Designers
Designers
Designers
UGLIES Magazine
Exploring the power of process
Key Words
Designers
Jaja Riley
SUMMARY
I began by researching narrative illustration as a whole and conducting interviews with various artists to identify a shared problem area within that field. The interviewees expressed a struggle with risk aversion in marketable illustration, as there is neither incentive nor encouragement to explore beyond one's creative comfort zone. The pressure to box oneself into a single, marketable art style is an important need to solve because the real purpose of being an artist is taking risks and exploring - what is the point of being in an industry that stifles that raw creativity?
challenge
Initially, three key stakeholder needs stood out from my first three long-form interviews: communication and collaboration between writers and illustrators in narrative illustration; the reality of the struggling artist being broke and physically worn down after years of drawing; and a lack of artistic style diversity. I ultimately focused on style diversity, as it appeared as a through line in every interview, leading me to conduct seven additional interviews around challenges with experimentation and views on sharing creative process.
Outcome
My solution to the problem of risk-aversion limiting creative exploration was to create a magazine for artists by artists, centered on artistic process rather than polished final products. The magazine walks readers through several articles, each focused on a single artist’s process of making one piece of work. Its design is intentionally messy, the interviews are authentic and raw, and the magazine is meant to be interacted with. It supports artistic experimentation by offering a space for inspiration where artists can learn from each other’s techniques, opening up new ways of thinking instead of pulling directly from finished work.
MEET THE Designers:
Jaja Riley