Hi! My name is April (Greer).

I’m both the brains and the brawn behind Greer Genius, although I have a wonderful behind-the-scenes support team (even my mom comments on my blog posts). I’ve been a freelancer since early 2011 and blogging about the business end of graphic design at Graphic Design Blender since late 2011.

Noteworthy News! I was recently interviewed by Diane Gibbs at Design Recharge on Writing About Design.

Career

Occasionally I take contract or temporary part-time positions. Through these I have worked on large-scale, international trade show promotions and materials as well as direct mailings, email campaigns, and brochures.

For the 5 years prior to my independent career, I worked as an in-house supervisor of the graphics department and print shop. I designed vitamin bottle packaging, co-programmed a CD catalog, and soaked up as much information about offset printing as the press operators would tolerate.

Education

My dad always used to say, “you’re too smart for your own good.” To be sure, I try. I really do love learning.

I’ve taken several continuing education design and typography courses at the Pacific Northwest College of Art (PNCA). I’ve also studied posts as well as listened to webinars and interviews from people like Marcus Sheridan at The Sales Lion and Derek Halpern at Social Triggers, who combines psychological research with online marketing tools to provide excellent advice on online marketing strategy.

Finally, I graduated from Willamette University in 2005 with a Bachelor of Arts in Computer Science. I know, not very “design-y.” However, I owe my web programming prowess to the CS department, while I get my design roots from working at the on-campus production studio throughout my college career (and summer vacations).

April: the Person

I’m a positive, friendly, curious being who believes the most important rule to follow is the Golden Rule. My boyfriend and I have been together since October 1999 and enjoy a great relationship…and no, we have no plans to get married. We have two beautiful labradoodles, Henry (red harness) and Apollo (green harness).

Outside design, I enjoy volunteering, organic gardening and composting, traveling, reading, puzzles, learning, video games, music, and sports. I also officiate local youth sports – basketball, volleyball, and softball.

I volunteer at the Willamette Humane Society as a dog walker and pet spotlight writer. I’ve even procured pro-bono space in regional newspapers for the pet ads. Since January 2009, I’ve accumulated over 300 hours of service.

I also volunteer as an ESL teacher for primarily Spanish-speaking adults.