Introduction to Design: ProtoToto Design Lab's Suzanne LaGasa on Ideas, Play, and Creative Confidence

By Julia Gamolina

Suzanne LaGasa is a Brooklyn-based creative director who believes that design ought to be humanistic and ecologically minded. As Creative Director at Dwell Magazine since 2020, she brought warmth and optimism back to the brand visuals. Her career spans Chronicle Books, Martha Stewart, and Scholastic. As a single mother, Suzanne knows the importance of community and education —which is why she's launching ProtoToto Design Lab to help kids discover their creative power.

JG: Congratulations on the launch of ProtoToto Suzanne! Tell me about what led you to start this, and why this is the time for you to do it.

SLG: I got the idea to start ProtoToto when my daughter was four and I was looking for places where I could find creativity and community. We were living in Greenpoint, and at that time, my options were either coffeeshops, playgrounds or expensive playspaces where parents just lingered in the periphery. As my daughter grew older I learned about afterschool enrichment programs such as animation camps, robotics, art, and theater classes, but I quickly realized that there are no places introducing young kids to design.

Design and architecture play can be a lot of fun for kids. Learning how to confidently talk about one's ideas and how to get and give feedback is also such a valuable skill. The future is so unpredictable, especially now with AI, that I really think kids will need to be resilient, believe in themselves, and communicate their ideas.

Now let's go back a little bit — you first studied French and International Studies, and then went on to study graphic design. Tell me about the why behind both and what you were hoping to do in the world with each step.

When I was growing up in Brazil, studying anything in the arts wasn’t really an option. My family felt that to pursue anything creative outside of a hobby was financially irresponsible. I studied International Studies and French hoping that I would be able to travel and help others. Then I got a job at a tech firm in San Francisco and while on a tour of the office on my first day I saw graphic designers at work, and that was it for me.

I was thrilled to see people building something with aesthetics in mind. In that case, they were designing a game interface, selecting colors for CTA buttons, a small task that opened the door to something much bigger for me. I went back to school for graphic design because I wanted to make things that were useful and beautiful. Within that, I pursued editorial and book design.

“Design and architecture play can be a lot of fun for kids. Learning how to confidently talk about one’s ideas and how to get and give feedback is also such a valuable skill.”

— Suzanne LaGasa

Tell me about your early roles at Chronicle Books and Dwell. What did you learn?

I always knew I had to care about what I was making, so publishing made sense for me. I love magazines and books. Dwell and Chronicle Books were both highly creative places where design was considered critical to the success of the product. Working with talented designers and editors encouraged me to never settle on the initial default design. I also learned how to collaborate with photographers and illustrators —work that requires having a vision, but also being flexible and listening. Iteration and my talented peers really helped me grow.

You've held a number of art director roles at Scholastic — which is so cool, I still remember looking forward to each of their book fairs as a kid — Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, Callisto. What did you learn from these roles?

Those roles were in New York, where the expectations were also high and this time at a faster pace. I enjoyed the more pointed and direct design discussions. These experiences taught me to have more confidence in my ideas and decision making, how to take risks and yet remain open-minded.

Scholastic gave me a chance to design books for kids and to learn more about education. Callisto Media was a data-based non-fiction publisher that required design strategies which closely addressed the needs of a particular audience. While at Callisto I designed guided journals, workbooks, and many books for kids on topics like social skills and art and play therapy, which gave me a lot of empathy.

Books that Suzanne worked on. Courtesy of Suzanne LaGasa.

Dwell covers during Suzanne’s tenure. Courtesy of Suzanne LaGasa.

I met you when you were the Creative Director at Dwell, and was even super lucky to work with you. Tell me about this role and how it set the stage for ProtoToto.

I returned to Dwell just as the pandemic was starting to subside, and the team was thinking a lot about the future housing, urbanism and accessibility. Dwell has always been optimistic about design. As creative director my goal was to convey brand confidence and joy as Dwell approached its twenty-firth year anniversary. I worked closely with art director Derek Eng to return to a warmer, more humanistic era of editorial design. We allowed ourselves to experiment with different display typefaces on every issue, and tried to bring in more color and humor whenever we could. We worked with you on a video series called Dwell Asks in an effort to connect more directly with designers and industry leaders, and to enhance our sense of community. It was such a fun video series, and it worked!

Being at Dwell also gave me a chance to work with phenomenal photographers and illustrators, and introduced me to an exciting community of architects and designers. I hope to engage these talented creatives in ProtoToto — sharing the same curiosity and optimism about design with a much younger audience.

Looking back at it all, what have been the biggest challenges? How did you both manage through perceived disappointments or setbacks?

I used to joke that if I could only grow a beard and narrow my interests to coffee, cycling, and music, I’d have less resistance when pitching covers and design strategies. So much of being a designer is getting the rest of the team — sales, marketing and editors — to come along on the visual strategy. I think it has gotten a little better for women designers. Perspectives are changing about who can be in a position of creative leadership and who is worthy of confidence.

Some of my challenges have come down to corporate leadership implementing strategies that were counterproductive to creative teams, resulting in less efficiency or a final product with less value to the end consumer. Working for larger companies I’ve had to navigate the line between being passionate about the quality of the work, but not getting too bogged down at decisions out of my control. I just try to tap into those creative problem solving skills, using ingenuity and resourcefulness to still make something that resonates, that carries an element of surprise, and invites you to pause with it.

When it comes to professional setbacks, I don’t know if there’s much more that we can do besides keep going and keep believing in ourselves, in our training and experience. Design is subjective, but it’s also strategic. We have to believe in our strategy, whether it is for a book cover, a brand’s identity, or in my case now, for a mission-driven business.

“Design is subjective, but it’s also strategic. We have to believe in our strategy, whether it is for a book cover, a brand’s identity, or in my case now, for a mission-driven business.”

— Suzanne LaGasa

What have you learned in the last six months?

I’ve been learning a lot about business and education. On the business front, I’ve learned that being successful with marketing and promotion is actually more challenging than setting up a legal structure or financial modeling. On the education front I’ve been learning a lot about creativity and the psychology for getting kids lit up and onboard. For example, true creativity requires some risk, audacity and questioning assumptions — which is pretty fun to do.

Who are you admiring now and why?

I really admire multidisciplinary designers like Faye Toogood and Ilse Crawford for building careers that allow for experimentation with strong values and conviction. I love Su Wu’s poetic sensibility and curatorial practice. I love the work that Deb Bishop is doing with the New York Times kid section — work that is smart, refined and yet also playful and funny.

I’ve been lucky to work with the phenomenal photo director Luise Stauss on ProtoToto. Louise joined our board of advisors because she’s passionate about what kids need in order to flourish and what we need as a society for a better future. I admire her creative intellect and how she’s able to bring so much warmth, and joy, and a commitment to high standards to all our interactions.

Finally, I look up to lighting designer Lindsey Adelman for her strong creative compass and for her community building, Tiffany Jow, the editor-in-chief of Untapped Journal, Jean Lin founder of Colony NY, and you too Julia! Actions matter if we want a healthier, stronger creative community. I’m thankful for the work you do with Madame Architect, highlighting so many designers and providing so much inspiration.

What is the impact you’d like to have on the world? What is your core mission? And, what does success in that look like to you?

Right now my core mission is to share my love for making things and for being a designer with kids. I want them to know the value of their creativity and their voice because I think if they do that, they’ll gain a confidence in themselves that will be valuable no matter what they go on to do.

I’m still fundraising to secure a permanent studio space after our summer camp at LIU’s downtown Brooklyn campus. That’s my primary hurdle toward success at the moment. But after setting up our studio, success will look like kids eager to come back to play, to make things, to share ideas, and to bask in the joy of belonging in a beautiful and diverse creative community.

Finally, what advice do you have for those starting their career? Would your advice be any different for women?

For anyone starting their career my advice is to be good listeners and to ask questions. Take risks with your design, make big moves, and then ask more questions. Does it work? Do you like it? I think those two practices can help speed up the process of getting to more interesting work, and of understanding your own voice and distinction as a designer. I also recommend being a part of a healthy work culture that respects dialogue but is also considerate of one another’s areas of expertise.

My only advice specific to women is to not get discouraged, and to not assume the worst in our daily interactions as we struggle to be seen as equally worthy of respect and authority. We should all lift each other up independently of gender or background, and we can do this even when we’re just starting out.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.