Identity illustration and poster design for Homeless in Budapest

Mission: expose Hungary’s homelessness crisis through posters, photography, and interviews, telling the stories of those failed by the government. I was in Budapest during ‘kvótanépszavazás’, the referendum which dictated Hungary’s stance on whether the EU could set quotas on the resettlement of non-Hungarian citizens into Hungary following the European refugee crisis in 2015. One of the ways Prime Minister Viktor Orbán cast a criminalized light on refugees and the wider homeless population was through ‘Tudta?’ (‘Did you know?’) posters, touting xenophobic anti-immigrant messaging. The goal of ‘Homeless in Budapest’ was to counter these inhumane notions by giving a voice to those targeted by Orbán’s hateful campaign, quashing assumptions and dismantling stereotypes. I drew an electrocardiogram (heart rate chart) merging into the recognizable outline of the Hungarian Parliament Building, symbolizing the lifeline our work — and the work of other movements, like Budapest Bike Maffia — provided for people in need. With the help of some incredible translators, I designed a series of stickers and posters mimicking Orbán’s harmful ‘Tudta?’ billboards, featuring messages like ‘Did you know? Homeless people are human’ in English and Hungarian. Simple but effective. As well as raising awareness of Budapest’s problems with homeless people and refugees, we organized a number of donation drives. I designed posters promoting the events, and we spent a week spreading them throughout the city.