Vagina-nomics
Vagina-nomics is a feminist platform that set out to make conversations about pleasure, sexual health, and gender feel more speakable—through art, design, and editorial storytelling. What began as a publication quickly became an ecosystem: two magazine issues shaped by multidisciplinary contributors, a digital home for content and commerce, and in-person events that turned readers into community.
For Studio Lutalica, the work was about building coherence across formats. The goal was not just to make something that looked good in print, but to create an identity that could hold complexity, invite curiosity, and stay recognisably Vagina-nomics wherever it showed up—on a webpage, in a campaign asset, or across a table at a pop-up.
Project Team
Creative Direction: Cecilia Righini
Words and Editing: Gabriela Dittrichova
Art Direction: Catarina Bernardi
The Challenge
Vagina-nomics sits in a cultural space that is still routinely policed by stigma, euphemism, and misinformation. The challenge was to communicate with clarity and warmth, without flattening the subject matter or tipping into shock-value. The platform also needed to move fluidly between different contexts: editorial work that asks people to slow down and reflect, and campaign moments that need to mobilise attention and support quickly.
Alongside this, the project demanded practical, real-world flexibility. The branding went through multiple iterations over time, and the digital platform needed to support both a blog and an e-commerce section—so the identity had to be strong enough to stay consistent, while adaptable enough to evolve.
What We Did
We developed and applied a cohesive visual direction across print, digital, and campaign touchpoints, treating each format as part of one connected experience.
Across the work, we:
- Shaped the creative direction for the platform and its editorial presence.
- Designed assets that could translate across channels, including social-first content that centred collaborators and contributors.
- Built and evolved the website on WIX, with the structure needed to host ongoing writing, archive content, and support e-commerce.
- Produced campaign materials to support the successful Kickstarter for Issue #2, using design to communicate purpose, build momentum, and make it easy for people to take part.
- Supported the platform’s IRL life through event and pop-up moments, where the work could be encountered as a physical, shared experience rather than a purely online one.
Throughout, we prioritised a tone that felt direct, curious, and non-judgemental—making space for people who were exploring these topics for the first time, as well as those already deeply engaged.
Impact
The impact of Vagina-nomics was not just in what it published, but in what it made possible. By using art and design as a bridge into “taboo” subject matter, the platform helped create a culture where conversations about pleasure, bodies, and identity could feel more ordinary—and more owned.
The Kickstarter for Issue #2 is a concrete example of that community energy turning into action. The campaign creative gave supporters a clear story to rally around, and the visual language made the project feel legitimate, inviting, and worth backing. That funding moment, in turn, supported the continuation of the magazine and strengthened the sense that Vagina-nomics was something people could participate in, not just consume.
Beyond the campaign, the platform’s ecosystem approach—magazines, digital publishing, merchandise, and events—helped extend its reach and longevity. Pop-ups and community moments created space for connection, while the digital home held the archive and made discovery easier over time. In practice, that meant Vagina-nomics could keep meeting people where they were: online, in print, and in person.
