Stimulant is an interactive design and development studio that crafts magical experiences for computers that don't look like computers. We are entirely focused on bringing a sense of wonder back to digital experiences, using software to connect people to ideas, brands, and each other. Founded in 2007, our team has a varied background—including architecture, art, design, motion graphics, sound design, enterprise-class software development, and beyond—giving Stimulant a cross-disciplinary perspective on interactive work. We collaborate closely with our clients, hardware firms, AV integrators, industrial designers, and architects to bring our work to life on a myriad of devices, for special events, and in permanent installations.
We love what we do.
Or is it the other way around? We're expert generalists, technical creatives, and creative technicians. We live, eat, and breathe this stuff, and it's our mission to bring that energy to every project and every client.
Lisah Barry
HR Manager
Lisah has spent the past ten years helping start-ups transition from tiny seedlings to successful, thriving companies. Whether it’s planning company events, helping shape company culture, or staffing a new department, Lisah enjoys the varied life and fast pace of studio and management. More than anything, Lisah loves working side-by-side with passionate people. She is constantly focused on what she can to help create a creative and focused atmosphere where everyone can be at their best.
Darren David
CEO
For over 20 years, Darren has traversed the blurry edges at the intersection of technology and design, exploring nearly every conceivable project role as both client and contributor. His rich and storied career has wound from paper to pixels to people, across a myriad of companies and ventures that ultimately led to several "world's firsts" and awards. At Stimulant, he provides business, vision and experience design leadership for an inspiring team of like-minded compatriots and pioneers, from whom he learns something new every day.
Lee Granas
Senior Project Manager
As a senior project manager at Stimulant, Lee helps turn exciting concepts into incredible realities. She spent 10 years working in medical education, virtual-reality, and simulated surgery with the Visible Human Project. Lee then managed web projects at Elevated Third and Fluid, including The North Face website and in-store kiosks. With a diverse background and expert attention to detail, Lee also helps guide content management processes at Stimulant, all without losing her smile.
John Wayne Hill
Interaction Designer
John Wayne has 10 years of experience designing for and building digital experiences. He is fluent in Interaction Design, and enjoys being a expert design generalist. John Wayne loves exploring the unknown and pushing past the boundaries of technical limits. He is passionate about physical and wearable computing, is deeply empathetic for all people, and loves to help clients bring the best experiences to life.
Suzanne Hitchcock
Controller
Suzanne handles most aspects of Stimulant's business operations. She always wants to work with highly professional, motivated, and spirited groups of individuals with whom she can collaborate and guide through the adventures of the business world. Stimulant is her paragon of this ideal. Suzanne adores the printed page, happily obsessing over books new and old, and loves the idea of ideas coming to life through words.
Greg Kaufman
Designer
Greg Kaufman, known online as Gerg Werk, is internationally recognized for his senior degree project, the Multi Touch Light Table, a vision of the future of music interfaces. His project was named one of the top 10 most innovative UI designs of 2010 by Fast Company, represented in print by Gestalten, featured in many design blogs, and showcased in a HP video. He has also created award-winning information graphics and hopes to continue combining his love for music and design.
Jules Konig
Art Director
Jules is an award-winning visual designer, expert brand steward, and user interface artist. Jules has had the privilege to work for some of the world’s best-known retailers, biggest brands, and most influential companies. At Stimulant Jules enjoys the challenge of designing for whatever is thrown his way and is proud to be responsible for the "look" of Stimulant.
Ritesh Lala
Developer
Ritesh trained in the systemics of new media theory and its applications in the fusion of art, science and engineering. During his time at UC, Santa Barbara, his love for exploring novel modes of interaction led him to create immersive installations with touch tables, depth sensing cameras and motion tracking systems. At Stimulant, he helps to create futuristic experiences with intuitive interactions.
Nathan Moody
Design Director
Nathan has designed award-winning interfaces, interactions, illustrations, motion, and sound for two decades, in almost every digital delivery medium and communication channel, for some of the world's best known companies. His broad range of experience informs his cross-pollinated, holistic approach to the design, art, and craft of experience design. Nathan is a published author, awards judge, and frequent public speaker, and lives to explore what he doesn't yet know.
Joel Pryde
Technical Lead
After getting his start in Carnegie Mellon University's Entertainment Technology Center, Joel has pursued a career in console game development and ui design. Working at studios like Activision, Microsoft and Gas Powered Games, Joel developed games for Vista, Next-gen consoles and some of the first Microsoft Surface tech demos. Joel is an experienced 3D graphics and physics developer and is excited to use those skills to power the interactive experiences of tomorrow.
Josh Santangelo
Technical Director
Josh has been building innovative technology experiences for 13 years with a collection of top teams, companies, and clients. His first uncommon computing experience came in 2005 when he joined the team that brought Microsoft Surface to market, and he has been hooked on bringing the dream of natural interaction to reality ever since. Now as technical director at Stimulant, he guides and manages all aspects of our development efforts.
Aron Schoppert
Test Lead
Aron brings over a decade of test experience with him from the Windows and Internet Explorer teams at Microsoft. A strong advocate for Context-Driven school of testing, he believes every project requires a special approach. In his spare time he manages a record label, does web and graphic design, and researches emerging user experience concepts. He is also aggressively cross-disciplinary, helping out with development and design tasks in an integrator role.
Kristi Torgrimson
Project Manager
Kristi has produced digital media projects for over a decade, driven by her passion for creating engaging user experiences. As an intern at Microsoft she worked on the Windows team as a Web Developer for three years before moving on to study Psychology and Digital Media at the University of Washington, and then diving into project management of interactive experiences at Plexipixel. She loves optimizing process, finding creative solutions and defining best practices, all while keeping her pulse on the latest trends in technology.
Ray Winninger
Managing Director
Ray has more than twenty five years of product development experience in creative, marketing, and management roles. He comes to Stimulant from Microsoft, where he spent twelve years as a Senior Director in Platform Evangelism and an Executive Producer in Microsoft Studios. During his stint at Microsoft, Ray helped launch countless new products and worked with a diverse set of partners. Previously, Ray co-founded a new division within 3Com/Palm, worked as an Executive Producer at Viacom, and worked on the launch of the Sony Playstation.