Meet Richele Silva

Today we’d like to introduce you to Richele Silva.

Richele, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I began taking weekend classes at Otis to inspire myself and learn more about the process of art. I happened into a letterpress class and enjoyed it quite a bit. After a friend learned that I was taking the course, she asked me to print their wedding invitations. Up to that point, I had been using other techniques on the press but had not used digital to plate process. Learning that technique, combined everything I loved about art: illustration, printing multiples, the craft of working with my hands and a beautiful finished project. I was hooked!

I had always had a love of greetings and stationery and began to dabble in that for the next few years. I opened a small Etsy shop with some prints and greetings and a buyer from Urban Outfitters found my work. I realized that I could turn this love into something and I began building my business from there.

It took me close to twelve years of fiddling with it, learning and finding my voice before a went full-time. It’s been a labor of love ever since.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Gosh, definitely not a smooth road. Going from the world of design / ad space to working by myself was nerve-racking! Not having a crew of people to ask advise or help out along the way was very stressful. I enjoy the collaboration of working in an office. When I was first starting out, I described it to someone as having a newborn baby that needs you every minute of every day.

Financially, it was also stressful as I learned on the job. I had a good chunk saved for this reason, but when you see your account start to dwindle as you’re getting your bearings you really have to focus on the necessary details.

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I’m most known for my greeting card line Richie Designs. I also do small business design, photo styling and art direction. I think I’m most proud of the fact I’m still here, working and being creative! Growing up I had only thought that I would work for someone else. I didn’t realize there were so many ways to be a paid creative.

My greetings are mostly letterpressed, so I have a vintage press in my garage and everything is done in-house. I design and print my own work. I have one part-time assistant and between the two of us we print, package and ship everything ourselves. Some days I go between being the boss and the errand girl.

Visually, my work is very quirky and colorful. I use quips and short phrases to describe feelings one might have a need to send to a friend or family member. Ideas for my cards come from necessity, conversations from friends and the general zeitgeist.

Before we let you go, we’ve got to ask if you have any advice for those who are just starting out?
If someone was starting out in stationery and wanted to learn, I’d send them to a class here in Los Angeles called Paper Camp. I was lucky enough to get a grant to one of Katie’s first classes and it was just the information I needed to get organized. I had a dream to show at the National Stationery Show in New York and I did that thanks to Katie’s knowledge of the industry and best practices.

In any creative line of work, I would say ask! It can’t hurt to send an email to someone you admire asking for a lunch [you should pay for that btw] They may not have the time to do an informational interview, but maybe they’ll point you in the direction of a course or another person that can help.

Pricing:

• Greetings run in the $5.95 and above range.

Contact Info:

• Website: http://www.richiedesigns.com
• Instagram: @richiedesigns
• Facebook: @richiedesigns

Image Credits
Eric Hameister and Richele Silva