Every year the AMRC has a youth poster competition aimed to celebrate the perseverance, strength, and courage of refugees living in Australia. This event helps spread awareness of the importance of multiculturalism and it encourages people to learn about the struggles of refugees and how they can help make them feel more welcomed.

I had the amazing opportunity to participate in entering a poster for the competition. The brief was to design a poster for United Nations World Refugee Day and also South Australia Refugee Week.

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After exploring a few options on the approach, I could take I decided to experiment with trying to approach this from a kid's perspective. I wanted to illustrate that even though it can be an unimaginable journey for even a grown-up to have to leave their country in a rush for their safety, even kids have to go through it even without understandings it. I also knew I wanted to illustrate the innocence of kids always being more accepting and nonjudgmental of people with differences.

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I decided I wanted to create a poster with three dolls from different backgrounds having a tea party. This would show how kids don't see differences as clearly as adults do. It would also have a quote saying "you're invited" meaning to the tea party that is living in Australia.

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After trying to find ways to have three dolls that looked similar yet would be from different cultures, I decided that the best way t keep things consistent was to make them myself. I had no previous expertise in doll making but I watched a few tutorials on how to make rag dolls and I managed to end up with three similar-looking dolls. When choosing where I wanted the dolls to be from I looked into what were the most popular refugee cultures in Australia. I found that the three most popular cultures for refugees in Australia were Congo, Myanmar, and Afghanistan. I wanted the dolls to wear traditional clothing from their culture. I collated some images and sources from recycled materials such as old clothes and pieces from the opp shop and designed their clothes. I also used some thread to create their hair.

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I decided I didn't want the dolls to have a face, I did this because I wanted them to represent every little kid that has had to go through hardship because they've had to leave their homes, I wanted them to be a blank canvas for anyone to be able to identify with them. 

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I had some help from a photography student to take some professional pictures and then edited the background in photoshop. I decided to have a lot of negative space surrounding the dolls to create a greater impact on the importance of the topic. I used a faint purple tint to create a gradient because purple represents resilience. I choose a handwritten-like typeface for the quote because I wanted it to look childlike and friendly.

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I was lucky enough to be a finalist in the competition and to have my poster displayed at the event. Overall, I think this poster makes a big impact and it successfully meets the brief because it shows a different perspective on the situation offered to understand and it shows how Australia welcomes all refugees.