Vadem&cum is a guide to the contemporary human migrations.
{vade mecum is from the Latin word vāde mēcum; literally, go with me. A book or a manual for ready reference}.
It’s a free-self-publishing project that wants to explain the the migrants journey to Europe and the complexity of the reception system. It includes an overall view on the data and papers published by reliable sources, historical focus, maps, infographics and five social design proposals for a better integration between migrants and locals.
Vadem&cum started as a collection of 32-page booklets published on Issuu and downloadable for free from the website. The booklets have been designed for being printed at home: they are already in A5 size, set for the print on eight A4 sheets (duplex) and for the fold in the right order.
Vadem&cum is also on Instagram and Facebook, for spreading the information through weekly graphic pills and for promoting projects of social integration; actually the publication of contents is finished due to reasons of time and lack of copy editing from experts.
The project is open source: everyone can contribute and propose new topics. For example, the sixth booklet (a comparison between UE operations in the Mediterranean Sea and the NGOs work) has been realised in collaboration with Valerio Moneta, a student who shared his Master Degree Thesis in European Studies at the University of Roma Tre.
Vadem&cum is addressed to the people that work in the field of immigration (volunteers, associations and cooperatives): the information are visualized in an easier way in comparison with the official reports. Students of middle and high school, people interested in foreign cultures and anyone who, like me at the beginning of this research, would like to go into the topic with more depth, are also a target of the project.
Cinzia Bongino is a strong-willed and workaholic graphic designer from Turin. Born in the 1994, she studied graphic design at the Albe Steiner High School and the Polytechnic of Turin, where she graduated with honors in Design and Visual Communication in March 2017. She lived for some months in Seville (Spain), for an internship program won thanks to a scholarship, and Düsseldorf (Germany) as Erasmus student. After collaborating with some design studios in Turin in the last year, she is now working as freelance designer, with the goal of starting a master’s degree in September.