Petrula’s current work includes teaching, research and writing, public speaking, consulting, and creating brand communication strategies.
clients (a partial list)
- Carnegie Observatories
- E! Entertainment Television
- Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising (FIDM)
- Los Angeles Convention & Visitors Bureau
- Lemonade Restaurant Group
- Monterey Bay Aquarium
- Nokia
- Red Car Wine Company
- Southern California Grantmakers
- Time Warner
- University of Southern California
formal teaching
ArtCenter College of Design, Pasadena, CA
PROFESSOR
Master of Design (MDes), Brand Design and Strategy Department
2023 – present
Capstone
Brand Seminar 2 (Leadership)
Brand Lab 3 (Career Preparation)
Graduate Graphic Design
Department
2020 – present
Graduate Portfolio Lab 1
Graduate Portfolio 2
Undergraduate Graphic
Design Department
2005 – present
Portfolio & Career Preparation
2005 – 2019
Advanced Graphics Studio
Communication Design 5
Humanities and Sciences
Department
2014 – 2020
Creative Presentations and
Critiques
Additional design courses for all majors
The Entrepreneur’s Branding Lab
Communicating the Wellbeing of a City: Santa Monica as a Model
TEDxArtCenter
NASA Transdisciplinary Studio
United Nations Sponsored Project
ADJUNCT FACULTY
1989 – 2004
Advanced Graphics Studio
about petrula
As a graphic designer, educator, speaker, content creator, and personal coach, Petrula teaches designers how to make things and how to make things happen. Her specialty is empowering them to develop trust, confidence, and the ability to speak articulately about their work. Petrula helps creative people advance the skills and capabilities that accelerate their professional careers and the projects they create.
online videos, courses, and social audio
The Futur Channel, YouTube
2019 – present
Zoom Interview Tips & Role Play with Petrula Vrontikis with Chris Do (30K*)
Get Your Dream Job in 2020 with Petrula Vrontikis with Chris Do (55K*)
Portfolio Tips – Reviewing Your Design Work – Part 1 with Matthew Encina (799K*)
Design Portfolio Reviews – What Do Employers Seek? – Part 2 with Matthew Encina (174K*)
Where Do Good Ideas Come From? Plagiarism or Influence? with Allison Goodman and Chris Do (71K*)
*views as of 8/2024
The Futur Academy
2021
Land Your Dream Job
An eleven-chapter design career preparation course.
Clubhouse
2021
Design Career Masterclass (with colleagues Leon Rodriguez and Anneli Hansson)
Delivered a comprehensive 30-week program of live, weekly audio sessions (60–90 minutes each) to equip 100–300 creative professionals worldwide with the skills needed for valuable, meaningful, and lucrative careers.
LinkedIn Learning
2010 – present
Working with Creative Millennials
Running a Design Business: Presentation Skills
Running a Design Business: Starting Small
Running a Design Business: Freelancing
why 35k.com?
Michael Vanderbyl of Vanderbyl Design says that the best way to make a living in design is to get into real estate. In the mid-nineties Petrula made a killing in virtual real estate by selling her domain name: vdo.com.
VDO was originally chosen as the lesser of two evils. Adding “Office” to Vrontikis Design spared the studio being referred by the abbreviation “VD.” (Didn’t Michael think of that?) A precision automotive parts manufacturer in Germany, by the name of VDO, paid $35,000 for exclusive use of it on the Internet. FYI — that’s $11,666.66 for that little “O.”
So you decide: was this really good Karma, or just a lucky hit in the digital lottery?