Lenka Šturmankinová: Children’s Magazine Should Appeal To Adults Too

Lenka Šturmankinová (b. 1988) gained recognition as an illustrator during her student days when she won prizes in the 2013 Most Beautiful Books of Slovakia competition and the Children’s Book Fair in<br /> Seine-Saint-Denis, Paris, for her author’s book Vorvaní zapisník. Despite her success, she did not continue to work on book illustration, with a few exceptions, and focused her attention mainly on illustrating<br /> children’s magazines, which became the domain of her work. She is also currently a teacher at the School of Applied Arts in Košice and has recently launched her own brand, Lenkine.

You have been illustrating children’s magazines for several years. What attracted you to them?

Especially because they are spontaneous and foster children’s independence. I illustrate for children aged six to eleven, that is, for children who read independently even in their free time. Magazines provide them with a space in which they can be completely absorbed in the story and not notice the world around them. As a result, they are in “their” world, and as an illustrator, I see it as a great challenge to convey it to them. In addition, these magazines also have an advantage over children’s books, as they are more affordable and can entertain children very quickly and for a long time.

How did you get into illustrating them?

Through friends. I began my first collaboration upon returning home to Košice after studying in Bratislava. Former classmates and friends  from the Academy of Fine Arts have gone on to become editors of children’s magazines or work in the industry. I wasn’t afraid to contact them, and since they remembered me as a hard worker, our first joint projects soon began. I read somewhere that it’s more important to be  remembered as an acquaintance, and that was confirmed for me.

You mainly draw for the magazines Slniečko and Bublina, with which you collaborated on several issues. As part of the Slniečko magazine, you also illustrated the ten-issue series Tuláčky s Beckom, which also resulted in a small stand-alone book. What do you think a good  illustration in a children’s magazine looks like?

It should definitely evoke an emotion that appeals to young readers. For me, however, the most important thing is witticism. The task of a  good illustration is to entertain a child because what we have fun with and what we experience with a smile on our face, we also fixate on.  When a person is having fun, they absorb much more because their attention is then much more open. So, if we take a broader perspective,  the image-text complex should entertain the child and encourage or stimulate them to try something new. Children’s illustrations should
also include space for the child’s imagination, which means that the drawings should not look perfect.

This also relates to how I work. In the illustration process, I only sketch the main things in the first stage and then gradually complete them. I supplement the drawings with how I spend my time and what comes to mind during that time. If it’s not a joke, it can easily be a different point or some theme.

However, you have currently launched your own brand, Len kine. When did it emerge, and what does the brand include?

It emerged gradually but more boldly this spring, and it is mainly related to my hobby: I am a big fan of postcards and other printed formats,
which I also design. Additionally, I create textiles, hats, and bags, and I started doing all of that under my own brand. It also has to do with
the fact that people are interested in handmade things today.