By Simone Vos

WOBBY #35 - Crappy Families: Making fun of the perfect family

“The illustration about the theme ‘Crappy Families’ had to be a fun one for me”, says illustrator and cartoonist Aisha Franz. “A lot of things popped up in my head, I clicked immediately with the theme. But I didn’t want to make it too heavy. I created monster creatures that eat the ‘perfect’ family as you see them in stock photos.” For Wobby #35 Aisha made the cover. Read on for more about her inspiration and work. And a little bit about her family.

“For the cover of Wobby #35 I had so many ideas, but a lot of them were way too obvious. Or they were too difficult to put on a cover, I needed more space for them”, says Aisha. “My family is totally fine, no dramatic childhood. And my daughter is also great. Still, there was something about the theme. I ended up making a caricature from a happy, white, archetype family from a stock photo. The monsters eat the topping of the cake; a wedding cake on which the husband and wife made from candy are typically traditional.”

Telling stories through illustrations

“Playful and not too obvious, that’s what I always want to achieve with my work. I put my own voice in my work. Whether it’s on commission or my own work”, she says. Aisha has published four graphic novels, and makes illustrations for clients like Die Zeit Leo and the New York Times. She studied at the Art School in Kassel, Germany and lives now in Berlin with her family. “At first I was more interested in animation in Art School, when I learned more about telling stories through illustration and comics, I switched more to illustration.”

“I never know what’s next in my work. There are periods in which I make editorials and sometimes I change my direction and publish books for example. Just now my book Work-Life Balance came out. So, I’m busy doing a book tour, giving workshops and readings. Finding free time for a new project and doing a lot of projects at the same time, that’s the balance I always have to work with. For great ideas I need mental space, so sometimes it takes a while.”

Colorama Clubhouse

Besides her illustration jobs, the books she created and her first commercial comic for a consultancy company this year, Aisha is also part of the residency project Colorama Clubhouse in Berlin. “This creative place started in 2017, it was a great excuse to work together with my friend Johanna. We found the scene of comic artists and illustrators too scattered in Berlin and wanted to make a place where everybody could join”, she tells us. “It went from a one day workshop, studio and tiny zines in a couple of years to an artist in residency for people from all over the world. Now, we have funding and so illustrators are making a book in two weeks. Ten people in Berlin and ten contributors remotely, we match them.”

“After one week working on the book, the artist has a week off and the book is produced and printed and then there is a book launch. The project is much bigger now than just the two weeks of ‘summer camp’ as we call it sometimes. There is a program the whole year around. Next year we’re taking a break, for new fundings among other things and then- who knows when - we’ll be back.”

“This Colorama Clubhouse is so inspiring for me as well, I see how the other artists work and feel the need to draw, myself. I have shifted much more to digital work, it’s a lot easier with riso printing, because you know how the colors are interacting. But I do miss drawing with a pencil on paper sometimes. I push myself to keep doing that, because it helps me to stay focussed on what I really want to draw.”

Wobby #35 – Crappy Families is now available in our webshop.