As Principal and Chief Executive Officer, David leads the firm and our partners to design with purpose and create new futures. With over 12 years at SF, and 25 years in the industry, David’s passion for learning and ability to translate complex problems into simplified opportunities with clear pathways to tactical solutions has helped SF’s partners bring game-changing solutions to market. Over the last decade plus, he’s led design efforts spanning the Hyundai ELEVATE and TIGER walking cars, to automotive HMI solutions and high-speed trains, to home appliances and virtual education solutions. His focus is on driving innovation for SF’s partners by identifying human-centered needs and new market opportunities, and creating emotionally resonant, real-world solutions that create market value.

David’s design journey began with a love for cars, leading him to Detroit to earn a BFA in Industrial Design with a focus on Transportation from the College for Creative Studies. Early in his career, he contributed to production and concept vehicles at General Motors and ASC. Moving on to come the Lead Designer at Saleen, he lead all creative design on the 2008 S5S Raptor super car and the 2010-2013 Saleen Mustang. He later joined New Balance’s Warrior division, designing hockey and lacrosse helmets while broadening his experience into product market strategy, consumer research and human factors and ergonomics.

Passionate about design advocacy, David serves as president of the Michigan Design Council, a non-profit organization dedicated to cultivating and retaining industrial design talent in the state, where he oversees the annual K-12 Michigan Design Prize and produced the documentary The State of Design to inspire young designers about various career opportunities in Michigan. He also continues to teach design each year at CCS for over 18 years, helping his alma mater inspire tomorrow’s designers, while being inspired by the students’ everlasting desire to improve our world through design.

“I am so fortunate to have the opportunity to work with people and organizations to create something new every day. Questions that begin with “What is the future of…” get me up every morning with an endless desire to figure out what that future is and how we can make it a reality.”

Thoughts from David