Perhaps you'd like to know a little more about me? I've been a writer since I was old enough to hold a pencil. I've always written in my mother tongue: sarcasm. Starting in high school, I was a regular winner of the New York Magazine humor competition. After obtaining my degree in PR/Journalism at Boston University, I did time as an advertising copywriter, plying my trade for several years in both Boston and New York. In 1981, while still working a full-time job, I started my own greeting card line – Snide by Snide. They were a huge hit at Fiorucci -- the hippest store in NYC at the time. They'd sell out in days. I'd run over there a few times a week to restock their spinners. Within a year, I expanded from selling locally to selling nationwide. I had reps in about 20 states. After the initial thrill of being in business, however, I realized that the creative part was what I loved. The packing, shipping, dealing with reps all over the country, trying to get payment from card stores in other states, was no fun at all. At the time, I lived in a tiny Manhattan apartment that was soon filled with boxes of inventory, Collier Brother's style. After a few years, I'd just about broken even, and decided to call this line quits. Far from seeing as a failure, I regarded it as a valuable business education. In 1983, while still working as a copywriter, I conceived of Bubby Gram -- Jewish grandma singing telegrams. I ran the idea up the proverbial flagpole by placing a small ad in the back of New York Magazine. Within the week, I'd delivered my first Bubby telegram. I performed my own jokes and sang my own original funny songs delivery birthday bagels and get well chicken soup. It was such a nutty shtick, I was invited on talk shows all over the country, and my story appeared in national and international magazines and newspapers from the Jerusalem Post to Der Speigel. Every card was shot on location -- from Brighton Beach to the Catskills, from Long Island to the Bronx. This authenticity seemed to be a big part of the appeal. After a decade of this, however, I couldn't deal with shlepping all over for photo shoots. I hung up my support hose and switched to using vintage images with snappy captions and word blurbs. With these designs, I had highly successful lines with Recycled, Marcel Schurman, Papyrus, American Postcard, Smart Alex and others. (see some at http://adriennegusoff.com/aegcards/home.htm) I also taught Greeting Card Design and Marketing at Parsons/The New School in Manhattan, for 20 years, until eventually leaving the city and moving to the Catskills. I'd all but give up the card biz when I was inexorably drawn back in. Every year, my husband, Michael, and I host a big holiday party. Each guest receives a personalized swag bag with all kinds of useful/ interesting/creative/funny/silly stuff, much of it handmade by me. In 2024, I whipped up some funny digital collages using local vintage postcards to slip into the bags. That idea was quickly nixed once I realized that this project would suck up all my printer ink in no time. The glossy card looked better than I expected! I put up some of the other designs on my personal website and showed them to others. Everyone loved them. Some immediately asked for t-shirts. Encouraged, I began showing them to some local stores and dispensaries. The response was overwhelmingly positive. So I got cracking, creating new cards as well as resurrecting some of my best selling cards of yore. I built a website and here I am, in the card biz once again! I'm very happy to have something to keep me entertained and off the streets. |