Gold medal from the Society of Illustrators New York for Lucerne Master's graduate

In her book project "I'M MIGRANT", she tells the story of a family's escape to Europe. Francesca Sanna completed her Master of Arts in Design with a specialization in illustration at the Lucerne School of Art and Design in summer 2015. For her thesis, the native Italian developed the project "I'M MIGRANT", which she designed as both an interactive children's book and a print book. In it, she tells the story of a mother fleeing to Europe with two children.

Francesca Sanna has now been awarded the Society of Illustrators New York Gold Medal in the book category for the printed version, which appears under the title "The Journey". "The Society of Illustrators New York is one of the oldest and most renowned organizations for illustration," explains Paolo Friz, lecturer in illustration at the Lucerne School of Art and Design. "Publishers and illustrators from all over the world take part in the calls for entries," says Friz. "The Hall of Fame is home to exceptional illustrators such as Milton Glaser, Brad Holland, Saul Steinberg and Will Eisner."

Your own biography as a starting point

For her project "I'M MIGRANT", Francesca Sanna has already received this year's Master of Arts in Design award from Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts. During the preparatory phase, she spoke several times with migrants from Syria, Eritrea and Somalia, among others. From this, Sanna developed a children's book for eight to twelve-year-olds that describes the flight of a mother and her two children from a crisis area in northern Africa to Europe. In the interactive version, readers have to bring the family safely to Europe. Only two paths do not lead to a dead end. In the illustrated children's book, the reader follows the family's escape in a linear fashion as they travel by boat, car, train and on foot and have to overcome many dangers.

Francesca Sanna's own biography was also the starting point for the work. "I asked myself: what is the difference between me, a migrant from Italy who wanted to have new experiences, and the refugees from Syria and Eritrea, who have no other chance," says the 24-year-old, who migrated from Italy to Switzerland via Germany. "My main aim as an illustrator was to inspire empathy and trigger the idea that each of us could be the migrant in the story." The children's book is expected to be published in English by Nobrow Ltd/ Flying Eye Books in London in April and in German by Nordsüd Verlag in Zurich in July.