Interview with Dave Gilbert, Managing Partner and COO of Stray Media Group, United States

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Dave Gilbert

Dave Gilbert is the COO of Stray Media Group, which allows him to create new business developments and build customer relationships with creative art direction and employee development.



Interview with the 2019 Vega Digital Awards Winner - Dave Gilbert

1Please give us a brief bio of yourself and your background.

With a sales, merchandising and marketing background, I decided to start my own company, Stray Media Group, 10 years ago. We focus on an area that was missing in the marketing industry – full dedication to the growth of our customers to help them reach their full potential.

2What made you become/why did you choose to become a digital designer/artist?

I have always been creatively inclined, so I started to create a career around it with a sign and design company, which has now grown into a full-service marketing team.

3Tell us more about your business/company, job profile, and what you do.

Stray Media Group is a full-service marketing company that meets our customers where they are and helps them achieve their goals and full potential through marketing strategies and implementation. As Founder and Managing Partner of Stray Media Group, my job profile is diverse and includes everything from new business development and customer relationship building to creative art direction and employee development.

4What’s your favorite kind of digital design and why?

Anything that is colorful, engaging and thoughtful in its design approach.

5To you, what makes a “good” design?

Clean, simple, well-thought-out and actionable designs that transcend different audiences and target groups to allow viewers to get own message out of them.

6Describe your design style and its main characteristics.

Our design style at Stray Media Group focuses on standing the test of time. Timeless fonts, design elements, clean and simple – these are the things you can look at 10 years from now and see a design that is still relevant.

7Tell us about your design process.

We start with our customer’s goals and consider their branding needs first. With these elements in mind, we then search for inspiration and begin creating something that uses modern, forward-thinking design style and characteristics that elevate their brand while getting their message across in a clear, concise manner.

8Where do you draw inspiration from?

Everyday life. Inspiration is all around us, all day long.

9What current trends in digital design (or really anything digital related) are you most excited about?

What I find most exciting about the digital industry is how these mediums are served up to the consumers. The technology behind these platforms and the constant changes are fascinating and make you eager to see what the future will bring.

10Congratulations! As the winner of the 2019 Vega Awards, what does it mean to you and your company and team to receive this award distinction?

Thank you! Our team was thrilled to be a part of this project and delighted to be able to share our customer’s success with their new site by receiving this award. We put passion into everything we do and being recognized for the work we produce for our clients is an extremely rewarding experience.

11Can you explain a bit about the winning work you entered into the 2019 Vega Awards, and why you chose to enter this project?

We chose to enter the Paragon Pro Manufacturing Solutions web redesign project because of its drastic before and after transformations. The project had a strong focus on making the user-experience as seamless as possible while updating the look and feel of the site to something more modern and aesthetically pleasing; a skill our company has worked diligently to accomplish in our work.

12What was the biggest challenge with this project?

By far, the biggest challenge on this website redesign was to portray the cutting-edge solutions they offer to accurately showcase their variety of products and services while simultaneously making the flow of the website as user-friendly as possible.

13How has winning an Award developed your practice/career?



Winning multiple international awards over the years has helped to boast our creative talent and expertise, which ultimately allows us to have more freedom in working with our clients to produce great work.

14What are your top three (3) favorite things about the digital industry?

1 – Ever-changing market

2 – Analytics

3 – Variety of mediums

15What makes your country specifically, unique in the digital industry?

Enormous amount of talent in individuals and companies that are always on the leading edge of technology, pushing the limits to move the digital industry forward.

16Where do you see the evolution of digital industry going over the next 5-10 years?

Who knows?! That is what I find so exciting about the industry – it will continue at an even faster rate of technological advancement and offer developers and end users limitless possibilities.

17If you were a student entering this industry or an aspiring Vega Award submitter, what advice would you give them?

Put in your 10,000 hours in and keep striving to be the best at what you do and adapting to the changing industry while maintaining the integrity of your design style.

18What resources would you recommend to someone who wants to improve their skills in the digital industry?

We love tutorial videos, and it’s so important to never lose the desire to learn, grow and challenge yourself.

19Who has inspired you in your life and why?

An old boss and mentor from the retail industry. He instilled in me the importance of hard work and drive, helping me to develop my career and continue making goals even today.

20What is your key to success? Any parting words of wisdom?

Not being afraid to put in the work. It’s been said that if you do what you love you’ll never work a day in your life. I like to take that a step further and say it does take hard work and commitment, but when you love what you do it makes the process so much more rewarding.

21Do you have anything else you would like to add to the interview?

Always have an excellent content writer on-hand to help you sound exceptional!



Winning Entries

Website Redesign | 2019

Website Redesign | Vega Digital Awards | Stray Media Group

Paragon Pro Manufacturing Solutions is a manufacturer of light construction equipment. In addition to their products they also provide contract...
(read more at Vega Digital Awards)

Stray Media Group


Located in Grand Forks, ND, Stray Media Group is a group of marketing professionals that bring experience and creative power to what they do.


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