The March 2000 Catalog uses dramatic styling and photography to effectively evoke the emotion for which the Neiman Marcus Catalog is known.

These spreads from the November 2000 Catalog revel in luxury.

The inhouse creative team at Neiman Marcus mixes beauty and fantasy in this cover and inside spreads for the retailer's September 2000 Catalog.

The October 2000 Catalog features the latest in black tie attire for men.

A beautiful butterfly topiary graces the cover of the March 2001 Catalog.

CORPORATE INHOUSE DESIGN ON THE RISE

"When I got out of school I swore that I would never work for a corporation," says graphic designer Jerod Dame. "I'm so not corporate. And yet I find myself working here." And liking, no loving, it at Neiman Marcus Group where he is currently design director of the upscale retailer's catalog.

Wait a minute... this guy loves working inhouse? Where the really good stuff goes out the door to the top design firms? Where designing a binder presentation is the highlight of the week? Where you're surrounded by non-creatives telling you how to do your job?

Dame is one of a new breed of inhouse designers whose employers — including some of the nation's top retailers and service corporations — view design and cultivating their own talent as strategic to their mission. Among them, the Gap, Banana Republic, Marriott Corporation, Victoria's Secret and Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia.

In a shift from the practice of outsourcing all but the most routine corporate design projects, these companies are turning over their most challenging creative work to their inhouse designers. These are critical design projects where understanding the brand and the customer, and delivering the right "look," can make or break the company's reputation and quarterly earnings projections. These jobs also offer some attractive antidotes to the burnout of the agency lifestyle.

IT'S 'COOL' AGAIN TO BE AN INSIDER

"Many people used to see it as a taboo to go inhouse," offers Judy Wert of Wert and Company, a design placement firm located in New York City. "But in fact it's a strength to go inhouse now: for stability; for a sense of ownership; and for consistency of one's own career development." A designer by training, Wert works with design consultancies, global business brands, major U.S. retailers, advertising agencies and academic institutions to provide recruiting services with an emphasis on collaboration and relationship-building. Highly protective of her clients' privacy, Wert talks freely about a current client in Italy, the Interaction Design Institute Ivrea. Her company is assisting with staffing this new post-graduate design school that will focus on both education and research.

Many corporations have always had some inhouse design staff, but Wert believes that there is a new breed of inhouse design emerging. "More companies are valuing design as a strategic business proposition and I think that is what's motivating them to be more strategic about who they bring inhouse," she explains. These clients are telling her that they want to have a very strong design department that can take leadership and ownership over the visual aspects of the brand. They are taking great care to make sure that the brand has a common voice and a common language, she says, adding, "Many agencies will disagree with me because they feel like they understand brand, but I think being in the brand, living and breathing it, and then transmitting that is far more powerful when the caliber of design talent is really strong."

THE LURE OF THE NEIMAN MARCUS 'BOOK'

Which brings us back to Jerod Dame. As design director of Neiman Marcus' catalog, Dame is responsible for the yearly redesign of "the book" as it is called. One of the first catalogs to combine product sales with the elements of a lifestyle magazine, the 250-page "magalog" features themes, product stories, guest essays from well-known writers and mini-book inserts. It has garnered considerable press for featuring extravagant products, including a $20 million submarine and a $41,995 Limited Edition 2002 Ford Thunderbird, which reportedly sold out less than two hours after the 2000 Christmas catalog was delivered.

The opportunity to redesign Neiman's catalog was what lured Dame inhouse after a stint at Spoon magazine, and prior to that at Rigsby Design in Houston. "I came to Neiman's, two years ago, exclusively to work for the book. They had a product that I was interested in and I pursued them without even knowing that there was a position available," explains Dame. The creation of his position was a deliberate decision to build an internal staff after previously outsourcing to top design firms like Design M|W in New York and Bennett.Ellia in Dallas. "There are more interesting opportunities in inhouse design now than there were in the days when corporate communications existed at a very sterile level," he observes.

Dame's challenge with the annual catalog redesign is to keep the book fresh and exciting. "It's a wonderful experiment in that we look at the book each time to see what's working and what's not working. And we ask, 'How do we change things?' Because we are indeed selling the same subjects each year. It's the nuances that change," explains Dame. He believes that's when being on the inside pays off.

WHEN THE WALLS TALK

During the preparation for this year's "beauty book," a popular undersized insert that features beauty products, one of Neiman Marcus' buyers got the design staff excited about a new face cream containing diamonds, that was going to be featured in the book. "As a man, I was seeing these little jars, and thinking, well... it's just face cream," admits Dame. But the women on his design staff were so excited about it, saying, 'Oh, don't you just want to bathe in it?' So he began to really listen and wanted to capture this sense of excitement and emotion in the beauty book. The staff began to toss ideas around the office on photography and text formats that would evoke that emotion in the women who read it.

"Such information comes in spurts," says Dame of the ideas that are thrown around while working on a project of this size and scope. "It would be hard for an outsider to pick up on all of the little things that happen every day." He says that's where many of their best ideas come from.

Judy Wert has a metaphor for this type of occurrence. "Being inside, you're in the story. You're in every chapter. You're listening, and you know the words that build those chapters. When you're on the outside there is no possible way you can know all the same things," she explains. Wert says that the search for a more focused, collaborative environment is one of the reasons that today's companies have been more successful in recruiting top talent. "This can be a very powerful experience for creative talent; this shared vision and purpose. Being on the professional services side, they weave in and out of the brand. And they can be more effective and consistent with their messaging by being inhouse."

FULLY IMMERSED IN THE MARRIOTT BRANDS

This was indeed one of several reasons that Diane Sterman left her job in advertising to join Marriott Corporation where she initially worked in print design and currently serves as creative director of e-commerce. "I was interested (in a corporate job) for a number of reasons. One, which has certainly proved to be true, is that I wanted to be much closer to understanding the business and its drivers," says Sterman.

And she says that being on the inside at this leading worldwide hospitality company gives her an edge on several fronts. "You really get to know your customers. If you work with them long enough you know their personalities. You also know their businesses and you can help steer them correctly. They may tell you that they need something and unless you really understand their business, or you're being funded to investigate it thoroughly, you don't know if they're on track or off track."

Sterman's team handles the creative for a mix of different products — including advertising, banners and new sites for the web — and for many of Marriott's hospitality chains, each a different brand. Marriott brands include Courtyard, Fairfield Inn, Ramada, Renaissance, Residence Inn, Ritz-Carlton and SpringHill Suites. Despite the single focus on hospitality, Sterman says the branding differences stimulate creativity and the quality of the projects is "frequently wonderful."

Also challenging is the fact that her e-commerce department is set up as a cost-recovered operation, meaning that she competes with outside agencies for the business of internal clients. Sterman believes that this provides benefits both for the company and for her staff because it forces them to stay more creative and competitive. How do they do this? "We benchmark our group with outside agencies; look and borrow what's 'best of breed,'" she explains. "It's important that our internal group keeps their skills honed so that all of the 'good' projects don't go outside. If you push to do exceptional work, you are going to get the good projects, or certainly some of the good projects."

One of the ways in which Sterman's department stays on top of their game — and retains their objectivity — is through collaboration with knowledgeable staff inside Marriott, as well as with top external research and creative firms. When working on a web advertising project, for example, they need to find out what's pulling on the web. To accomplish this, Sterman draws on the research, strategic and marketing staff within the corporation, and collaborates with outside agencies, frequently the best around. The financial backing of this $19.8 billion corporation supports the interaction with top research firms like Forrester. "So the things we come out with are not just 'gut feeling' products," she says, "they're really entrenched in a lot of knowledge."

The latitude to operate without budgetary constraints, to consult with both internal and external talent, as needed, and to get fully engulfed in projects (versus skimming the surface) are just a few of the pluses of being situated inhouse at a large corporation. Add to this a surprising number of career options for designers that can be found at some of these corporations.

INHOUSE = CAREER OPPORTUNITIES

Georgia Christensen, vice president of creative and brand services at Victoria's Secret Direct Media, has worked "inside" during most of her 20-year career. She ventured to agencies for two brief stints but quickly returned to inhouse situations because she has had opportunities "to do great things that actually exceed what agencies were doing." Formerly creative director at Neiman Marcus (where she hired Jerod Dame), Christensen has been with Victoria's Secret since last September and is excited about leading the creative team of 40 graphic designers, photo art directors, copywriters and production managers in producing both the retailer's catalog and web site.

"Planning and designing the books for Fall 2001 has been very exciting. We are now in the execution phase of these projects and they are looking great," she says.

Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, Inc. (MSLO) is another retailer that offers a myriad of career opportunities for design professionals. MSLO actually encompasses four separate business segments, all of which use inhouse talent for everything from product development to graphic design to photography to advertising. The publishing segment includes Martha Stewart Living, Martha Stewart Weddings, Martha Stewart Baby and special magazines such as Martha Stewart Holiday. The television segment includes the nationally-syndicated, daily one-hour program, "Martha Stewart Living," a daily cable television program on the Food Network, "From Martha's Kitchen," and regular appearances on other networks. The merchandising segment includes strategic partnerships through which merchandise designed by the company's inhouse creative experts are distributed and/or sold through K-mart, Sherwin-Williams, P/Kaufmann, and Zellers. And the internet/direct commerce segment consists of the high-end catalog, Martha by Mail, and marthastewart.com, marthasflowers offerings, and eight linked content and community channels.

"The great thing about MSLO is there are so many businesses that if you need to make a change, chances are you can find another job within the company," explains Gale Towey, senior executive vice president/creative director for MSLO. Towey says that her company has used the inhouse model since the first initiative, Martha Stewart Living magazine, was launched in 1991. It has worked so well for the magazine, including garnering numerous design awards, that this model was maintained as the company expanded into other mediums.

Like MSLO, the 22-person creative services group at Neiman Marcus is almost a company within a company, according to Jerod Dame, who views this as a major advantage over working in a small design firm. "We just bounce ideas off everybody and it's fun that way."

His former colleague agrees. "Hearing the conversations that take place in the halls and having that real sense of ownership in the organization are real benefits to being on the inside track," says Christensen.

INHOUSE = A LIFE

The opportunity for a more balanced lifestyle is another obvious attraction to working inhouse. Ten-hour days and rare working weekends are a luxury for both Sterman and Dame, whose lifestyles changed dramatically when they joined the corporate ranks.

Dame paints a picture of his old lifestyle, which will sound familiar to many designers: "You work in a small agency that has many projects of different sizes and scopes. You have to keep all those balls rolling, and understand each client's needs. So you're working a lot of hours, and the burnout rate is quite high." He admits that immediately after leaving Spoon magazine, he didn't know what to do with himself after 6:30 p.m. But the move to Neiman Marcus has allowed him to spend more time with his wife and two-year-old daughter and to take a "real" vacation (he's eligible for, and takes, three weeks per year). He also gets anywhere from a 30 to 60% discount on Neiman Marcus merchandise, which has been put to good use. Hint: his wife loves nice jewelry.

Sterman says she works hard, with a typical day starting at 9 a.m. and ending at 7 p.m. But she doesn't work weekends except once in a 'blue moon.' And her job offers many perks that can't be found outside the corporate setting: a gym for the 4,000 Marriott employees located in her building; stock incentives; a 401(k); excellent health benefits; and discounts on Marriott's products, including hotel rooms and gift shop purchases. "We went skiing last winter and stayed in a two-bedroom condo at one of Marriott's vacation clubs at a substantial discount," says Sterman.

She also uses her free time for other creative pursuits, and says that many of her fellow designers at Marriott do the same. At the moment she's taking a class in metal sculpting. Sterman also brings creative stimulation into the work environment by engaging speakers of interest to staff, a perk more often found in the corporate world than in the agency setting. The most recent speaker was Harvard linguistics expert Ginnie Reddish, Ph.D., who discussed usability issues relating to the online experience of the consumer.

Sterman explains the relevance of bringing Reddish to her group: "We are increasing the presence of usability testing, and this is an emerging discipline that, unlike pure design, helps you measure very quickly whether the consumer is able to access, understand and use the information on a web site."

OF COURSE, THERE ARE DRAWBACKS

While there are many payoffs to working inhouse, it does have its drawbacks. For one, creative stimulation may be lacking in some corporate settings where the creative team isn't as large as, say, Neiman Marcus or MSLO. Sterman says she is surrounded by "non-creative folks" and needs to work hard as a manager to build a creative atmosphere. Hence a bit of advice she has for anyone considering a corporate design position: "Creative leadership is tremendously important. If I were going to work in a corporation, I would want to make sure that there is dedication to constant growth, learning and stimulation."

Sometimes that dedication comes in the form of stimulating creativity exercises. Because her staff sit in cubicles, Sterman recently embarked on a unique exercise to encourage the expression of individuality. Marriott's e-commerce design staff are currently using a mobile, rubber brain in any way they choose, to represent themselves to their colleagues.

Christensen of Victoria's Secret says that creative stimulation is critical to a strong inhouse design department and will occur only if the right people are on board. "I want people who are passionate about design; who are inspiring to one another and bring that energy to the table," she explains. To facilitate that energy, she holds regular meetings with the team to review new ideas and discuss "what's happening in the (design) world."

Apparently, getting corporate creatives to stay on deadline can also be exhausting. Christensen has noticed that inhouse staff can be a little lax when it comes to meeting deadlines. "I've seen a lack of discipline there. When dealing with an outside team, knowing there are hourly fees involved, the client tends to be a little more buttoned up and prepared," she observes.

All in all, however, these design professionals believe the pluses of working inhouse far outweigh the minuses. The projects are plum (no binder presentations here), their colleagues are fun, the perks are fantastic and they're not hiding their heads in shame.

Says Christensen, "I find working with one client incredibly inspiring. It's a continual learning experience."