"Stuart Iwasaki is truly one of the most talented managers of the Design Industry. He is an amazing Design talent who has risen to be a Global Design Director over all aspects of design.. One who never tired of rolling up his sleeves and filling in anywhere he's needed, from design work, to branding Sport teams or federations. He has worked with ease with World renowned leaders in the Sports World. United State Olympic Committee as one example in a list that is to long to list. Stuart is also one of the most skilled leaders in managing teams at various levels. In any complex project I have worked on in my career at Nike, Stuart has always been an incredible and valued partner.
I've known Stuart for over 12 years. He is the real deal, and a valued team member and leader. AMAZING is the word!"
-Scott Williams, Nike Sr. Creative Director
I have been very fortunate to work with Stuart as my Design Director and manager on many major sports projects over the past year. Stuart is a very confident and talented professional creative. In his role he was assuring communication and output of design between several design teams in various worldwide locations. He was representing the creative work of his teams at all levels as an inspiring manager that lead big ideas to success. At the same time he was conducting creative commercialization of innovative product for some of the world biggest globally exposed sport events. Stuart keeps calm and supportive in the storm which was a very empowering factor to all his teams. He is a great advisor, teacher and listener, not only in design but also in leadership matters. Stuarts naturally calm ability to motivate and energize his people ultimately lead to delivering greater work and therefore pushed the boundaries very intuitive. He is a great source of inspiration and manages to spread his positive attitude to all his people on a daily basis. I truly appreciate the essential learnings during the past year working with with Stuart, especially the management and leadership insights he shared with me. He is a very honest creative and a talented Director who will be a great asset to any leadership team. I do hope that I get the opportunity to work with him again in the future.less"
-Matthias Wagner, Nike Sr. Designer, Amsterdam
"I have worked directly for Stuart for 6+ years and I have known him for 11 years (met in 2003). Stuart has a way of confidently leading individuals as he did with me and the rest of our team. He did this globally as well, leading three teams across the world.
His amount of creativity and design knowledge was only equaled by his ability to work with people (direct reports and otherwise) to get the best out of them and then empower them to grow to the next level. Stuart is a leader and a designer of the highest caliber and I would gladly work for him again!"
-Bryan Rogers, Nike Designer
Stuart is a top-notch designer, intuitive art director, inspirational leader and mentor. I’ve had many design managers over the decades and Stuart is definitely at the top, if not #1 on the list. Any business, or firm would benefit from his skills, talent and knowledge in the areas of graphic design, or brand management. And he’s a great guy too!
-Mike Hodder, Nike Designer
"Stuart is one of the greatest managers I have met at Nike who inspires, motivates and mentors his team to be successful. I had the pleasure of working with Stuart in the past 3 years.Stuart was my manager, although we were located in different regions ( Oregon, US and Hong Kong, China), I never felt that I was working alone. With his kindness and confident leadership, our design team in Hong Kong achieved great success in many design projects for National and Professional teams around Asia. ( e.g., India Cricket National Team Uniform, Japan Soccer J-League teams - Urawa Red Diamonds, Sanfreecce Hiroshima and Kashima Antlers, and Chinese Super League - CSL. )
My manager, mentor and friend, it would be my honour working with Stuart again. I wish him great success in the future."
-Eddie Chan, Nike Design Manager, Hong Kong
"Stuart is a top quality Designer + Design Director. I recommend him for his great design vision + amazing mentoring / managing skill. I have not met a single person speak a bad thing about him. He is always there for the issues, and readily works with us on problem solving & intuitive vision, to move projects forward. I really enjoyed working with him for nurturing my design skills. He is also capable of directing multiple projects, with a zillion different timelines. I know that he was always ready to talk to Designers in Europe & Asia in different time zones, on any given matter. He is just genuinely GOOD"
-Hee Ji, Nike Sr. Apparel Designer