Joel Saavedra Interview

Joel Saavedra is currently a college student at Manuel Belgrano.  He is majoring in graphic design and has already managed to find work in the field of comics.  He currently lives in Rosario, Argentina with his family.

Two years ago, Joel came on board as the letterer for YI SOON SHIN: WARRIOR AND DEFENDER.

When asked to partake in an interview, Joel was more than happy to take time out of his busy schedule to chat with me.

Folks, I am pleased to present letterer JOEL SAAVEDRA!

OKP:  You have a number of challenges as the letterer for this book.  The biggest being that English is your second language.  Could you tell us how you manage to overcome the language barriers that you face while lettering?

JS:  This has been a real challenge for me because this was my first job lettering in a foreign language.  However, I enjoy challenges, so it was not something that worried me.  I must admit that Google Translate came very handy at times.  Hahaha!

OKP:  How did you learn to read English so well?  Have you ever been to America?

JS:  I took English classes as a child. I also love to read books that are written in English. I never had the pleasure of visiting America, but I’m sure there will be an opportunity to do so at some point.

OKP:  Aside from simply lettering pages, your job also requires you to place balloons in areas that won’t detract from the artwork.  Is this a skill that has come naturally or is it something you had to work at?

JS:  At first, balloon placement was definitely not a natural ability for me. It took time to understand the concept.  You, David Anthony Kraft and I worked very closely with each other.  At first, balloon placement was simply about attaching the right piece of dialogue to the character that was speaking.  But there is actually a lot more to consider.  The art of lettering is knowing where to place dialogue so that it doesn’t crowd the artwork but in fact compliments it.  

To transmit the feelings of characters in such a limited amount of space is more complex than it looks.  My work is the first thing that the readers see since their eyes naturally wander to the title of the book and once they open it and see the artwork, the next thing they look for is that first word balloon.  If the style of that balloon does not sit well with them, it can damage the overall experience.  It is my job to invite the reader to delve into the story and the art so that they see the balloons and the text boxes as a necessary component of the overall package.

OKP:  DAK and I have constantly come back to you with edits for pages.  I believe we went through 10 drafts of the interior front cover of Issue #2 alone.  And yet every time we ask you to make a change, it’s never a problem.  How do you manage to remain so patient and consistent when you have all these other things going on in your life?

JS:  Yes, I remember working on the interior front cover for Issue #2 almost too well.  It was a page that required lots of small changes and the fact that there was so much text on it required me to check and re-check my work each time I made the slightest change.  When I start a job, I want to make it perfect.  Even it means I have to make endless amounts of edits, it is ultimately worth it.  I could not live knowing that at the end of the day, I did not give my best.

OKP: So what do you like most about working on this project?

JS: This project has given me the opportunity to meet and work with great professionals.  Everyone on the team is very generous, and patient.  I learned a lot from working with them.  It’s the kind of environment that encourages me to express my own ideas and literally think outside the panel box.

OKP:  What do you hope to do once you finish college?  Do you want to make a career as a letterer or do you have bigger plans?

JS:  I would love to continue working in comics, because it's something I enjoy. My goal is to eventually become a graphic designer (known also as visual communicator in my country).  In a nutshell, I would like to be responsible for creating messages that graphically communicate ideas, values, or facts.  I would also love to work on the development of movie posters as well.

OKP:  Can you tell us more about the other projects you’re working on?  Are their any sites we can go to so that we can see you’re work?

JS:  In the past, I did some work with Pandemonium Magazine.  The lettering samples I did for them are actually how I landed the position as letterer of YI SOON SHIN.  Today, I’m concentrating on school but I’m also working with a programmer on designing two web pages.  They are still in the initial stages, but they will soon be available online.  I can’t really spill the details yet but I will be sure to spread the word once it goes live!  I just set up a Facebook account so people can find me on there.

OKP:  I have never been a fan of sound effects in comics.  But after seeing what you pulled off on the last page of Issue #2, I can now say that we’ll be seeing a lot more BANGS and POWS in future issues of YI SOON SHIN.  Thanks for taking the time to chat with us Joel!

JS: Of course!  Anytime Onrie!

Two weeks from now, I will be sitting down with co-writer/editor DAVID ANTHONY KRAFT on top of Screamer Mountain to do a live interview that will be posted on this blog as well as Youtube.  Feel free to submit questions and we’ll answer them for you live.  Send all your inquiries to feebdback@yisoonshin.com.

See you in a few weeks!

Best Regards,

Onrie Kompan