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What kind of person could draw all these wacky characters and give them all personalities? Leslie Murray, formerly Leslie Moak, that's who!
A native of Chicago, Murray has been writing and illustrating professionally for over twenty years and is most recognized for her award-winning greeting cards. Make sure to see her Louie Award-Winning cards in the Awards section.
Age
Babyboomer. Let's just say I remember the Cuban Missile Crisis but I don't remember World War II.
Birthplace
Chicago, Illinois (Lincoln Park)
Education
I graduated from Maine South HS in Park Ridge, IL (Chicago suburbs). I began my university career as an art major, but I soon realized that artists starve in garrets. Upon graduating with a degree in French, I found out that French majors also starve in garrets. That's when I took advantage of an opportunity to become a model. Another career that requires starving.
Career
After a few years of modeling I went to work at Air France, where I learned how to say "telex" in French ("le telex"). Then, one day my husband was looking at a Christmas card I'd made for a friend and said the fateful words, "Why don't we sell these?" My husband, who was then in advertising, acted quickly. The next thing we knew, we had 250,000 greeting cards in our basement and a company called Near North Graphics.
We eventually sold out to my present publisher, Don Kallil (Design Design). Don and I, besides being great friends, have a wonderful working relationship. He keeps me motivated when the pressure turns me into a lunatic.
Hobbies
Gardening, piano, birdwatching, and weighing myself every five minutes.
Favorite Places
Chicago, Paris, The American South.
Favorite TV Shows
Jeopardy, All My Children, CSI, and The Practice.
Favorite Books
Anything by Robertson Davies (especially "What's Bred in the Bone."), or P.G. Wodehouse. Dave Barry. Wilbur Smith. Early Stephen King.
Favorite Quote
"Biography lends to death a new terror"- Oscar Wilde seems apropos at the moment.
People You Admire (general)
Thomas Jefferson, my parents, the inventor of lycra.
People You Admire (in your field)
Cartoonists who are both very funny and very good artists: Jeff MacNelly and Wiley.
Creative Inspirations
Humorous memories of childhood with three sisters, motherhood, the news, and our chocolate labrador, Ursula. If I have writer's block, I turn on C-Span and watch Congress. The jokes just write themselves.
Biggest Gripes
People who wear white after Labor Day...kidding. As Baudelaire said, "We are only as big as the things that annoy us". I think it was Baudelaire. Or maybe it was my mom.
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What Are You Doing?!
In 1986, Chicago stockbroker Don Kallil decided to follow a lifelong passion for running his own business. Even though he was just recently married, Don dropped out of the stockbroker trade and promptly became just another Chicagoan roaming the mean streets looking for a job. While wandering around one day, Don was inspired by the memory of the handmade cards his lovely, intelligent, and talented wife used to send to him while she was in college. Their one-bedroom apartment was promptly turned into the headquarters of the greeting card and gift company now known as Design Design Inc. "Over the course of that first year or two, I think my wife thought I was nuts. She married a stockbroker and ended up with a guy selling greeting cards from the bathroom." Their magnificent spread consisted of a bed, dresser, shrink-wrap machine, and boxes upon boxes of greeting cards. And a few cans of beans. The ravishing Mrs. Kallil continued to bring home the bacon while Don hawked his greeting cards on Chicago streetcorners. To further finance his endeavor, Don hit his own father up for cash, on the promise that he would double it in 5 years. In order to get the company going and stay true to his promise, Don took no salary for four years, and eventually made good that deal with his dad.
We're Not In Kansas Anymore
Throwing conventional wisdom to the wind (because, really, the only thing Chi-town folk normally have to do with West Michigan is visit their summer homes) Kallil moved the then tiny business from Chicago, IL to Grand Rapids, MI in 1988. In a rare stroke of genius, he rented a 900 sq. ft. building...that was completely windowless. "It was a palace," Don breathes as his eyes glaze over at the fond memory, "but it was a bit dark." We're not sure what he did in there, but the street-folk I interviewed claim "That man never slept. He wuz workin' some kinda kooky hocus-pocus in there if ya ask me. Always laughing about sumthin'. Hmmpf!" At this point he was still the sole employee. "It was a lonely, lonely place" he says. He built his first tradeshow booth in a friend's garage, and being the only employee, had to shut down the business to even attend a trade show. It was around this time that he added Murray's Law to his card line. Rapid growth ensued. His earliest employees were family and friends. As Don still had no money, he took the phrase "Will Work For Food" to a new level. He told everyone "That's right, you WILL work for food" - and he paid them in pizza, hold the anchovies. Design Design moved to its current location in the heart of Grand Rapids in 1993.
What's Your Secret?
To what does Don attribute much of the growth of his business? "Things really took off for us when we began publishing Murray's Law. Producing Leslie's work allowed me to hire employees and really expand our product line."
Leslie Murray had been self-publishing her cards with her husband. Don purchased one of her cards, and after recovering from a fit of hysterical laughter, decided to ask if she was interested in Design Design publishing for her. The two met over dinner in Chicago, and they immediately became very close friends. "We have had a spectacular working relationship since 1988," Don says.
The Sum of All Years
Design Design Inc. now has approximately 65 employees, offers more than 5,000 products, and does more business in one day than it did in its entire first year of existence. The company's website is www.designdesign.us.
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