About

Daniella Ley Suazo

Graphic and editorial designer. Currently based wherever the family's compass points next. Remote work has never been the exception for me, it's the default.

Daniella Ley Suazo

What is this trying to make someone feel, understand, or do?

How I Think About Design

I'm very curious by nature. I like researching before designing, asking questions, looking at references, understanding the context, figuring out what makes an idea interesting before deciding how it should look. I don't always want to start with “What should this page look like?” I usually want to start with what's on the left. From there, the visual decisions become much more interesting.

My Background

Seven years, 50,000+ customers

Before working independently as a designer, I co-founded and ran a stationery and planning company in Peru for around seven years. We created planners, journals, stationery and other paper products, and built a community of more than 50,000 customers around the brand, with several physical retail locations as well as our online business.

That experience shaped the way I think about design. I wasn't only designing something that needed to look good. I was designing something that had to be manufactured, printed, packaged, sold, used, and hopefully loved enough for someone to keep coming back to it. It gave me a very practical understanding of the relationship between design, product and real people.

A quiet corner of the studio
Coffee before the workday starts
Where the work happens

How I Work

Research → Concept → Visual Direction → Design System → Layout → Refinement

I like establishing the visual language early so the rest of the project has a clear direction. For larger editorial projects, I think in systems rather than designing every page as a completely separate piece, which helps create consistency while still allowing individual pages to have personality.

On Details

I'm quite obsessive about them. Probably more than is strictly necessary. A tiny alignment issue, inconsistent spacing, or something that feels slightly “off” can bother me until I fix it. In editorial design, that obsession is useful, because small inconsistencies multiply quickly across a 100-page product.

Tools

Adobe InDesign, Illustrator and Photoshop. I'm particularly comfortable with InDesign for editorial, journal, planner and print projects. Canva, when a project calls for it. And AI tools as part of my creative and organizational workflow, mainly to research, explore ideas, structure information and make the repetitive parts more efficient.

Projects I Particularly Enjoy

  • Journals & guided journals
  • Planners & organizational products
  • Stationery & paper goods
  • Travel journals, guides & travel products
  • Wellness & self-reflection products
  • Educational & activity products
  • Editorial publications

I design things people don't just look at. They live with.

Get in touch