Some people believe that if you spread yourself too thin-do a little of everything without specializing in anything-then nothing gets done well. Here to disprove that theory is Courtney Sloane, who has made a career specializing in doing it all and doing it all quite well.

Sloane is president, creative director and founder of Alternative Design (AD), a multi-disciplinary design studio specializing in environments, visuals and ideas. As such, the firm practices interior design, interior architecture, graphic design, product branding, marketing, set design, party design, animation, ideation and just about anything else a client might need in the way of creativity.

But it's not only what AD does that makes it a diverse company. Sloane is African-American and has made a point of hiring an ethnically and culturally diverse group of people with whom to work. Founded seven years ago in Jersey City, NJ-Sloane's hometown-AD has more than doubled staff and tripled revenue in the past year. No small feat for any company, but it's particularly impressive when you consider that it was achieved by a company led by an African-American woman; AD is thriving in an industry that's less than three percent African-American.

Sloane believes that her ethnically diverse company is on the cusp of the new American mainstream, reflecting the country's growing acceptance and even embrace of diversity. According to Sloane, the design industry is changing to meet the demands of this demographic diversity. And if Sloane has her way, she and Alternative Design will be at the vanguard of this change for a long time.

If Sloane has a mantra, it has to be "diversity, diversity, diversity . . ." From the work in her company's expanding portfolio to the people she calls her colleagues, Sloane has intentionally chosen a mixed bag. AD's list of residential clients includes professional athletes as well as executives at some of the country's most progressive fashion, media and entertainment companies. The firm's commercial clients include Bad Boy Entertainment, BET, Enyce, Sony Music, Disney, the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame and Vibe and Essence magazines, for whom Sloane is a contributing editor.

As for her 10 colleagues at AD, Sloane is proud to have a multi-ethnic, multi-aged, multi-gendered, multi-talented collection of people. In fact, she credits this group with the repositioning of AD from an interiors company to a design development company.

"I must really be a Gemini because about two years ago I started to feel bored doing only interiors," Sloane says. "Diversity keeps me interested and challenged. When I started to talk to my staff about the structure of the firm, I think we all realized that the way we worked was a little Bohemian. In addition to interiors, we were heavily into marketing and really creating an entire persona for our clients to present to the consumer. So, now we're this design development company, but I think we're still Bohemian."

As a design development company, AD divides its product mix into environments-contract, hospitality and residential; visuals-company logos, collateral material and animation; and ideas-focus groups and concept formation.

AD probably works more like an advertising agency than a typical design firm. Some jobs, of course, are a one time deal, but Sloane prefers to have a long-term relationship with clients. Thus, AD is kept on retainer and is available to help clients resolve issues related to any one of the areas in AD's product mix.

Last year, AD helped BET build a showroom for its new Exsto clothing label, and along with that came work on brand identity, graphics, a trade show booth and even some consulting on Exsto's first collection. BET is most well-known for its presence on cable television; BET=Black Entertainment Television. Therefore, the job required some of that repositioning AD itself had experienced.

"Here was a premier African-American entertainment company that wanted to get into the clothing game," Sloane says. "Its target market is 20- to 30-year-old upscale urban men, so when we showed them our plans for the showroom, the storyboards included narratives about their prospective customers. That was all part of helping them reposition BET in terms of clothing, and it allowed us to combine all of our areas of expertise-the environment, the visuals and the ideas."

The result is a showroom that not only provides a unique setting in which to present clothing, but one that is a foundation for all things connected to the sale of clothing. For example, the color scheme in the showroom carries over to colors used in corporate identity materials. The trade show booth is a knock-off of the showroom. And the showroom itself is a representation of the lifestyle of men for whom Exsto clothing is designed-young, hip and urban.

The BET showroom encompasses 10,000 square feet on the 43rd, 44th and 45th floors of one of New York City's garment district buildings. With high ceilings and an open stairwell connecting all three levels, the space exudes a sense of accessibility and casualness. Vignettes and alcoves divide the showroom into workable spaces. On the 44th floor, the work space is adjacent to a lounge area and can be connected to it with the simple slip of a sliding barn door. A bar set on rollers-what Sloane calls "the hook" of the showroom-is designed to move between the lounge and work areas. Thus, the barriers between work and play break down, a definite reflection of BET's intention with the Exsto clothing line.

For Sony Music Studio, New York, NY, AD broke down the barriers between the record company and alternative music artists. A large number of pop and classical musicians already called Sony's recording studio home, but the company wasn't attracting R & B and Hip-Hop musicians. AD studied the demographics of the artists Sony wanted to sign on and then re-designed 10,000 square feet of existing basement space to meet the needs and desires of these artists.

In addition to attracting alternative artists, AD was charged with immersing this new client in Sony's entire product line.

"Sony especially wanted these artists to know about the audio-video equipment and the other electronics they offered," Sloane says. "Besides being in the recording studio, they wanted to give the artists another Sony experience. So we designed a place for the artists to hang out and relax between sessions that simulates the interior of a van. It's a small space like a van, only about six by seven feet, but it's packed with Sony's state-of-the-art audio-visual equipment. We even designed custom chairs that resemble car seats."

AD is currently hard at work for another client that is closely connected to the music industry. For the Rock 'N' Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, OH, AD has been commissioned to design an exhibit for the 20th anniversary of Hip-Hop. The exhibit is scheduled to open in November and will tell the story of Hip-Hop from the economic, social, political, psychological and artistic points of view.

"Hip-Hop is massive," Sloane says. "It's everywhere, it's colorless, it's evolving and it is a music that has spun into many areas of our modern culture. For those reasons, we intend to bring an educational value to the exhibit."

Sloane adds that this also is the kind of project that speaks to the mission of AD. Aside from drawing on all the talents the firm has-designing the displays within the exhibit, the graphics, the collateral material, the multi-media and interactive components and even the wayfinding-this project takes full advantage of AD's multi-ethnicity.

Growing up in Jersey City, Sloane was just a hop, skip and a jump away from the ethnic diversity in the Big Apple. But for exposure to design, she had to look no further than her family's own living room. Sloane remembers her childhood being filled with hours spent in furniture stores to satisfy her mother's penchant for decorating.

"There were all kinds of quirky things around our house," Sloane recalls with enthusiasm. "I'm sure all that stuff sparked my interest."

When the time came for Sloane to head off for college at Rutgers University, she was still very interested in design, but she says, "A black kid going into design? It just didn't make sense then." That Sloane didn't formally study design in college may just have been a stroke of luck. Instead she pursued another interest in marketing management and ultimately the two disciplines have served her well.

After college, Sloane spent 18 months as a buyer for JCPenney-"a good place to hang out and learn about business"-and then went to work for Formica. While with Formica, Sloane finally managed to get a serious interior design education at New York's Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) and went on to study metal working at Pratt Institute. But, she says, she probably learned just as much traveling around New York and New Jersey for Formica.

"I learned how things got made," she says. "I went into cabinet shops and fabrication shops and to construction sites just watching and asking questions. After that, I was really into making things-anything-so I started freelancing on the side doing set design, flower design, party decorations. The best part was that I really began to understand the work done by people I would someday be hiring."

Sloane's break into the big leagues came in 1993 when she was hired to renovate the interiors and design furniture for Queen Latifah's new house in New Jersey. From that, work in the entertainment industry started to roll in and Sloane was ready to officially hang out her shingle.

Despite all that Sloane has managed to do with her career, one thing is missing: a design mentor. Through college and the early years of her career, Sloane never found an African-American woman whom she could consider a role model. Dedicated to remedying that, Sloane is making herself an available role model to aspiring designers of color.

According to Sloane, AD regularly receives letters, cards and samples of design from students of all colors from across the country. (At a recent national conference of the Organization of Black Designers (OBD) held in Atlanta, Sloane was stunned by the large student body in attendance.) All express interest in AD's work as well as its mission of ethnic diversity. This year, two of those students worked at AD as summer interns. One young woman is studying design marketing at Columbia University and the other woman is a student of design at FIT.

"We've had interns before, but this time we really wanted to help them learn what they needed to know and not just what we needed them to do," says Sloane. "So one of our interns is studying CAD, which is what she needed to round-out her education. None of our interns have ever been given just busy work. That would be useless."

In addition to the intern program, AD is in the process of formulating a program for bringing design to high school students. Sloane would someday love to speak to juniors and seniors at her own alma mater, St. Anthony's High School. She not only wants to tell them about AD, but also about all the possibilities available to them within the field of design.

"Design is so vast," she says. "Interior design, architecture, graphics, computers and the list goes on and on. I doubt these kids even know what options are out there."

Of course, Sloane isn't planning to mentor alone. All of her colleagues at AD stand beside her. Most are even willing to make themselves accessible on weekends in order to get in touch with kids looking for role models.

In an effort to help the general public get in touch with the work of African-American artists and designers, Sloane is working to establish the African-American Archives at the Cooper Hewitt Institute in New York City. It is an initiative whereby African-Americans can champion their work and students can research that existing body of work. Now in the initial phase, the Cooper Hewitt has begun collecting slides and other portfolio material, and Sloane has begun making contacts to help raise funds for the project. A tough job, but then most beginnings are, says Sloane.

About three months ago, Sloane was at a conference where she met a young woman of color who had studied interior design. Her search for work in design had, until then, turned up empty and she was forced to accept a job in an unrelated field. Naturally, she was discouraged, but talking with Sloane gave her incentive to continue her search.

"I got a letter from this young woman today," Sloane says. "She found a job as a design assistant. That makes me feel so good. Something she had put on the back burner is now going to become reality."

Instances like this one are what make Sloane proud to be a role model to children of color. Of course, all children need good role models, but says Sloane, children need to see people who look like them succeeding at things they want to do. So, her decision to work with an ethnically diverse group of people is not only for her benefit. Sloane indeed hopes to benefit generations of children with the knowledge that success is within their grasp, no matter what color they are.

Related Articles » Eco Design: Going, Going, Gone » The successful renovation of the McLamore Center for children » A crumbling Apartment Complex Becomes a vibrant community. » Natural light and beautiful views distinguish ne home for Brann Blau. » Industrial elegance distinguishes new home of Manhattan creative group » Portfolio Diversification » Home Is Where the Heart Is » Eco Design: Hitting Matters » Redefining Residential Design » Chicago Style