Event Information

“Every day is different. Or has the potential to be.”

This is one of guest Michael Freimuth’s core beliefs, and he shared it and others during his visit April 19. Michael dug deep into his archive of old family photos and work samples for his funny and inspiring presentation, titled “Lessons to Myself.” His advice was surprisingly universal — from his simple first lesson, “Breathe” (his early battles with stress), to the insightful “Reinvention is humbling, and that’s fine” (his transition from print to interactive, and from employee to employer).

Michael admits his four-month old studio, Franklyn, is very much a work in progress, but that’s OK. He’s surrounded himself with creative partners and clients who are also close friends, and he’s convinced this dynamic is a key to his success. “Clients can be friends,” he said. “Find someone who likes you and wants to work with you.” He did this early in his career, lending his help to interesting people and companies for little or no fees, to build his portfolio and experience. And as his presentation showed, it more than paid off for him. In the end, for every silly USB drive he had to festoon with asterisks for IBM, there was an equal and oppositely great experience to be had designing offbeat art magazines, hip skin-care packaging and sandwich shop identities (with the likes of Stefan Sagmeister and others).

We’re all eager to see what’s next for Franklyn and its charismatic founder.

A little more about our guest:

“Freimuth has long been open to new ideas. The son of a Czech father and British mother, Freimuth, a Minneapolis native, had a British accent until he was 7.” He credits an “embarassingly large” comic book collection for his early love of visual art. He went on to earn a BFA from the prestigious Rhode Island School of Design, later landing in Chicago where he worked as a corporate designer by day and underground magazine designer with Lumpen by night.