Interior Design Director
Resume:
Experienced design leader and strategic thinker with 20 years of experience in the luxury and lifestyle hospitality, high- end residential and branding industries. Highly creative, solution-driven, and innovative with a proven capacity in creating transformative environments.
EXPERIENCE
Louie Sison
ad5w9d@r.postjobfree.com
Studio Design Leader - Sept 2020 - Present
• Provide leadership, guidance and creative direction for interior design and branding projects.
• Establish overall design direction and ensures consistent and high-quality design throughout.
• Manage and provide mentorship to a team of 40+ designers across the firm's Chicago and Merida, Mexico studios.
• Create detailed work plans, project schedules and studio resource allocation strategies to ensure proper workload management while achieving deliverable goals.
• Attend and present at project pitches, kick-off meetings, milestone reviews with clients and brands.
• Serves as project designer on selected projects - conceives and executes design, being mindful of
• clients' goals and vision.
• Manage client relationships and project consultant partners on active projects.
• Engages with clients directly in explorations that respectfully challenge their understanding of appropriate interior design solutions.
• Effectively present, influence and negotiate with key stakeholders on compelling but cost-effective design solutions.
• Develop growth plans and works closely with executive leadership team on strategic business planning, proposal-writing, business development/marketing, budgeting to achieve strategic revenue and identify growth opportunities.
• Conducts site visits, model room reviews and furniture factory walk-throughs to assess quality and accuracy of construction and help problem solve.
• Partner with Principal and Senior Management to provide process improvement initiatives.
• Attend hospitality conferences / events / speaking engagements in industry conferences. Support business development efforts in vetting of opportunities, project fees and leveraging existing key relationships.
Curioso
Dallas, TX
Hello, I’m Louie.
Senior Interior Designer - Nov 2013 - Mar 2016
• Played integral role in building a new hospitality interiors focused studio, establishing standards, protocols and assisted with talent acquisition and marketing.
• Responsible for conceptualizing projects across multiple studios and project types, set the initial design direction with Creative Director and/or Principal and implemented input from client and operator. Gensler
New York, NY
Project Designer - Apr 2016 - Aug 2017
• Guided teams or worked independently on multiple projects from concept through CDs for hotels, casinos, restaurants and luxury residential projects.
• Worked closely with Jeffrey Beers (Owner) and Studio Leader in development of conceptual design direction, established major interior architectural expression and FF&E direction.
• Developed highly custom FF&E items for luxury hospitality projects.
• Led presentation efforts for client, C-level executives and major stakeholders. Jeffrey Beers
International
New York, NY
Design Director - Oct 2019 - May 2020
Senior Designer - Sept 2017 - Sept 2019
• Promoted to Design Director for outstanding design solutions to every project, managing the design team and working alongside leadership team.
• Led the creative design efforts on both domestic and international projects, developed overall design narratives, presentation strategies from initial programming stages to implementation and led presentations to clients and brand partners.
• Oversaw the completion of interior architectural and FF&E design and documentation based on project criteria, budget, program and brand standards.
• Responsible for communications with C-level executives, brand and global Wilson leadership team.
• Performed site visits, punch-lists during CA phase to ensure design quality and integrity.
• Collaborated with Operations Director on planning/staffing, financial reviews and billing.
• Problem-solved and strategized with Global BD Director and marketing teams to identify, nurture and acquire new clients and business opportunities that drive growth and profitability.
• Developed firm’s pitch offering and brand story deck for marketing purposes.
• Managed and mentored project teams, guiding them in the best practices in design framework, coordination, tools and processes.
Wilson Associates
Dallas, TX
Illinois Institute of Art - Chicago - Bachelor of Fine Arts in Interior Design (2006) Graduated with Honors
Honor Roll and Deans List (2004 - 2006)
Winner of "Best Portfolio at Student Year-End show EDUCATION
Professional recommendations available upon request. AWARDS/RECOGNITION
Boutique Design Magazine - Boutique 18 Class of 2020 Honoree Frame Awards 2020 Nominee - Cadillac Brand Experience Center for Best Craftsmanship Category
SBID International Design Award 2018 Finalist - Restaurant Design Category
Interior Design Magazine Best of Year 2016 Winner - Showroom Category
Shop! Design Award - Silver Award 2017 Winner for Creative Space in Retail Environment
Gensler Design Excellence Award 2014 Winner for Cadillac House Gensler Star Individual Award 2013 Finalist for Innovation PUBLICATIONS + SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS
BDNY Panel Host, “Nurturing Diversity: The Crucial Role of Mentorship in Leadership”, New York, NY, November 2023.
Hospitality Design Magazine virtual panelist, “Act II: Hospitality: What's Next“, October 2021.
Hotel Management Executive Roundtable, “Marrying Design and Opera- tions in the Audiovisual Age”, New York, NY, November 2019. Misset Horeca (Dutch), “10 Hospitality Trends - What is in? Booming Hospi- tality Trends” by Joosten, Willy, Issue 19, October 2019. Lodging Magazine, “Hard Rock Opens $1.5 Billion Guitar Hotel” by Lodging Staff, October 2019.
Hotel News Now, “Aqua shade could lead next hotel design wave” by Miller, Dana, July 2019.
Hospitality Interiors, Interview by Lockhead, Gemma, February 2018. BDNY Panelist, “Face2Face in a Designed Space”, New York, NY, November 2018.
Louie Sison
ad5w9d@r.postjobfree.com
• AutoCAD
• Basic Revit Knowledge
• SketchUp Pro
• Adobe Creative Suite
• Specsources
• MS Word, Excel and Powerpoint
• Procreate Digital Illustration App
• Asana Project Management
SKILLS
• Hand drafting/sketching for concept,
space planning and on-site solutions
• 3D rendering presentation methods
• Ideation workshop facilitation
• Graphic Design
• Research and Analysis
• Concept writing
• Storyboarding
Software Technique
Lead Designer - Mar 2003 - Mar 2011
• Diverse project experience designing for corporate workplace (tech/e-commerce start-ups), student housing, healthcare, hospitality and residential clients.
• Produced schematic and construction documents for small to medium-sized projects.
• Collaborated extensively with the Owner in all aspects of design, marketing, for the creation of firm’s collateral.
BOX Studios
Chicago, IL
Project Designer - Apr 2011 - Oct 2013
• Engaged in developing a new in-house branding studio composed of a multi-disciplinary team of architects, interior designers, graphic designers, photographers, videographers and branding/strategy team members.
• Initiated teams to perform extensive market analysis, organized research, facilitated highly-creative ideation “think- tank” sessions, identified SWOT analysis for a major hotel brand resulting in innovative design and operational-based solutions.
• Led concept creation though CA for lifestyle and luxury hotels, international casinos and restaurant projects.
The Gettys Group
Chicago, IL
Hotel News Now, “New flavor of hotel F&B blends restaurant, lobby“ by Hess, Danielle, July 2018.
• Collaborated extensively with branding and consulting practice to build design strategies for potential clients and project pitches.
• Developed FF&E/Architectural drawings and finish specifications for documentation.
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