Isa Hanssen Blends Filipino-Mexican Folktales and Magical Girls in New Illustration Series
Isa Hanssen, a talented Filipino-Mexican-American storyboard artist and comic creator, just launched a new collection that beautifully combines quirky local folklore with magical-girl motifs and cinematic storyboarding. Her art dives into themes like local myths, surreal dreams, and the ups and downs of growing up, often highlighting brave girls tackling tough challenges. Isa captures her passion for "weird local folktales and magic girls who fight," resulting in vibrant and playful illustrations that explore feelings of fear, isolation, and the rollercoaster of youth. An article in Design You Trust, released in September 2026, features her work and invites readers to check out her Instagram, @isawiitch, for more.
Key facts
- Isa Hanssen is a Filipino-Mexican-American storyboard artist, comic creator, indie game developer, illustrator, and occasional writer.
- Her practice blends weird regional folktales, magical-girl energy, cinematic storyboards, introspective comics, and emotionally direct character work.
- Hanssen describes her interests as "weird local folktales, and magic girls who fight."
- Her visual universe revolves around local legends, strange dreams, growing pains, loneliness, tenderness, and girls who meet the impossible with courage.
- Her drawings are bright and playful but rarely shallow, engaging with fear, alienation, belief, responsibility, and the private intensity of being young.
- Her comics include a personal series about unusual dreams, introspection, and the loneliness of spending too much time inside one's own head.
- The work was featured in a Design You Trust article published in September 2026.
- More of her work can be found on Instagram at @isawiitch.
Entities
Artists
- Isa Hanssen
Institutions
- Design You Trust