Our Story
B. Steve Neumann is the president and founder of The Design Office of Steve Neumann & Friends, Houston, Texas, a national practice recognized as one of the country’s premier environmental signage/wayfinding firms specializing in health and institutional signage programs. Educated in Communication Design and Photographic Illustration at the Rochester Institute of Technology, his professional experience previous to the formation of Steve Neumann & Friends in 1975, was as Senior Design Director for the Kelvin Group, Inc., one of Houston’s leading pure design studios.
Since commencing business, Mr. Neumann has participated in major corporate trademark and identification programs and the development of health, institutional and commercial signage programs acting as primary system programmer, principal designer, management coordinator, technical fabrication and installation consultant. His primary expertise is the development and management of large scale hospital and (corporate) institutional signage programs, designing systems which meet client budget, design and time constraints. Due to the unusually large scope perimeters involved in current commissions, his office has been instrumental in the development of industry benchmarks for construction documentation and implementation manuals utilizing extensive CADD and desktop publishing.
As a founding professional member of the Society of Environmental Graphic Designers (SEGD), he has participated extensively in the organizations’ ADA development round tables (regional seminars) as well as a featured speaker at their annual national meetings (1988, 1989, 1990, 1992, 1999 and 2000). He is currently serving a 4 year term on the SEGD National Board and was highly active in the coordination and planning of the 2001 SEGD National Convention held in Miami Beach, Florida and the development of their education initiative and web-site development.
Additionally recognized as a professional industry spokesman, he has been a featured lecturer at the “Sign Users Conference”, (Signs of the Times/Identity Magazine annual conference) in 1991, 1992. He is a sustaining member of the American Institute of Graphic Artists (AIGA), and the Art Director’s Club of Houston (ADCH), and has participated on the Executive Committee of Billboards Limited, a Houston lobby group for the control of visual communication pollution in our environment.
