Ken Lay Email & Phone Number

Baltimore, Maryland

Proud to lead the Solutions Design Group at Gable; a multidisciplinary studio of diverse concept, technical and systems designers, including the design operations team.Poised to understand and speak the language of holistic brand experience and collaboratively develop scalable, comprehensive solutions for clients, owners, and a wide range of design partners.We work across the spectrum of integrated visual communications, technology, architecture and interiors to provide experiences that exceed customer expectations from concept to implementation and beyond.

Cincinnati, Oh

Led an internal, ten person studio of Architects, Designers, Graphic Designers, and Construction Managers poised to concept, estimate, develop and implement scalable new store projects for key global brands – LensCrafters, Target Optical, Sunglass Hut, Oliver Peoples, Oakley and Ray Ban, etc, annually affecting over 200 projects, with a $2MM operating budget, and $10MM in capital spend.Led and collaborated on the design of the new Target Optical 2.0 concept, prototype implementation, and a roll out portfolio of over 150 locations. The new design and a deep understanding of the customer influenced the service model, associate behavior and the overall guest experience, resulting in an increase of comp. store sales of +22% over the previous environment.Developed design, scope, budget and schedule insights for the vision and strategic planning of key brands, in collaboration with Senior Brand Leadership through the generation of innovation concepts, alignment of strategic project goals, and research of design initiatives that drive the eyewear business and retail brand experience.Responsible for the development and supervision of all creative output, design development, construction drawings, details, shop drawings and documents developed by the design team and external consultants to solve new concept requests, and challenging, non-standard field scenarios that arise during concept roll-out and implementation.Defined design guidelines, standards and best practices for all design innovation projects to ensure the successful communication and brand consistency of new and remodel store concepts.Drove the design process and procurement system for development of a modular fixture package through collaboration with the Italian team and fixture fabricators to streamline, value-engineer and standardize fixture programs, while retaining the brand essence of the original design.

Cincinnati, Oh

Directed the exterior, interior and way finding design of the five year, $550MM Macy’s Herald Square (HSQ) Flagship project, partnering with planning and construction teams to balance the project scope and budget with the strategic goals of Sr. leadership and executing the project through internal staff, partners and external consultants. Managed and influenced the schedules, creative thinking and output of all consultant architects, design firms and vendor shops involved in the HSQ project.Led the HSQ Children’s floor, HR Offices and Employee Locker and Break Room design solutions through management and coaching of the three-person in-house design team, saving $200K in external design firm fees and meeting challenging scope and budget constraints.Designed, coordinated and managed the scope and budget of the $4.5MM portfolio of digital endpoints implemented throughout the HSQ project, resulting in a cohesive, integrated digital content delivery system that leveraged Macy’s and Vendor digital content and provided a new revenue stream for Macy’s marketing.Launched, estimated, developed and presented key omnichannel initiatives to gain strategic alignment across regional management and cross-functional teams, including Operations, Marketing, Innovation, Construction and IT.Identified and hired design team staff to expand the creative roles and capabilities of the department, including one design manager, one senior designer, two designers, two lighting designers (sr. and jr.), and one vendor shop coordinator.Streamlined the vendor shop process to reduce turnaround time for architectural, power and lighting drawing modifications by 70% and avoid additional consultant fees, utilizing the internal design team to quickly issue coordinated drawing updates to the construction and field teams.

Cincinnati, Oh

Developed and executed high-quality, creative solutions that have been recognized as benchmark achievements for Macy’s, a successful update and revitalization of Chicago’s Water Tower Place main floor on a minimal budget and the implementation of 120, 150 and 180ksf prototype stores that incorporate iconic brand elements that differentiate the shopping experience for the consumer.Drove and defined solutions that improved the operational processes of the design team, streamlined individual and team efficiency and increased performance of outside consultants through the development of a consultant interaction process model, standard deliverables and quality guidelines, eliminating unacceptable deliverables from our consultant partners.Improved and refined the design of Macy’s custom furniture package, incorporating enhanced ergonomics, human factors, and design details into the suite of 40 unique furniture pieces in three categories.Recovered the design process for the 120k sq. ft. prototype store by developing comprehensive design drawings and details, re-selecting finishes to meet budgetary constraints and resolving outstanding details and field conditions with the procurement and construction teams to open on schedule.Reinvented and streamlined the Macy’s cash wrap standard to significantly reduce and conceal the mass and clutter of typical POS equipment 50%, by separating the POS equipment into discrete components and creating integrated locations for impulse products, selling collateral, gift cards and credit and visual messaging.Managed a team of four, consisting of a Designer, the Sr. Digital Designer and two Digital Design Interns.

Cincinnati, Oh

Lead designer on Federated’s Home Store Reinvent initiative for three prototype stores, collaborating with the GVP of merchandising and store planning partners to incorporate consumer insights and cross-merchandising strategies into the home category; presented the concept to all stakeholders with a road show format, resulting in full buy-in from Senior Executives and Division Presidents across the company.Executed design responsibilities, drawings and development for the way finding signage initiative that reduced costs by 46% over the prototype installation through six sigma analysis, injection molded and vacuum formed fabrication methods and 100-store rollout economies of scale.Designed and developed the State Street PR book and executive summary which successfully outlined the future direction for the Macy’s conversion of the landmark Marshall Fields Building to Mayor Daley, the City of Chicago and major media outlets; resulting in a positively swayed public opinion for the change in ownership, branding and overall store design.Developed and designed exterior fenestration options for the Macy’s State Street flagship. Coordinated with divisional, construction and Chicago Landmark Commission partners to gain alignment and approval on the project, enhancing the look of the exterior facade both day and night.Conceptualized and designed the concrete paver streetscape, landscaping, and entry portico surrounding the corporate office building and coordinated the design intent with the City of Cincinnati, General Contractor, and Engineering Consultant.

Cincinnati, Oh

Created design concepts and development for capital and remodel projects.Collaborated with the Design Director to develop and coordinate design standards into a cohesive package that we presented to the CEO, resulting in approval of high-quality and consistent store environments at a reduced cost.Designed and produced various flagship project marketing packages, organizing demographic, developer, and customer traffic pattern data with design concept elements, gaining external vendor support and raising the required vendor capital to execute the project. Owned design and development for standard fixture books for all families of business, supervising production of 3d imagery to effectively communicate complicated fixture options to divisional planning, merchant and executive teams company-wide.

Cincinnati, Oh

Managed and created 3d visualizations of retail architecture, interiors and fixtures through renderings and animations.Collaborated with the Interior Design team in the design of presentation collateral for major presentations to Senior Executives and Vendor partners.Programmed and scripted a toolset for use with 3d Studio MAX to enable digital media personnel to more efficiently develop and apply standard material sets to new and standard fixtures, reducing time to process the models by 50%.Achieved Six Sigma Green Belt certification in 2001 and implemented process improvements and reduced costs on (3) DMAIC and (5) fast track projects while Six Sigma was a focus at Federated/Macy’s.

Cincinnati, Oh

Interned at Federated for three quarters, explored another co-op job at Landrum & Brown, and was called back to freelance on a key project two weeks into the position. Remained on staff as a consultant for the rest of my time during internship, in more of a consultant role.Performed 3d visualizations, animations, motion graphics and video presentations in support of Sr. Design staff. Assisted in the development of design details and studies for interior architecture and retail fixtures.Recruited by SPACE design DVP and OVP and was offered a permanent position prior to graduation.

Blue Ash, Oh

Provided 2d and 3d CAD support to the Project Architects and CAD drafting team on various airport planning projects (e.g. Austin-Bergstrom Int’l, Chicago O’ Hare).Assisted the Project Architects in the development of runway circuit diagrams, three-dimensional control tower “tail-shadow” analysis and jetway bridge layout and planning.

Cincinnati, Oh

Assisted the Interior Design team with block planning, hand sketches, model-building, custom lighting design and color and material board assembly.