Telling a Ukrainian story

Telling a Ukrainian story

Personal project

In February 2022, there was a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War. In September 2022, my family welcomed a Ukrainian refugee family into our home. As a personal project, I created a tactile publication to tell the story of ‘When They Arrived’, through the perspective of sharing daily life with a strong yet vulnerable family.
Skills: Publication design, Illustration, Book binding, Art direction, Photography
A tale from a new perspective
The story is centred around my family's lived experience of welcoming strangers into your home. It reveals the complexities of continuing normal daily life, whilst the person's life in the next room to yours has been completely upended.
Honouring Ukrainian culture
From talking with our Ukrainian guests and conducting further research, I learned about the importance of sunflowers for symbolising hope in Ukrainian culture. Throughout the book, the illustrations of sunflowers grow and turn their head towards the light, reflective of this new chapter of life for the characters in the book. Furthermore, I hand stitched all embroidery in the book, to honour the importance of traditional Ukrainian textile crafts.
A tale from a new perspective
The story is centred around my family's lived experience of welcoming strangers into your home. It reveals the complexities of continuing normal daily life, whilst the person's life in the next room to yours has been completely upended.
Honouring Ukrainian culture
From talking with our Ukrainian guests and conducting further research, I learned about the importance of sunflowers for symbolising hope in Ukrainian culture. Throughout the book, the illustrations of sunflowers grow and turn their head towards the light, reflective of this new chapter of life for the characters in the book. Furthermore, I hand stitched all embroidery in the book, to honour the importance of traditional Ukrainian textile crafts.

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Katie Marsden

Graphic Designer

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