Meet the Lead Dogs

Stuart Silverstein: Lead Experience Dog:
Strategy and UX

Coming from a long line of retail business owners, (going back to his great-great great grandparents who owned a retail store on their native Rhodes), retail marketing is in his blood. He understands the retail businessman, because he is one himself. "Nothing excites me more than great retail branding and the retail brand experience," Stuart says. "I get happy going to the mall."

Stuart grew up in Los Angeles and initially pursued a career in music. After several years of playing professionally and missing his own bed, he got into design working on coffee table art books in a Beverly Hills gallery. In his 10 years in the design business, Stuart has lent his talents to great brands like Activision, Gateway, The Mattress Store. and Coffee Bean and the Tea Leaf.

Stuart’s gift is the “big picture.” He processes information quickly and turns ideas into reality. The secret of his success is a rare combination of disciplines, including design, marketing, and web technology. He’s tenacious, energetic and an expert in web usability and consumer psychology. Stuart graduated with Honors from the University of Miami.

When he’s not at the mall, Stuart can be found on a hiking trail, in the yoga studio, or on the ski slopes. He also is a big supporter of animal rights. He lives with his wife, three cats and the Top Dog, Animoosh, in Tarzana, CA.

Ben Thompson: Lead Creative Dog:
Brand Development and Creative

Ben has worked on branding and packaging campaigns for heavyweight clients like Sony, Target, LG, McDonald's, and Bausch & Lomb, among others. With over 10 years experience in the creative industry, he knows what it takes to get the job done right.

Ben excels in identifying client needs, articulating design objectives and delivering unique brand stories that support our clients' goals. While his work is aesthetically pleasing, Ben sees the purpose of design as to solve fundamental business challenges. Whether that means using color to trigger a specific emotion, using type to increase comprehension, improving the UI of a checkout page to increase sales—Ben uses design to achieve quantifiable results.

Ben's gift as a designer is his ability to embrace real-world constraints, such as time, budget or technology, and use them as a springboard to arrive at an innovative solution. His user-centered approach is largely informed by his background in Product Design. Ben graduated with honors in Industrial Design from Virginia Tech.

When not designing, Ben enjoys long-distance backpacking and takes every opportunity to climb rugged peaks and explore pristine wilderness areas of California. He and his wife have been blessed with a newborn son who now joins them in their outdoor pursuits.