Lisa Frank was very hands-on in the early days of running her rainbow empire.
In the new documentary series of Prime Video Glitz and Greed: The Lisa Frank Storyemployees of Lisa Frank Inc. reflect on their time at the company, including working at their headquarters in Tuscon, Ariz.
Patty Sjolin, the brand’s concept artist, developer and librarian from 1991 to 2000, recalls Frank walking around by herself checking out people’s work.
“She was like a teacher. She would put a little red smiley face on your work if she liked it,” he recalls. “If you didn’t get a red smiley, you had to work harder.”
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Patty Sjolin.
Amazon MGM Studios
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Sjolin recognized from the start that Frank was a “complicated person”, but felt like “I always understood her”.
“She was demanding. She wanted things a certain way. And when she was unhappy with you, it was like the clouds rolled in and the cold shoulder. But when you made her happy, you felt like sunshine,” she says.
“All is right with the world. It was really like having a parent you wanted to please.”
Sjolin acknowledges a similar dynamic when Frank’s former business partner and ex-husband, James Green, became involved.
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Green prospered after being hired as the first full-time artist in 1982, becoming Frank’s right-hand man in management as their relationship also turned romantic.
Tony De Luz, illustrator from 1996 to 2000, says, “I’d say James is very much responsible for a lot of their success.”
Quentin Eckman, a graphic designer who worked with the company in two different periods, agrees with this.
“He’s a good artist. James was very involved in the art direction. To go to press, he had to go past James. He was a real stickler…he was demanding. But he was good at what he did. He had a lot to do with brand building.”
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Glitter and Greed: The Lisa Frank Story, a four-part documentary series available on Prime Video.
Amazon Studios
Sjolin notes that despite coming together as a leadership team, Green and Frank had different visions for the company.
“I think the way James looked at Lisa, Frank wanted to bring more realism and technicality to where Lisa wanted to be a fantasy world,” she says.
“In those early years, you could feel the tension between what James thought was good and what Lisa thought. There was no screaming or yelling at each other or anything like that, but it was like, ‘Who had more power?’ but it worked.”
Learn more about the story behind Lisa Frank’s bright and classy designs—and what went on behind the scenes—by watching the four-part documentary series Shine and Greed: The Story of Lisa Franknow streaming on Prime Video.
Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education