This story was originally published in the Spring 2023 issue of strategy.

Every year, strategy’s Creative Report Card tracks and tallies the awards taken home by agencies, advertisers and creatives over the past year to help the marketing community know who’s at the top of their game. This week, we are talking to this year’s cream of the crop to get their thoughts on creativity, challenges and the secret sauce to creating a winning shop. You can see interviews with the other honourees here, and be sure to check out the full rankings.

Stephanie Yung
Chief Design Officer, Zulu Alpha Kilo
#1 Designer

Where do you get your inspiration?
I find my inspiration in those in-between moments when I’m performing a mundane task. I might be walking to a meeting when I see a unique slab serif typeface I’ve never seen before stamped onto a vintage mailbox. Or I’m boarding a streetcar and notice a new design feature making it more accessible for people with mobility issues and families with strollers. Then, as I tap my mobile through the open payment system, I experience how convenient someone’s made the riding experience on public transportation. Whether visual, sensorial, functional or experiential, these mini observations often find their way into future projects. It goes without saying, but I’m also inspired by all the amazing people I get to work with on the daily.

What’s influencing the design process now? 
Design thinking is now more critical to brands than ever before. It’s viewed as a big part of business transformation. At its best, the most impactful design has the ability to show people and businesses what’s possible by leapfrogging past today and designing that better future we all want to live in – changing the way we see, think, feel, and even behave.

At ZAK, design is part of our initial strategy phase to help us reframe the real problem we need to solve. Because when your design solution is grounded in a true human insight, you have a clearer path for creating a game-changing idea that benefits the consumer and the business.

Google’s Real Tone is a brilliant example. The product was developed because there was a gap and a real human need. Historically, camera technology couldn’t accurately represent darker skin tones and, as a result, a simple everyday interaction like taking photos wasn’t an inclusive experience. To fill that gap, Google partnered with a diverse community of image professionals for their expertise in the accurate imagery of people of colour. This resulted in Real Tone, which leverages technology in the Pixel camera and Google photos to highlight the nuances of all skin tones more accurately and beautifully.

What makes a designer great? 
It sounds like a paradox, but the hallmark of a great designer is open mindedness with a strong point of view. The best designers have an ability at the beginning of every project to go wide and to explore all the different possibilities. Then, with a discerning eye, they can synthesize and craft that unique point of view into the most compelling communication, identity, product or experience.

What work or project did you admire most from the previous year that neither you nor anyone else at your agency worked on? 
I loved Dole’s Piñatex work because it’s a real world-changing idea. Being one of the largest producers of pineapples in the world, they partnered with Ananas Anam to produce a vegan, cruelty-free and sustainable leather alternative made from the fibre of pineapple leaves that would typically go to waste. In this instance, the “design” is really about the process of upcycling the waste to create change beyond the food industry.

Everyone needs time out. What creative work do you do in your own time?  
My time out is less about creative work and more about creative play with my 4-year-old daughter. She keeps my imagination child-like by challenging me to think of new and inventive ways to keep her engaged. It usually ends up with me singing, getting drawn on with markers, or pretending to be frozen. With our children, things are always fun and unpredictable. We need to embrace that in our design approach. So, I try to guide my teams with this in mind. Unlike my early years as a creative leader, I’ve come to realize that the best ideas come from uninhibited, playful collaboration and tapping into life’s unexpected inspiration.