Valentina Egoavil Medina

6B2

https://www.creativebloq.com/reviews/suspira-review

Suspira - between dread and desire

Valentina got involved with w project after going to a talk and offering help. She worked on project such as W project x Tate exchange.
Valentina thought what can I do that nobody else can do? Passions, knowledge. 

Biggest creative challenge: how to pay my bills without selling my soul.

Suspira is based on the macabre and horror through a female perspective. How important do you think it is to represent women and be a voice for them in today's society? And especially within the creative industry? - Any minority/marginalised group deserves a platform. Independent publishers are good for this as they focus on niche topics. Route she felt passionate about and had knowledge on. Research showed there was more than meets the eye. Suspira acknowledges underrated films, books, characters etc.


What was your reason for choosing the subject matter you have done? - 6 months developing the idea, the feminist angle wasn't as prominent to start with, but the fiend issue was there to start with because horror is so broad. Proving that horror (literature, illustration etc.) has cultural and artistic merit. Create publication to celebrate this. During research, she discovered that the female voice was so important. Horror is under-appreciated - people don't understand it. 

How long is the process?
Need the right visual language, pulling together research and references. Extracting classic horror elements and placing within sophisticated layout/design. The balance between these two. first 7 months, second 5 months.

Intuition. building a case around that.
The monster issue covers mental health (inner demons), the face of fear (clowns), the relationship between monster and women in horror (romantic/sexual)

Tactile techniques, have to hold it/see it to appreciate the design (debossing. metallic, thin paper, black with accent colour). Consistency through the issues, but swap them out eg colours, effects (metallic), patterns (monster = bitmap pattern, fetish = lined pattern)

Fetish idea came from an interview with fetish performer from the monster issue, focusing on the combination of horror and sex. 60/70s influences with grainy photos, very campy.

Publicising - promoted by friend and co-worker who had own magazine. No advertising just publicised on social media (Instagram primarily, facebook, twitter).

Funding, got an investor who she knew.