JUST LISTEN

Interactive Design Project 2019

Just listen is an interactive poster for today's migrants, inspired by Mario Goncalves’ poems “Why I left” and “Immigrant” for the Encyclopedia of migrants.

Project in collaboration with Enkhjin Ariunbold, Louisa Buck, Alessia Lapio and Audrey Wildemann, for our interaction design course at Naba. The project was supervised by Irina Suteu.

What first attracted us to this letter was the form. The poem comprises brief verses, mostly formed by one or two words, filled with meaning, time, pain, and hope. In the first poem, Mario Goncalves expresses why he left and shares with his feelings of conflict that space from tenderness to rage makes him feel “lost / between lives”. He knows that all the hate and insults will not fade his dream of finding himself. In the second poem, Goncalves talks universally to all migrants, calling them “brothers”. He connects with them by emphasizing their journey through all life stages, still asking himself if he will ever go home and if he will ever be happy. He ends the poem by stating his current attitude and demanding justice for all the people who suffered like him before concluding in such an elevating and hopeful way.

Just Listen Moodboard

For the poster itself, we aimed to create the highest emotional experience in the most intimate way, so we kept the poster as minimal as possible: A red SOS payphone on a black smokey background with a sound-wave and a glossy fingerprint that invites users to touch it, so they can listen to the poems.

The fingerprint touchpoints on the soundwave play parts of Mario Goncalves’ poems.

The QR code on the poster connects with the encyclopedia of Migrants' website, where all letters written by migrants are posted.

An intimate conversation between the poem and the migrant of today is therefore created.

The installation comprises four posters, all different and all play emotional verses of the poems, is located behind Fondazione Feltrinelli, in Milan. The Foundation itself aims to spark impressions around the subjects that heat today’s discussions. We believe this location is perfect for reflecting on the talk of today: Refugees.

This area is very silent and intimate, isolated on one side by the Foundation itself and the other by a wall.

Skills: I contributed to the project in the research and concept development phase, and in the Photoshop visualizations.

Software: InDesign and Photoshop