest Suites in a luxury tower in Honolulu during the 2011 APEC conference.
I have designed products, been published in industry journals, performed in
a reality TV show about design, led the design for international projects, traveled to countries I thought I'd never see, and I have lasting personal and professional connections around the globe. If anything, hospitality design has been
all-encompassing and more embracing than other avenues I've walked. There
are absolutely subtle events that suggest extra testing, or pre-screening,
advance looks at my product and me. To be fair, I do the same thing when I am
thinking of taking on new clients. Integrity is color blind
I have enjoyed mentoring my entire career. I was director of interns at
Gensler and, in my own practice, look for not only the best and the brightest,
but a full spectrum of diversity as well.
On being in the design industry's minority: Going to industry meetings
and conventions and passing another person of color ... you'd think it would be a
relaxed greeting or handshake ... but it was just the opposite: I got the stolen
stares or a stealthy nod as if we were NOT to speak to one another. 
For more on diversity, go to boutiquedesign.com.

http://www.boutiquedesign.com http://www.boutiquedesign.com

Boutique Design - April 2016

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