Design Army and the Drive Behind Plum Lefebure's American Dream

The clock on the computer screen read 3 a.m., but Pum Lefebure, a student designer with University Relations, was so absorbed in her project she was unaware of the hour. As she worked, however, the dirt on her computer screen began to bother her so she decided to do something about it.

She reached for screen cleaner and sprayed the offending surface. Then she used a paper towel to dry it. Then paper stuck to the surface.

Puzzled and panicked, she looked at the cleaner and discovered she had sprayed the screen with spray mount adhesive.

There are people who would have walked away from such disasters, but not Lefebure. She spent the next two hours peeling away the paper and polishing the surface of the screen so no one would ever know. And she kept this secret until now.

Her drive and diligence seen in both working late — not because she had to but because she wanted to — along with her problem-solving abilities, has propelled Lefebure into being a serious force in the design world. She is the co-founder of the highly prestigious Design Army, which she started with her husband Jake.

Located in Washington, D.C., Design Army is an awardwinning, internationally recognized design firm often featured in publications such as How Magazine, Forbes and Adweek. Lefebure was a speaker at Cannes Lions and HOW Design Live 2017, two of the largest annual gatherings of creative professionals in the world.

But before all this, she was an international student at Radford University. Lefebure came to Radford after a campus visit while a high school foreign exchange student in Virginia Beach. Her teachers encouraged her to stay in the U.S. to study graphic design, which she chose instead of art because it seemed more lucrative.

Radford’s campus was a change of environment for her, a place where she could hear herself breathe. The loudness, the distractions and the shopping she had known growing up in Bangkok, Thailand, were gone.

“The campus is really different from any other campus in Virginia,” Lefebure said. “It’s really small and quiet and there is all this opportunity for students to work on campus. Students can get scholarships. Being a foreign exchange student, I wanted to offset the cost to my parents.”

To do this, she made a fateful decision to work with University Relations. Along with the skills she learned in graphic design classes, she credits this employment experience as providing her with a real world point of view. She pitched ideas and designed the University’s view book.

“I remember Pum’s time in Creative Services like it was yesterday,” said James Harman, art director for University Relations, who worked with Lefebure at the time. “She was extremely goal-focused, exceptionally hardworking and very professional, with a great sense of humor.”

And though she excelled in this position and her classes, she knew she had to work three times harder than she had while in Bangkok. As an international student with an American dream to stay in the country as a graphic designer, she would compete against hundreds of other students from prestigious design schools to be not only hired but sponsored by a company.

After graduating summa cum laude, she received her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree with a concentration in graphic design, and Supon Design Group in Washington, D.C. immediately sponsored and hired her. Starting there as an intern, she rose quickly to senior art director. She also met Jake Lefebure, who became her husband and eventual business partner. When another firm bought Supon, the two decided to go in another direction and started Design Army. Now they maintain a balance of being an international company with clients such as Ritz Carlton and the Academy Awards with being a boutique firm for local businesses.

Lefebure manages this with her impeccable style, making success look easy. But it is not. It is her drive, the same determination she had while working as a student designer to excel beyond excellence, that is the backbone of her personal philosophy.

“If you want something, you have to work hard for it,” she said. “It is not just going to come to you. Life is short, and I don’t want to be lazy.” ■