Official Bio

April Greiman’s innovative ideas and hybrid-based approach have influenced and served design and designers, clients and their projects worldwide over the last 25 years. Her explorations of typography and color as objects in time and space are grounded in her singular fusion of technology and graphics. The power of her imagery and design solutions trigger action and response, in some cases doubling and quadrupling her client’s target audiences and goals. The posters and catalogues designed for California Institute for the Arts from 1978-1982 re-positioned the school, quadrupled student applications and doubled enrollment in some programs. A similar result followed the introduction of her identity system for Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc) in the early 1990’s.

A designer who continues to change our perceptions, her work has been instrumental in the acceptance and use of advanced technology in problem solving and the design process. In the early 1980’s, Greiman pioneered digital design and became renowned for her radical experiments with the Apple Macintosh. Clients whose projects have become legendary for her experimental merger of type and image include PacTel, Esprit, US West, the Walker Art Center, SCI-Arc, and the United States Postal Service, which commissioned the design of a commemorative stamp for the 19th Amendment in 1995. Over 150 million impressions of this stamp were printed.

A growing interest in the built environment has led to close collaborations with architecture firms such as Emilio Ambasz & Associates, Will Bruder Architects, Frank O. Gehry & Associates and RoTo Architects. These projects range from signage and exhibitions to the development of color, surfaces and materials palettes.

Today, April Greiman brings a unique approach that blends technology and science with symbol and myth, words and images with texture and space. Her singular expertise is focused on color-surfaces-materials consulting and trans-media identity and lifestyle-branding projects for such clients as AOL Time Warner, Sears Great Indoors, Amgen, Inc. and the new La Jolla Playhouse.

Among her most prestigious awards are the Hall Chair Fellowship, Hallmark Corporation (1989); local, state and national design awards, American Institute of Architects (1994-99); Gold Medal, American Institute of Graphic Arts and Chrysler Award for Innovation, Chrysler Corporation (both 1998). Ms. Greiman lectures, participates in juries and her work has been exhibited worldwide. Her ideas and work have appeared in articles, interviews, reviews and broadcasts in the media, ranging from

Domus and Time to The New York Times and USA Today to CNN, PBS and ESPN. Books have included April Greiman: Floating Ideas into Time and Space, It’snotwhatAprilyouthinkitGreimanis, Hybrid Imagery: The Fusion of Technology and Graphic Design, Seven Graphic Designers, and Something from Nothing.

April Greiman was born in Metropolitan New York City and studied graphic design at Allgemeine Kuntsgewerbeschule in Basel, Switzerland and the Kansas City Art Institute. After working as a freelance designer in New York City, she moved to Los Angeles in 1976, establishing her multi-disciplinary design practice, currently called Made in Space.

Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts brand identity and tile motifs (1993)

China Club Restaurant and Lounge brand identity (1979–1980)

19th Amendment Commemorative Stamp for Women’s Voting Rights (1995)

Wilshire/Vermont mixed-use Metro Station public mural (2007)

Made in Space

April Greiman: Floating Ideas into Time and Space
Something from Nothing (Design Process)
Hybrid Imagery: The Fusion of Technology and Graphic Design
April Greiman: Large scale posters
April Greiman: [exhibition], Swen Parson Gallery, November 16- December 19, 1982
Does it make sense?

April Greiman, by Francine Fort, Carel Kuitenbrouwer, and Rick Yoynor
April Greiman: It's Not What You Think It is by F. Fort, R. Poynor, and C. Kultenbrouwer