Valentina Medina - Suspira

Learning Objectives: 6A2
Valentina Medina - Creative Director of Suspira Mag

Job after Uni:
Completed a BA in fashion Design in Berlin, after which worked in fashion design, merchandising and buying. Completed Masters in fashion journalism in London which acted as a rest point as new relationships and networks needed to be established, wasn't easy to get foot in the door. Worked at W project after uni as social media editor, after founder gave a talk at university and sent an email saying would be interested in helping out. Worked unpaid for year and half, did other jobs on side - sometimes need to do unpaid work to gain experience. However thought if going to do unpaid work might as well do it for own ideas and concepts, thought of what was personal and how that could be put into an independent mag.

Days paid vs unpaid:
On average 3 days unpaid however did something every day so would be split into afternoons and mornings. Would work remotely and sometimes together if an event was being put on.

Did always want to be Creative Director:
Logically thought editor/ focused on written content. However after starting masters realised a creative director could be more than thought. Realised that 'love taking ideas and making them into concepts'. Didn't fully realise what a creative director was until becoming one. When you work for yourself you realise your strengths and weakness.

Biggest Professional Challenge:
'how to pay the bill without selling my soul'

Worked a few 9-5 jobs however realised it wasn't the right fit as after a few months felt crippled and restricted creatively, 'wasn't for me'.

Being valued and appreciated is one thing, being paid is another - you wouldn't ask a lawyer or doctor to work for free so why should a designer.

What build/inspired the mag - Suspira
The concept took a while to flesh out - 6 months. Themes issues there from the start due to the broad nature of horror. Primarily became format to showcase the cultural and artistic nuances of the horror genre, creating a publication that acknowledged the content of horror.

How valuable was the process of feedback:
Important to show people you trust and those who understand the industry and what trying to achieve.

Key motivation for publication:
Underappreciated horror, people didn't understand genre as not always blood and death there are numerous nuances. Fed up justifying interest in something valuable.

How Important is it to represent women and be a voice:
Very important, for any group to have a voice, independent publishing is great for that.
Went down root passionate about as there is more to horror than meets the eye, many issues can be explored through the genre.

Workflow/Process:
Varies as only two issues.
Issue 1 - took while to figure out the visual language due to a large amount of reference imagery. Finding a way to extract horror elements and place them within sophisticated design strategy - took around 7 months.
2nd Issue - 5 months

Who Onboard:
2 graphic designers (studio fax)

What was the process of visual representation:
Mainly intuition, get an idea/feeling which drives process and then buil case around that feeling.
Monster issue- looked at what it meant/what roads could go down, covered issues such as mental health and demons based on the idea that giving them a name helps. Explored the idea of fear such as clowns which are supposed to be happy - phobias.
Covered different elements - what term monster represents

Women in horror:
hard to find female representatives as wanted to show that women are just as capable of violence/anger. However struggled which speaks to the time certain films were made in where women's contribution wasn't as valued.

Will Suspira always be print or is their room for digital?
Print materials/finishing/format is a huge part of the experience due to tactile elements throughout the publication - can't see metallics/textures digitally. Hard to imagine digitally as hard to re-create the same immersive experience but something to think about for the future.

Favourite process of issue:
Cover - tactile and embossed
Interactive nature, have to move around to see all elements of book.
Accent colours which have been altered between issues to create consistency across the themed issues as aesthetic changes with theme but certain designs stay same such as type.

How to change visual language to fit themed issue whilst maintaining consistency:
Same typeface and colour layouts/uses. Keep papers same, few consistent elements gives ability to chaneg with theme.

Typefaces:
Standley and SF Grotesk

Having good network helps:
Network primarily from London/ Masters programme/publishing. Asking for help isn't a bad thing. USing network allows no advertising to be used within, social media used for promotion.

Finding team:
Funding- found someone who was interested and wanted to invest - put in touch with graphic designers. Printers and designers paid, rest unpaid however made aware.

Final Words:
Build a NETWORK