Design x Molly Magnell
Designer, Workman Publishing Non-Fiction Kids Section
Interview conducted by Amanda Guerricabeitia on November 30, 2021
Molly, you have a really fun body of work. Can you describe the moment you discovered you wanted to be an Illustrator?
For a long time, I didn't know illustration was a career. It wasn't until college that I was like, "Wait, you can draw things, and get paid for it"? I enjoyed my drawing classes so much that I thought, "maybe I should pursue this." Initially, I went to school to be a graphic designer and biologist.
So you've always had a strong inclination toward the arts?
There was a two-week period in second grade when I thought I might be a surgeon. That's the only time I deviated from wanting a career in art. It started at a young age. I did a lot of doodles and sketches, copied cartoon characters, and even came up with my own protagonists with fleshed-out backstories. I went on DeviantArt to learn painting techniques and new software through user-made tutorials. I really got into digital illustration and learned how to utilize this new, powerful toolset. Then in high school, there was a computer lab dedicated to graphics, video, and art. I got to use a giant Wacom tablet! Through student publications and personal projects, I learned InDesign and illustrator. I'm self-taught in Photoshop. Graphic design seemed like the right choice. My mom says that she knew I’d be a graphic designer before I did.
Do you start your design process on paper or go straight to software?
Paper. I can't start in Photoshop. It always turns out as a disaster because the program has too many options. I need limitations, and there's something more natural about drawing it out. I have a sketchbook filled with crappy thumbnails, it's not pretty, but it is not supposed to be.
“Artists stand out from one another by integrating their personality and story into their work.”
I read on your Instagram that you like to leave Easter eggs in your work. Can you share more about those, and how your work reflects your personality?
Artists stand out from one another by integrating their personality and story into their work. I love making little references to stuff. If someone catches me throwing in different Disney character items like Maui's fish hook from Moana or Davey Jones’ chest from Pirates of the Caribbean, I think it's fun to have that mental connection with people. It gives you a dopamine rush.
Many creatives find it hard to remember that their personal and unique selves make their work great. You previously worked for the American Museum of Natural History. Could you tell me about your role there?
Yeah, I was a Special Exhibitions Designer. The job started in the office, redesigning graphics into bilingual versions that would go on tour with the physical objects for installation in international runs of the exhibits. Then I was assigned my first exhibit: addressing the controversial Theodore Roosevelt statue outside the museum. That was given to me on day three. I had no experience in exhibitions, museums, or environmental design. It started as a four-wall project, then it escalated to an eight-wall show in a major corridor. I was the only designer on it. It was gratifying to be able to make something so important. I also worked on some temporary shows on color and dinosaurs. Before I left, I worked on the Insectarium and a few other new halls in the Gilder Center, a new wing that will finish construction in 2023. That was my experience working on the permanent hall, and I got to define the graphic style moving forward.
Your role elevated quickly, from a few walls to a whole room. No pressure!
It was a lot of learning on the fly to figure out materials and the lingo. Luckily, I had a great team. You can tell everyone was there because they love the museum and what it stands for.
How do you think art and illustration can be used to engage people in learning?
Art can frame content and break it down. When I was an intern at the New England Aquarium, I learned how to present ideas. People get overwhelmed with numbers, but if you say, "this whale is the length of three school buses," they get it. Educational content is something I want to do more of. I recently worked with CalTech on a comic explaining unique phenomena in quantum physics to everyday people. Breaking down these complicated ideas into something more bite-sized is a really fun opportunity.
How do you approach these projects rooted in science?
One person who I turn to a lot is Georgia Lupi at Pentagram. She is great at integrating illustration and hand-drawn elements into structured infographics and making them more human-friendly.
How do you communicate information to neurodiverse, blind, or deaf people?
Accessibility is something my co-workers and I were very conscious of at the museum. We always talked about how we could add interactions for people who are blind, like touching molded surfaces of images, which I've seen at the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago. For the show The Nature of Color, we toyed with the idea of a show completely devoid of color. What if we made the show more tactile by using braille-like dots to shape visuals instead of standard printed graphics? Accessibility is a major challenge for the exhibition team.
Whenever possible, I show people with disabilities as well as those without, and people of different races and ethnicities, as part of my mission to ensure my work is diverse and relatable to everyone. There are times when I get to decide, and I don’t want to default to a western white person, which is ingrained in art education and history.
I'd like to talk a little bit more about your freelancing work. You've collaborated with NPR's team How I Built This, six times.
Yeah, they kept coming back to me. They're fun projects, and I was happy they reached out to me.
How do you collaborate with repeat clients, and what keeps them coming back to you?
[At How I Built This], I wouldn't get the whole interview transcript, but I'd get the major points of what defines the interviewee. Sometimes I would have a color palette to work with. I see these jobs as an opportunity to continue formulating my style and figuring out how I make things. I'd send over about three different ideas influenced by any prompts they gave me. Sometimes my sketches are very rough. Sometimes, I'll photograph the sketches and retrace them in Procreate before sending them to an art director. Sometimes, I'll do them in grayscale or color, depending on what needs to be communicated. Usually, they say, "yes, this. Let's run with it," and trust me. It's nice that I get paid to experiment, but I like having some constraints. If I have no boundaries, I don't know where to start. But I work best when an art director gives a hint at a direction or tells me to feature x, y and z, or use a specific color that’s important to the story. I can come up with different ideas--sometimes very literal, sometimes conceptual.
What’s your procedure when somebody reaches out to you with an assignment?
I make sure they send me a contract so I can read it over. I pay careful attention to rights usage, and I make sure there is a clear scope of work. Sometimes I have to ask for amendments which can hold up the process, but the client and I must be on the same page about project expectations, deadlines, budget, number of revisions, etc. With repeat clients, the process is casual, like, "Okay, here's the prompt. What do you have?" I wrote two articles about pricing because I think many people undersell themselves, which hurts our industry.
Has being a woman affected your career at all, and if so, how?
I think so, and also my age. At the museum, most of my team members were significantly older. I wanted to streamline file sharing, but it was challenging to introduce new ideas or technology, like a cloud system.
I had a particular experience where I was on a team with four white males and didn’t have any brainstorming or connection with another woman for WEEKS. It was the first time I felt like I had trouble connecting to my team and communicating my ideas. Sometimes I held back speaking because I felt so out of place. I felt small. I really came to appreciate the importance of diverse teams and bringing different voices to the table.
I think it's essential for people to see examples of women achieving great things.
“I think it's essential for people to see examples of women achieving great things.”
Diversity is a must in my work. As a woman, I think it's essential for people to see examples of women achieving great things. If I can have a woman doing something instead of a man, I must show that.
If you were a plant, what would you be and why?
Oh, I love plants so much! I would like to be a Split-leaf Philodendron. They're majestic, and there's something so special about how they branch out and take up space. They're whimsical.
If you could have dinner with anyone from history, who would it be and why?
I think I'd want to have dinner with Pendleton Ward, the brain behind Adventure Time, Bravest Warriors, and the Midnight Gospel. I read this interview with him once, which resonated with me. I remember him describing himself as "a sad sack on roller skates with a backpack full of Magic the Gathering cards" and that he just wants to make nice things and sleep.
Last question, if you could learn to do anything, what would it be?
I want to get good at pottery. I took a wheel pottery class because I needed more tactile hobbies. I watched the show The Great Pottery Throwdown, which is like the Great British Bake Off but for pottery. It's so inspiring, and I want to be able to make cute little planters and mugs and things and gift them to people But I'm not good at it.
