Juliana is a Colombian designer based in London. Her practice sits between publishing and brand communications. Juliana graduated from MA Graphic Communication Design at Central Saint Martins in 2024.
Why did you choose to study MA Graphic Communication Design (GCD) at Central Saint Martins (CSM)?
I chose CSM graphics because I wanted to take a break from commercial approaches to graphic design and explore the boundaries of my own practice and interests. In my previous design background, I had separate approaches to textiles and editorial design. With the course having an emphasis on open-ended experimentation, I wanted to explore what I could take from textiles into publishing, to question traditional ways of designing and printing, while expanding the possibilities of what a text and a graphic device can be.
Additionally, this programme is one of the few two-year Master’s degrees. This meant that I would have the option to freelance on the side, while having extra time to be exposed to the workshops and tools that the university has to offer.
What have you been working on since graduating? After graduating I co-founded Ají Press, a platform that explores ‘Global South’ artistic and design practices through printed material, workshops, events, and online publishing. By addressing the ‘Global South’, we reflect, re-image and push back from geographical and stereotyped conceptions of these territories and communities. Rather, we embrace the cultural multiplicities that proliferate in the 'Global South’ that can’t be defined under a single idea, and the impact these contexts have on art and design. After publishing the first volume in November 2024, where I acted as co-editor and designer, we are currently in the works for a second annual issue.
Parallel to this project, I am a part time freelancer, and have been working with the MA GCD course as a Graduate Teaching Assistant, slowly looking at ways of inserting myself into academia and teaching.
What was the most interesting project you worked on during your time on the course? It has to be my final project “Printing Mountains”, where I developed printed artefacts that build parallels between navigating a publication and a landscape. It was the result of many themes that are important for me (memory, migration, reading experiences, choreography, publishing), while allowing me to integrate my Colombian background into my design practice. I treated my final project as an opportunity to enjoy a personal project without commercial outcome expectations or pressures. By doing so I learned about having fun through prototyping and iterating, while understanding the importance of working from a personal perspective to connect with others. Lastly, it led me to discover writing as a key medium within my process and to experiment with types of writing as design methods for communicating, reflecting, and portraying.
What important piece of advice would you give to students thinking of studying this course? Consciously decide why you want to take this course and make sure that it aligns with your expectations. The programme will not lead you toward a straight path. When engaging with coursework, don’t replicate what is already out there, reflect on how your experiences and background have an impact on your visual and material approach. This is what will make your practice and your take on graphic communication design your own. It will give you a voice, a position, an angle, and a style from where to design different from others. Lastly, don’t wait for others to give you signs on what direction to keep designing, follow and trust your instincts. This will allow you to commit to your practice and enjoy the journey.
What was the highlight of your Central Saint Martins experience? Studio and campus life. There is so much you can learn inside the classroom with your peers and tutors, but engaging with your collage and other students will open up your experience even more. Using the workshops, picking up new skills, getting to know the technicians, exploring the library and its material, meeting people from other courses, and engaging in conversation with all of these, are stimuli that will inspire and expand your work in other directions. Being involved with other activities outside of the course will lead you to collaborations and exciting projects. In my experience, working on the 11th issue of Unknown Quantities, was one of these moments. I learned so much about the publishing system while collaborating with people outside of GCD, people with whom I still have relationships with. This experience later inspired me to also start my own project with Ají Press.
What is the most important thing you learnt on the course? Learning how to let go is very difficult, and I am still working on it, but that is part of what “thinking through making” means. You will hear this phrase constantly and you will be pushed to embrace it as part of your process. As designers sometimes we can become very rigid, and want to pre-plan the outcome and every step in between. However, in the course, you will learn that meaningful design comes from letting your process and iterative findings guide the direction and result of your project. It can sound abstract, but if you just start making it will make sense.
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