Francesca Sanna Interview

1. What is your favourite type of brief to work on? 

(Any particular topics/themes you like working with?)

It is very difficult to find a "type". Anything I feel a connection with, anything I know I can bring into my world (if not entirely at least some elements of it). 

Of course there are themes I immediately feel connected and interested with, like anything that has to do with diversity, feminism, storytelling in general.

2. I am particularly interested in your book 'The Journey', it's so beautiful! What was your process for coming up with ideas? 

What research did you do?

The research behind The Journey was a long process. I spent sometime listening to stories of people from different countries that had undertaken very difficult journeys. 

I also did some research on historical document of Italian immigrants in America, for instance, and on current newspaper and social journals, because I wanted to think about the topic in a more "universa" way, rather than just focus on a particular experience. 

3. Do you think images can be just as important as words when telling a narrative?

Absolutely, and even more interesting is the relationship between text and images in a visual narrative. Playing with this you can show different points of view in a single page, or underline metaphorical aspects of the story. 

4. How do you find a balance between personal and professional projects?

This is a great question. Many of the projects I started as "personal" found a "commercial" use after I made them. On the other hand even with a brief that has nothing personal I always try to put something from my "experience" or from "my obsessions", something I like or I can relate to. And when I don't feel very connected with a project I am working on, I usually try to start with a much more personal one, that I keep on a side.

5. Where did you grow up in Italy? And do you think this influenced your work in any way? 

(I have worked in Bergamo and Desenzano and have a soft spot for Italian culture)

I grew up in Cagliari, Sardinia. The window in my bedroom was directly in front of the sea, I used to follow the ferries as they entered in the harbour as one of my main hobby when I was a child! 

Of course growing up on a (quite big) island influenced many aspects of who I am, included my work. The sea is a very important element in my illustrations and my stories, and its dual aspect – the fact that it can be a very positive but also a very scary, dangerous element, always fascinates me. 

6. Is there any advice you would give to someone just starting out in the industry? (Like me) and are there any people you can recommend that I talk to? (About how the industry works, etc.)

Maybe the main one is to share your experience with other people that do the same job, or that have similar professions. Friends and colleagues for me are the main source of help during very stressful periods of time. 

I think that if you are interested in picture books a very different point of view could be the one of a publisher, or someone who has more an overview on how "the market" works. 

I always find interesting to hear that side of the process of making and selling books, so I would suggest you to look for these kinds of insights.