stephen gray joyce

about

I believe that Design, well-informed and without ego, can solve for anything.

It is both a way of thinking as well as doing, the method and the execution. Design-led thinking helps us decipher the what, how, and why.

Similarly, a good creative director and design lead should be able to make as well as direct, operating simultaneously at 10,00ft and ground level. After 20+ years, I’m a pretty good creative director, and getting better everyday through constant collaboration and a willingness to step out onto the thin ice and try something new.

In late 2022, I founded namelessdesign.co, a brand and ux design consultancy that helps new and established brands determine their critical design strategy to connect their mission and product with their ideal audience.

interests

In addition to admittedly being a design-nerd, my interests extend well beyond pixels and pencils.

• guitar, most stringed things

• writing/recording music

• cooking, culinary arts

• cycling, road and trail

• music, live or on vinyl

• photography, film

• architecture

• woodworking and the smell of fresh sawdust

• pretty much any activity in the woods or the waves

As an avid cook and former sous chef, one of my greatest pleasures is working and creating in the kitchen, preferably with a bourbon in hand.

In 2011, I co-founded a indie-rock band called GreyShores, which released its first album in 2012 under GunPoint Records in Chicago. You can find it at eldergrey.bandcamp.com. In the spring of 2013, I had the great honor of playing the blues at Buddy Guy's Legends Blues Bar in Chicago. Since leaving Chicago, I’ve been working primarily as a solo composer with a few side projects.

I am humbled and honored to donate my time and efforts in support of the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust—an organization dedicated to the protection and preservation of Africa's wilderness and its denizens, particularly endangered species such as elephants and the Black Rhino.