Church World Service is excited to announce collaborative efforts between the Haitian Bridge Alliance, Woori Juntos and Aaliah Higareda, a Goshen College graphic design student, to develop multilingual signage for use by border shelters. The signage, which can be understood by literate guests in multiple languages, employs graphics for non-literate guests’ comprehension, and is available free to interested shelters and migrant-serving organizations. The signs are black and white and logo-free to ensure an easy-to-use, sustainable resource for shelters.
Aaliah Higareda is in her second year of a graphic design degree from Goshen College and is actively engaged in supporting the needs of her campus community through Goshen’s Art Club. “Aaliah is an excellent artist and designer who dedicates her time and energy to all of her coursework in addition to volunteering outside of class,” said Sara Method, Assistant Professor Art Department Goshen College. “Throughout this project of creating signs for border shelters, Aaliah has worked tirelessly to make sure the visual communication of the icons on the signage were easy to follow and that the languages were easy to read. This project has meant a lot to her personally and it has been nice to see the continued growth in design skills. When talking with Aaliah about this project, she mentioned how important it was for her to find projects like this that allow her to use her skills to help people. It has been wonderful to see all of that come to fruition.”
Emily Miller, CWS’s Associate Director for Borders & Asylum, asked Aaliah a few questions to showcase her passion and involvement with this project.
Q: What motivates you in your work to be a graphic designer?
A: What really motivates my work is all the supportive people that I have around me. As a graphic designer, I try to create more for others than myself, because good design matches the needs of the brands or users. I love seeing people’s reactions to my work and how they feel about it good or bad, because it just reminds me that I gave someone an experience that made them think. My mom has supported me throughout my life career as an artist and has always motivated me to do better, and my art professors Sara Method and Jordan Kauffman are guiding me to the path to become a good graphic designer.
Q: Why did you choose to volunteer to make signs for shelters welcoming newcomers?
A: When Sara, my art professor, offered me the opportunity to volunteer, I didn’t think too much of it yet. She had told me it was for signage and that she would send over details if I was interested. I was interested because I wanted to have some experience as a graphic designer with a company just to see how it was. When Sara sent over the information the project meant even more to me. It meant more to me because my dad, and many other fathers, mothers and family members I know have crossed the border for a better life. Leaving home for safety isn’t something everyone should go through, and this process can be very traumatizing for families entering the US, so having asylums open with open hearts is really important for the health and safety of others. Creating signage for an asylum isn’t something that many people think about when it comes to what asylums need, but it’s one small step that can help families feel familiar in their new surroundings as they prepare to go into the USA.
Q: What was the most interesting and/or difficult part of this project?
A: The most interesting part of this project was the signage and symbols. I hadn’t made signage as part of my studies yet, so both Sara and Jordan gave me a lot of feedback which really helped me understand the core values of a sign. Having to choose one symbol that represents one whole idea can be daunting. Some of them were simple, a sign for showers, a symbol that looks like a shower. The most complex sign I created was the no toilet paper sign, it would’ve been too crowded to add 5 languages telling people to not put toilet paper in the trash can so it was a sign that had to be only icons. There was a lot of trial and error making that sign, but I’m proud to say that I feel like I successfully made that sign less complicated and easier for others to understand.
Access the updated shelter signage here.
For more questions, contact media@cwsglobal.org.