Today we’d like to introduce you to David Stoyan Wooters.
David, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I grew up in Newport Beach, a typical beach kid with an affinity for art and drawing. I went to junior college as a means of exploring what I wanted to do with my life. While taking a typography class I began to understand what graphic design was all about. I loved the fact that it incorporated illustration, photography and typography and I instantly knew the career path I wanted to take. I went on to earn a BFA in graphic design from Long Beach State University. Having been heavily influenced by an entrepreneurial father, I knew I wanted to start my own business as soon as possible. After a few years of experience working at a couple of reputable graphic design firms I founded Stoyan Design in 1987.
I immediately focused on annual report design because all public corporations had to produce them yearly and in most cases the budgets were high and creativity was expected. I married my wife Linda who I had met in a graphic design class in college and together we began to build up our annual report clientele. We lived and breathed the business, talking about project ideas during every dinner, and traveling the world for inspiration. Linda left the business a few years later to another hard job of raising our 3 kids. By 2001 we had five full time talented designers and we were working on about 25 annual reports a year. We produced award-winning reports for a diverse group of clients such as Quiksilver, Wet Seal, Callaway Golf, K2, Pacificare Health Systems, Beckman Coulter, Edwards Lifesciences, RemedyTemp, Universal Electronics, Emulex, Pacific Life, Southwest Gas Corporation, The National Association of Home Builders and Reliance Steel and Aluminum to name just a few.
Stoyan Design’s work has been featured in virtually every major design competition both nationally and internationally and I have had the honor of being a juror for many of the country’s top design competitions. The name Stoyan is my middle name and was the first name of my uncle Stoyan Christowe, a Macedonian immigrant who authored six novels, one of which sat on President Roosevelt’s desk in the Oval Office throughout his presidency. He also served as a Senator from Vermont.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
There will always be obstacles and challenges when it comes to running your own business. I think the big three, which can relate to any business, are finding and keeping clients, hiring the right people, and adapting to a quickly-changing world, especially when it comes to technology. Technology definitely had its effects on my business, some positive and some negative. It hurt all annual report designers in the early 2000s, as many public companies started moving away from large budgets and printed annual reports towards very simple web version annual reports. Fortunately, unlike many types of businesses that were completely wiped out by technology and the internet we’re still able to make a good living by branching out into other areas within the graphic design discipline including branding, marketing, multimedia and web design. All that we learned and perfected for annual report design can be applied to all areas of design and marketing.
Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Stoyan Design – what should we know?
Stoyan Design has grown to become one of the most respected multi-disciplined corporate design agencies in the country, with a body of work that includes annual reports, branding, identity systems, advertising, catalogs, multimedia and website design.
The culture of Stoyan Design is founded on the belief that every project must be driven by a strong central message, and every aspect of the project must convey and reinforce that message. By staying true to its culture, the firm’s work has been recognized by many national and multi-national competitions and publications, including Graphics Annual Reports, Communication Arts, the Mead Annual Report Show, the New York Art Directors Club, the Art Directors Club of Los Angeles, the Sappi Design Awards Show, Print Magazine and the AR100 Award Show.
Stoyan Design has been fortunate to work with many companies who are accepting of unique approaches and who understand the power of compelling branding. Our open-minded approach to problem-solving allows for a creative atmosphere, where any idea can be shared and explored. A collaborative effort among a talented group of designers ensures quality results for each project delivered.
Sometimes, the process of finding just the right message to be conveyed in branding a company can be a difficult task, which takes time, yet it is always worthwhile. Sharpening a branding message that resonates within the company, throughout the industry, and with consumers is a priceless service that a quality design firm can provide.
What role has luck (good luck or bad luck) played in your life
I think luck does play a role in business success and in life in general. That’s not to say you can’t be successful without it but it sure can help. For the most part the saying “you make your own luck” is true because even with luck you still need to work hard for everything worth anything in your life.
I was lucky to have parents who decided to move from Los Angeles to Newport Beach in the early sixties when I was just a baby. My father had just retired from the Los Angeles Police Department where he had spent fifteen years in the intelligence division with the main goal of putting the gangster Mickey Cohen in jail. His story was portrayed in the 2013 Warner Brothers movie Gangster Squad and Ryan Gosling played his role as Sergeant Jerry Wooters. Watching my father grow his new business into a large and very successful security business made me want to have my own business someday.
Another significant role of luck is knowing the right people. One example of that is my friendship with Bob McKnight, the now retired CEO of Quiksilver. I met Bob McKnight while surfing in Newport near where we both lived and we became friends at a time when I was still in college and he was just starting his business and was selling board shorts out of the trunk of his car. A few years later when I was just starting my business and Quiksilver was a large public corporation, Bob hired us to design and produce Quiksilver’s annual report. It was one of our first high profile annual report clients. With the help of some very talented designers working with me the reports were continually designed and produced at a very high level and won prestigious design awards every year. Surfing has been a major part of my life and I will always be grateful for having secured a client who was all about surf culture. I would like to think that our Quiksilver reports helped raise the bar for annual report design in general and I know that they assisted in bringing in more high-profile clients as time went on.
Contact Info:
- Address: 2482 Newport Blvd. Suite 8
Costa Mesa, CA 92627 - Website: www.stoyandesign.com
- Phone: 949 631-6314
- Email: dave@stoyandesign.com
Getting in touch: VoyageLA is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
