Made of STEL: Our Core Values
STEL has evolved greatly over the past five years. The team has grown, our skill set has widened, we’ve moved into a bigger office, and we’ve adopted new technology to expand our capabilities. Throughout all of this growth and development, one thing has remained the same—STEL’s commitment to its guiding pillars of deliberate design, sustainable engineering, and meaningful relationships. It’s these pillars that lay the foundation of every project we take on, and at the core of how and why we do what we do.
01
Quality Over Quantity
Prioritization of depth over breadth has always been a guiding principle for STEL’s
practice. When we take on a project, we don’t just see the product at the end of the
development process, we see every step leading up to it, every person involved, every
opportunity that could come about from it.
Above all, we pursue projects with purpose.
Our team focuses our talents on completing perfectly-executed, innovative designs
rather than spreading its strengths to churn out conventional products that saturate the market. When STEL sets out to create, we do so with the intent to bring a one-of-a-kind design to life. Our industrial designers and engineers are constantly collaborating to push the boundaries of function without compromising form to create products that will make an impact.
02
Partnership Beyond the Project
At STEL, we look at more than a proposal when selecting our portfolio of projects; we
look to the future of a partnership. Our directors carefully examine a company’s core
principles, start-up mentality, commitment to a mission, and enthusiasm for sustainable design when evaluating potential partners. We take our time to carefully curate internal and external connections with clients to ensure commitment and professional fit that can extend beyond a first project. These well-developed, purposeful relationships enable both STEL and our partners to call on each other for future projects and endeavors.
Many of these partnerships have grown into friendships outside the office as well; it is
not uncommon to see team members of STEL and collaborating companies bombing
down a bike trail or tackling local climbing routes in a race against sunset after work.
03
Behind Every Great Product is a Great Story
A successful product is more than just a well-executed design, it’s a labor of love.
Behind every idea that STEL brings to life is a story, written by a passionate team,
which we use to craft a product’s brand. It’s that team’s passion that drives a product’s
story forward, and is at the base of our partner’s brands, which gives them a competitive edge as they take on larger companies.
Our team carefully constructs marketing plans tailored for a well-researched target audience, to amplify a brand’s voice to be heard over the hum of a saturated market. We strive to lay the foundation for our partners and their brands so they may grow around the products they have designed. STEL’s understanding of every facet of the production process, from renders to marketing, enable us to provide end-to-end services for a successful product development through to its launch.
04
Real Recognizes Real
It is no coincidence that STEL’s clientele consists of passionate, purposeful partners.
Like attracts like in this regard as our team’s industrial designers and engineers bring
their own passion for invention into the office every day. We make sure our clients are
always involved with every step of the product development process to maintain a
constant state of collaborative creativity and to ultimately ensure expectations are
exceeded.
The STEL team is driven by a genuine love for creation, not just the bottom line, as we
seek to create products for companies with a purpose. It is our commitment to the core principles of ethical engineering and honest design that companies are proud to be a part of.
05
Looking at the Big Picture
STEL’s dedication to sustainability extends beyond our partnership with 1% For The
Planet and our incessant pursuit of adventure after work. With every product born in
our studio, we design with the absolute end in mind; each step of our design process is conservation-focused to culminate in incredibly sustainable final products. Our library of recyclable, plant-based, and non-toxic materials allows us to create products with minimal environmental impact well beyond their lifetime. To improve the sustainability of production both in our own studio and with our clients, we utilize materials, manufacturers, and design methods that are environmentally conscious. In doing so, STEL has procured a toolbox of sustainable resources that is readily available for use by our in-house designers.
An ongoing dedication to ethical production and commitment to sustainable design have played a crucial role in our success as a firm, and truly reflect our passion as people. We are pulling inspiration for our product design from the world around us everyday, so we have to keep protecting that world top of mind always. These guiding pillars have served us well as our final products reflect the integrity and innovation of the STEL team.