Although media in Poland give considerable attention to the subject of refugees and migration, they rarely provide a platform for the refugees themselves. 'Refugee Diaries' is an initiative aiming to change this by inviting individuals to share their experiences of seeking refuge. Dozens of stories written by refugees living in Poland are being published in a book, with some of these memoirs receiving special literary prizes during a ceremonial gala.
My task was to design a visual language that:
Avoids sensationalism often present in this topic by mainstream media.
Is aesthetic but does not overshadow the main content of the "Refugee Diaries" initiative.
Can be used simultaneously in a book, social media graphics, and other materials.
Facilitates easy content creation in multiple languages, primarily Polish, English, Ukrainian, and Russian.
Knowing the content of the diaries published in the previous edition of the competition, I adopted two main principles:
Avoid graphic language that emphasizes suffering. Refugee experiences vary. If the stories shared by refugees touch on violence, trauma, or difficult emotions, their words alone will suffice. Magazyn Kontakt does not engage in "thanatomarketing."
Avoid imagery specific to the Polish context (e.g., historical mass emigration) or singular cultural contexts (e.g., seas, boats, the Mediterranean route).
I explored graphic associations around concepts such as home (lost and new), journey, path, temporariness, baggage (both physical and emotional), labels (tags on luggage as well as stereotypes about individuals or groups), and diary (writing, memories, feelings, letters).
I chose the Cera Pro typeface family, which supports both extended Latin and Cyrillic alphabets. This choice allowed for consistent multilingual public communication throughout the project.
The key colors are inspired by The Refugee Nation Flag designed by artist Yara Said. The intense, energetic orange (originally the color of life jackets) was slightly lightened by me so that, combined with black, it meets WCAG AAA contrast standards (7:1) for headings, regular text, and other graphic elements (fills, backgrounds, boxes).
© Andrzej Dębowski