Jesús Serrano Antón
Journalist and Communicator
(Murcia, 1956)
Born in Murcia on 1 March 1956, Jesús Serrano lived through the beginnings of the Spanish political transition in Madrid. It was during his journalism studies at the Complutense University, a time that marked him, that his interest in editorial design was born. Years later, he created the digital magazine Murcia Visual, made for pleasure, non-profit. It began as a communication space aimed especially at disseminating the projects of the students of the Higher School of Design of Murcia (Edi); It currently covers all news about visual creativity generated in the region.
Although he is not a designer but a journalist, Jesús Serrano Antón was one of the founders of the Association of Design and Advertising Communication Professionals of the Region of Murcia (DIP) and currently, an honorary member. From the beginning he was a great support for public awareness of the value of design, thanks to his position as head of institutional advertising in the Autonomous Community of the Region of Murcia (CARM).
His interest was born already in his university days; Subjects related to editorial design were the ones that interested him the most. In Madrid there was then a sensitive attitude to the design of newspapers, linked to the change in technology to make them. With EL PAÍS came a new design, similar to that of other European countries. This newspaper implemented a more modern and standardized method, which is now widely used. When he finished his studies and started working in Murcia, he did not have many opportunities within editorial design in the regional press. So, he first worked as an editor – in “Diario de Murcia”, “Línea”, “Hoja del Lunes” and “La Verdad” – to join the regional administration, in the team of president Carlos Collado, in the mid-eighties.
From his department he promoted a new corporate identity for the Autonomous Administration. It was the Nuño de la Rosa studio that made a very well-constructed proposal, although its application had many problems of application because it was a poorly centralized administration. As our interviewee points out, the creation of the corporate identity of this regional administration was conditioned by an initial problem, since the administrative and governing body of the Region of Murcia does not have a specific name, as others do: Junta, Xunta, Principado or Generalitat, for example. Other autonomous communities that did not have it either solved the difficulty by opting for names such as the Government of Madrid or Cantabria. In Murcia it was not done at the time and the consequences are still dragging on.
In 2010, Jesús created the digital magazine Murcia Visual, which he still publishes almost daily today. Murcia Visual was born practically as a project to highlight the creativity of younger people, especially those who were still in a period of training in the branches that were taught at that time at the Higher School of Design of Murcia. “It was a bit elementary because, even though the internet was already developed, there wasn’t a culture of showcasing this kind of thing,” Jesus recalls. Initially the format was that of a blog and, to keep it alive, he took advantage of his knowledge as a technician in charge at the CARM, searched around, contacted design studios and advertising agencies, and began to disseminate works by already established professionals.
Jesús Serrano recalls how a few years earlier, in 2008, the Observatory of Design and Architecture (Obs) was created, linked to the regional administration – specifically, to the Ministry of Culture – and coordinated by the architects José María Torres, Jesús Herrera and José Antonio (Pencho) Morales and the designer and publicist Jorge Martínez. The General Directorate of Communication financially supported the Obs, paying for the only Design Analysis in the Region of Murcia that has been carried out so far, a very complete economic study. As a result of Obs, in 2010, DIP was born, which encompasses professionals from all forms of design, including advertising communication. “Even though I wasn’t a designer, I felt like I could support in some way. I became a member, the first partner, certainly. And now I’m honorary.”
DIP has always appreciated having a communicator within its ranks. According to Jesús Serrano, it is a deficit that the sector has. Communication works relatively well thanks to professional associations “but I think there is a significant deficit in individual communication between studios and independent professionals. There are very interesting projects that should be disseminated more. Studios need to communicate their own work better. Social networks are useful to a large extent, but not systematically.” And he insists that every project includes its communication.
“You have to set aside time precisely to reflect and communicate what you are doing. A simple communication, like a press release. Maybe the newspapers don’t always pay attention to him, but I think that, repeatedly, there should be sending information, which has to emerge from the studies”
Returning to Murcia Visual, Jesús began following the LAUS in 2010, national design awards, the most prestigious in Spain. He remembers that before he had never seen news of the LAUS awards in Murcia, but today you can read news about them in a conventional local newspaper because there are quite a few Murcian agencies that win them and in a significant proportion compared to other territories of the state. It is, therefore, a relevant issue.
When talking about design communication, he also connects with exhibitions, such as the From Spain With Design (FSWD) project, promoted by the Spanish Network of Design Associations (READ) to give visibility to Spanish design at national and international levels. Jesús Serrano was invited by READ to be part of the first Selection Committee of independent studios and professionals today present in the website’s directory. The exhibition From Spain With Design, which began in 2021 in Santiago de Compostela, has been passing through different cities, including Murcia. Wherever it was exhibited, local designers were more present. The impact of these traveling exhibitions has been quite remarkable thanks to communication networks, both from the first time it was exhibited and throughout its traveling trip. The local press of each exhibition has made interesting reports. The last stop is Washington, since January 2025.
This whole issue leads us to talk about the image of Murcia and if it is possible to talk about a brand. He is not convinced and explains: “I think that first there has to be an intention to create it. If there is no deep reflective point, a desire to do so, nothing is created. I think that intention does not exist. Perhaps a perception is being created, informally, that identifies Murcia with good design, but this should be an institutional matter. There has to be a boost from the sector itself and institutional support. I miss that approach that, in some way, could have been led by Obs. In addition to promoting design and architecture, making Murcia brand was a bit of his second intention”. The Obs helped to analyse the state of the design and invited notable figures to tell their experiences, a work in which this writer collaborated.
“In the end, creating a brand is a matter of knowledge and money,” Jesús argues.
“Fortunately, there are some Murcian companies that have sensitivity and are receptive to the work of design. And they count on the designers from the naming, which is fundamental, as there have been great shortcomings in proper naming and in the design of both the product and the packaging. These are substantial issues and we have an example in wineries, which have understood very well the difference that relying on good design makes. Many new wineries are clear that the suit that dresses the wine is important. And they have dragged down the large wine companies in the region. With a good design, you make yourself seen, you stand out.”
Looking to the present and looking to the future, Jesús Serrano perceives a clear change in the formation of design. Before, many people went to Valencia and Barcelona to study, but with the higher cycle of the School of Design in Murcia there has been remarkable progress. In addition, Edi has managed to have a lot of presence in society by organizing interesting conferences and inviting important personalities. As for the evolution of the professional, there has been an evolution since the last years of the last century, where a few stood out, such as Severo Almansa and Eduardo del Fraile, but today there are many and very interesting studies. Design communication and Murcia Visual in particular, have also improved.
“Before, we had to go after the designers to tell us things. Now the media is paying more attention and there are more and more forums, public and private, dealing with design issues.”
………
Jesús Serrano Antón was interviewed by
Halldóra Arnardóttir in March 2025
2010 – Present
Murcia Visual
Digital Magazine