“Dear Graduate” challenges the age-old question, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” by changing it to, “What do you want to do when you grow up?” It asks questions of the reader—about how they want to spend their lives and what values they’ll develop, evolving to bigger questions about how they act in the world and who they want to become and what they will achieve. The idea is to celebrate all kinds of work and all kinds of people. It’s at these big moments in our lives when we should ask ourselves big questions. “Dear Graduate” gives the reader a moment to stop and think deliberately about big decisions ahead. Each spread features striking colors and a large, bold type that keeps the focus on each question, but during the roughly two minutes it takes to read we’ve found many have had strong emotional reactions. It’s about being faced with questions that make you think about your intentions differently, or at all. It’s a feeling of, “Wow, I was never asked these things as a child. If I had been asked then, who would I be now? It also raises the idea that a child I love could have that new perspective as a result of reading a book.” “Dear Graduate” is hardcover, 6” x 6”, perfect-bound, with 88 pages. It all starts with a blank lined page for a personal congratulatory note to the graduate.
