My Summer with Design Icon April Greiman
Rhonda Page
Strategic Advisor to Entrepreneurs, Founders of Growth-Stage Companies, and Creative Agencies | Accelerate Business Development, Differentiation and Brand Positioning | Sustainability and Brands for the Future
It was my last year at art college. My boyfriend was in the MBA program at Penn and asked if I'd like to go to LA for the summer. I had heard about a girl at my school who had interned with Michael Vanderbyl in San Francisco, so I went to the library to research graphic design firms in LA (I realize that I'm dating myself when I say I went to the library to do research)
I made a list of 10 firms, carefully designed my letterhead, and typed the letters at my dad's office.?Two weeks later, I got?this cool-looking embossed envelope that said Made in Space. The letter from April Greiman Inc.?said, April is interested in your offer.?Please send your slides by courier as soon as possible.
After sending my slides, my boyfriend told me to follow up. He was an MBA student and knew about these things. So I called April and told her I planned to be in?LA on June 15th (my boyfriend gave me the script). Her response was, OK. See you then.
It was a fantastic experience to learn from a design icon. That summer, she was doing experimental things with the Mac and working on an issue of Design Quarterly. I watched?and learned.?
Years later, I took a sales course for graphic designers that reaffirmed what my boyfriend taught me: that it's all about?follow-up.
Who do you need to follow up with?