Gable Hires On Director To Head 17-Designer Visual Communications Team

July 10, 2018 by Dave Haynes

I don’t tend to run much news about new hires at companies, because the reader analytics clearly indicate few of you care. BUT, this one is kind of interesting.

Baltimore-based AV design and solutions firm Gable, which has grown increasingly involved in this sector in the last 2-3 years, has hired on a Design Director for Gable’s Solutions Design Group. That group has 17 diverse designers who support design-build and design-assist-build projects.

I have my doubts there are many companies in this sector that have anywhere near that many bodies allocated to that work.

Says a press release:

Ken Lay

As Design Director, Ken Lay will provide design leadership and management, concept and creative expertise, and process and design development. Lay will be working closely with and under the direction of Entertainment Industry veteran Michael Shulman, Gable’s Senior Vice President of Design and Development, to strategically grow the design discipline.

Shulman said, “Bringing Ken Lay to Gable as Design Director deepens our retail and architectural design expertise and advances our approach to managing projects with a hands-on, pragmatic architectural design. His background and our start-up mentality will allow us to grow as a design-centric thought leader.”

Ken Lay brings over 20 years of design expertise in retail design and planning, creative direction, omnichannel integration and environmental graphic design. He has lead multidisciplinary design teams for dynamic architecture and design initiatives through managing, developing, and delivering designs for projects with budgets from $500 to $550 million. Additionally, Ken Lay holds a Bachelor of Architecture from University of Cincinnati, College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning, plus he is Six Sigma Green Belt certified.

“We were founded on the fundamentals of design and creativity so it’s exciting to expand our influence of design for our clients’ projects. Ken has an ideal background and the passion to strengthen our design capabilities and discipline.” said, Paul Gable, President and CEO of Gable.

Lay’s most recent endeavors at the helm of design include careers at Luxottica and Macy’s. At Luxottica, he led and collaborated on the design of the new Target Optical 2.0 concepts, prototype implementations, and rollout of over 150 locations. Prior to that, while at Macy’s, Lay directed the design aspects of the exterior, interior and way finding designs of the five-year, $550MM Macy’s Herald Square Flagship project partnering with the planning and construction teams.

Lay commented, “I’m excited to join Gable leading the Solutions Design Group where we will bring a creative and holistic approach to projects including those that integrate brand experience, architecture, and interiors to create memorable places for people to work and play.”

I thought the Macy’s job was a bit riotous, with a lot going on visually and not a lot of cohesion, but my strong suspicion would be that the beauty brands insisted on doing their own things on the main floor, where most of the digital was/is happening.