We're Featured in Frankie Magazine: An interview with INAC content creators, Angela McGinness and Raina Shauki

We’re featured in frankie magazine!

Did you see us in the latest issue of frankie magazine?

An Australian magazine, website and podcast, frankie has been a trailblazer in exploring and celebrating creativity in fashion, art, travel, craft and more since its launch in 2004.

If you’ve managed to grab a copy of frankie’s issue 107, you may have seen a wonderful illustration for our newest project, Your Stories Matter. The artwork was created by our incredible content creators and graphic designers, Angela McGinness (she/her) and Raina Shauki (she/her).

Angela joined INAC during the hard lockdown in 2020 when she, like many of us, had the spare time to volunteer. “I’ve always been very angry about bigotry and sexual violence, and street harassment is a big part of that,” explained Angela, when speaking about why she joined INAC. Angela studied graphic design and illustration at university, and has been freelancing since 2014.

Image description: The Your Stories Matter illustration featured in frankie magazine. It is a map of the city of Melbourne in shades of pink, blue, orange and yellow. There are graphics of Flinders Street Station and other landmarks.

A more recent addition to the INAC team, Raina became an INAC content creator in October 2021 after seeing a volunteer callout on Instagram and discovering the advocacy work that INAC is heavily involved in. Reflecting on her experience at INAC over the last six months, Raina shared that before joining INAC, she “didn’t have much experience with illustrating and designing, other than a personal interest in doodling during classes instead of paying attention”. Raina believes that since joining INAC, her “skills have definitely improved” and she is “excited to see how much more [she] can learn”.

The artwork featured in frankie showcases a map of the city of Melbourne and key landmarks, such as Flinders Street Station. Boasting vibrant shades of yellow, blue and pink, the illustration highlights a key component of Your Stories Matter: a soon-to-be-launched interactive map where users can pinpoint safe and unsafe locations in the city.

To grab your own copy of frankie, click here.

We sat down with Angela and Raina to learn more about their experiences of creating the illustration.

How did you start the brainstorming process? Did you have an idea of what the artwork would look like?

Angela: It was something that we’d discussed in early meetings about the project, so it was much easier to build on something we’d already talked about. Once we had the idea of a map, we could make a moodboard for inspiration and apply it to the city of Melbourne. 

Raina: An early part of the brainstorming process involved answering the question What is recognisable about Melbourne?. We wanted to include imagery that would resonate with people who know Melbourne, and an important part of that was identifying the buildings, events and vibe associated with different parts of the city. 

Why did you decide to focus the artwork around a map?

Angela: It’s one of the key parts of the project! Melbourne has been INAC’s focus from the beginning, and being able to pinpoint locations where people have felt unsafe and using that data to change the infrastructure is a great opportunity to make real change for the people who have shared their stories with us. 

Raina: Melbourne is such a diverse city, and the city of Melbourne especially feels like a place that so many different communities call home. The Your Stories Matter project really leans into that, and a map showing all the unique parts of the city, echoes the fact that there are unique stories to be heard. 

What inspired your choice of colour palette?

Angela: Raina was really helpful with that part, using a combination of our INAC’s colours and Melbourne transport.

Raina: We wanted to incorporate colours that Melbournians are probably used to seeing all the time in the city! Bright, colourful and warm. 

How does it feel to have your work featured in an issue of frankie magazine?

Angela: It’s a bit uncanny! I was a HUGE frankie fan growing up, it’s the only magazine I’ve ever subscribed to. When Aakanksha, our CEO, told us we’d be in frankie, I told her my 15 year old self would be losing her mind about it.

Raina: It’s so exciting! I was also a huge frankie fan growing up, so it feels a bit surreal to see something that I worked on grace the pages of the magazine. It’s a massive honour and I am so glad to have been part of the project. 

What was the creative process like?

Angela: Mostly me staring at different maps of Melbourne trying to figure out where the hell everything goes. It was 30% me actually drawing and 70% staring at the screen wondering what is wrong with my brain that I can’t read places. Words I can do, places are a scramble. I get lost a lot. It’s made me very good at walking.

Raina: Angela was amazing and worked so hard to bring the ideas that we had moodboarded, to life. I enjoyed having someone else to bounce ideas off of throughout the creative process, and liked figuring out how I could use my own knowledge about the City of Melbourne to create the final product.

This was the first time you collaborated on an artwork together. how was the experience of working together?

Angela: It was a RELIEF to have somebody else to turn to and share the load. Raina was wonderful at the building illustrations, and at brainstorming locations for each area. 

Raina: It was great! Truly an honour to be working with Angela, who I think is so incredible at what she does. Having someone who has more experience on the technical side of things was incredibly helpful, and honestly quite inspiring! 

What are you most looking forward to for the Your Stories Matter project?

Angela: I’m stoked to see the digital magazine come together! It’s going to be great seeing what artists contribute.

Raina: I’m excited for the interactive map to be open to the public. I think it’s going to gather a lot of important information about street safety in Melbourne, and I’m hopeful that this information can be used to bring about positive changes to the city! 

P.S. If you’re interested in submitting your creative work to our digital magazine, click here to find out more. Successful entrants will be paid and submissions close on 11 May!