A Shout-Out to American Greetings, Licensing Agents, & Triplets in Toe Shoes.
The only thing I remember about that day is that my feet hurt. I was on my way to my appointment with my licensing agent, and I couldn't find a cab. So I walked. Never walk New York City in pointy, too short, too tight shoes. Never EVER. I met my agent the previous day at the Licensing Show (for those unfamiliar with the show, it is a worldwide event connecting manufacturers, designers, entertainment companies, agents and innovators all under one roof. Famous products often s
The Card Line That Made American Greetings Richer.
"It's more fun to talk with someone who doesn't use long, difficult words but rather short, easy words like, 'What about lunch?'" I always worked better after lunch. In a think tank, needing to come up with a dynamite hit, well...sure put a lot of pressure on a girl. A hamburger helped. I began experimenting with drawing big heads and smaller bodies. I had always doodled eyes of all shapes on the corners of my notebook pages, sketch pads, and unopened bills. I decided to put
Does A Think Tank Serve Donuts?
Think tank: "A group organized to provide information and ideas." (In other words, come up with an idea that makes the company LOTS of money). We artists were jealous of Hallmark. Their company treated the artists every morning to a rolling cart filled with donuts, danish, and cinnamon rolls. American Greetings artists could only dream. When I arrived at my new surroundings, I had always pondered the logistics of a "think tank." Ours, called Promotional, had a conference room
American Greetings, Here I Come!
It all started in their basement. This is where the recently-hired fledglings were expected to master greeting card design, roses (for sure), color theory, die cut, landscapes, and of course, New England's churches. For some reason, those church steeples resulted in a lot of money for American Greetings. Most of us were fresh out of art school, but those months down in the depths of the building, resulted in an education comparable to another year of art school. All we could
