After a year, David joined a client's business as their Marketing Director. SMX was an emerging hi-tech manufacturer of Laser Trackers for the QC of cars and planes. It was venture backed and posturing to go public. The business grew from $2M/yr (and 9 people) to $22M/yr (and 90 people) in 3 years. David was sure other manufacturers could grow just as quickly with his help, so he reopened DesignDesign in 1998.

To understand the real origins of DesignDesign, it helps to know the founder, David White, and the experiences in his career that shaped the business. He graduated from Philadelphia College of Art with a BS in Industrial Design in 1973. He helped form 2 businesses in 5 years. In the first business, Skethea (Greek for "design"), he designed, manufactured and marketed sporting goods that were sold through bicycle shops and mass merchandisers like Sears. He also exported products to Europe. A unique bike hanger was even accepted into the permanent collection at the Museum of Modern Art. In the second business, Somatech, he made and marketed realistic custom breast prosthesis for wealthy mastectomy patients from suites in NYC and Philadelphia (the service was described in the book, "First You Cry"). To expand the business, ready-made forms branded Second Nature, were marketed through Bloomingdale's and the finest specialty stores in America. Despite personal and private investment, difficult events brought both businesses to closure in 1978. Those years, recalled at first as brutal failures, eventually were reflected on as invaluable learning experiences.

David promised his wife Linda, that if he had not made a million dollars in his first 5 years, he'd get a "regular" job and start their family (which they did). His first job interview was at a Fortune100 company. Arriving with a bag of his products, DuPont hired him. He started on the ground floor, developing enclosures and organizing controls for hi-tech scientific-analysis systems. Within 17 years, he was managing the people that hired him. His natural salesmanship allowed him to expand the use of Industrial Design throughout DuPont and grow the staff. He gave 20 or more ID graduates their first jobs and searched out the cream of the crop. David contributed to hundreds of development programs with brilliant men and women in science and engineering. Programs included the first DNA Sequencer, early digital imaging systems, the first HIV Test kit, large clinical chemistry systems, microbiology systems, centrifugations systems, radiopharmaceutical systems, microtomy products and extensive packaging systems. The management training was extensive. Before leaving DuPont, David led the Industrial Design, Mechanical Design, Electrical Design, Packaging Engineering, Graphic Design, and Environmental Testing groups within the Medical Products Business, representing $4.5M in annually purchased services, and contributed to the broader corporate branding standards for instruments, equipment and packaging.

When David left big business in 1994 and formed DesignDesign Inc., he already had 6 clients, one of which was SMX. The idea of entering a client's business, as more than a development expert, was a new stretch of accountability. The marketing role required business plans, research, branding, publicity, literature, advertising, trade shows, video, web, and user group development. Creating a company with an image of success, and a product that looked great and worked, was an accomplishment for which the entire team deserved credit. But, styling the products and marketing the business on a shoestring was David's accomplishment, and it was what inspired David to reshape DesignDesign to become an Industrial Design AND Marketing firm in 1998.

MetricVision, InTest, Datacolor and Strategic Diagnostics represented 80% of early DD business, which evolved from personal contacts. Today, strong regional marketing provides a new and diverse client base in the Mid-Atlantic States. New clients now provide 80% of the revenue and the new opportunities.

In January, 2007, DesignDesign and Centerline Design, Marketing and Graphics, merged. Kathy Lick Pilla, Centerline president, was "Business Woman of the Year" in Chester County and joined David to grow the marketing communications and advertising side of DesignDesign. The team is staged for growth.

Insights gained from large and small businesses have qualified David as a valued resource to his clients and his group. He and his hand-picked team have built a reputation for developing smart and sexy products for their clients' brands, and for creating the ads, packaging and promotional strategies they need to be successful.