Cradlr: A Design Project for Refugee Children

The growing global refugee crisis in the recent decade has reached a staggering height—in nearly 80 million displaced people, 26 million are registered refugees—and over half of the refugees are under the age of 18. The phenomenon of displaced people has existed since the dawn of human civilizations caused by wars, famines, mass migrations, pandemics, climate change, political persecutions, natural disasters, and more. In these calamities, children have been the first victims of conflict and displacement experiences. As of today, no digital platforms have yet been built for displaced children—a vulnerable population who doesn’t have cell phones. Inspired by the Mothers’ Movement in China—a women’s movement rescued and educated 30,000 refugee children—and European countries during World War II, the Cradlr project was created in the hope of developing not only a digital tool but a vision for a global network that might help displaced children to overcome many adversities in life and receive more love and brighter futures. After examining historical evidence and current situations, this project goes beyond the realms of digital product design in an attempt to find a humanitarian solution for a complex social challenge. The final product embraces the connection and communication among the displaced children, their families and temporary guardians, education affiliations, international and regional organizations, as well as volunteers and donors. The stories and personal data of displaced children accumulated by adults are stored and protected by the Cradlr Network Database, which becomes a collective digital memory. Cradlr offers a blueprint whose purpose is to serve as a possible testing ground envisioning a digital network system that transcends political boundaries so that various parties can connect to rescue and nurture young lives collectively on a global scale.

Jiang Jian website

The Jiang Jian website is the first visual presentation of a growing project that touches on multiple fields of studies such as history, women’s movement, storytelling, information design, visual narrative, interaction design, and web development. This project unveils the forgotten story of an extraordinary woman Jiang Jian (蒋鉴)—the “Chinese Nightingale,” “Mother of Wounded Warriors,” and “Mother of Refugee Children”—who passed away at age 38 during the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945). Through her evocative story, the project sheds light upon the Mothers’ Movement in China, a major achievement of the Chinese Women’s Movement in the first half of the 20th century. 

Jiang was from an affluent family. Instead of living a comfortable life, she became a nurse, educator, activist, and philanthropist during the war. She volunteered to serve the wounded warriors in military hospitals and established a refugee school for children. In addition to actively engaging in community development and charity programs, she set up a local Women’s Association. After years of assiduous work, she dedicated her life entirely for the wounded warriors and refugee children in wartime. Meanwhile, from 1938 to 1946, 30,000 refugee children were saved and educated in over 60 Relief Schools throughout China, Hong Kong, and Southeast Asia organized by the Chinese Wartime Refugee Children’s Relief and Education Association (中国战时儿童保育会) supported mainly by donations. After WWII, unfortunately, the Chinese Mothers’ Movement has been overlooked and their voices attenuated due to the Chinese Civil War followed by decades of political turmoil and unrest. As of today, no studies in English are hitherto available. This project was initiated to share the story of Jiang Jian—a heroine of the Chinese Mothers’ Movement, which would deepen our understanding of common human experiences and stimulate social change for generations to come.

20/20 Vision, 20/20 Thinking

Part of the Backward Waves Social and Environmental Poster Series

This poster resembles an eye chart and sends a clear message. We need to look for facts, search for reasons, and think independently. This way we won’t be deceived by fake news and rumors. These carefully selected words postulate a pair of opposites separated by a red line that leads the viewer’s eye to see the red numbers 20/20, indicating perfect vision.

Born in China, Jing Zhou is an interdisciplinary artist, designer, researcher, and professor in USA. She works at the intersection of visual communication design, interactive media, data visualization, and animation/video. Her award winning work has been shown and collected internationally including: Triennale Design Museum, Milan; British Computer Society, London; Asian Cultural Center, New York City; SIGGRAPH Art Gallery; ISEA; IEEE GEM; CAA; Ars Electronica .ART Global Gallery; Les Abattoirs Museum, France; Mons Memorial Museum, Belgium; Royal Institution of Australia; ASCI, New York Hall of Science; Santo Domingo Museum, Lima; Golden Turtle Festival, Russia; Athens Digital Art Festival, Greece;  Danish Poster Museum; GAMeC Modern and Contemporary Art Gallery, Italy; Taksim Republic Art Gallery, Istanbul; FILE, Sao Paulo; Sardinia Film Festival, Italy; Visual Information Design Assn. of Korea; Goethe Institute Alexandria, Egypt; Yale University; Brown University; Aalto University Design Factory, Finland; ArtCenter College of Design; Newark Museum of Art; Hungarian Electrographic Art Assn., Budapest; PX3 Prix de la Photographie Paris Awards; International Photography Awards; public collection of the WRO Media Art Center, Poland; Waikato Museum, New Zealand; Moravian Gallery in Brno, Czech Republic; The 4th Block Museum in Kharkiv, Ukraine; SDAI Museum of the Living Artist, San Diego; and Chinese Culture Center of San Francisco. Numerous books and magazines such as Photo Techniques, NMEDIAC, and Computer Graphics World have published her work. Ms. Zhou received the Creative Work Award of the 2020 Design Incubation Communication Design Educators Awards, the UX Design Award of the 2021 Peru Design Biennial, and many more in the US, Europe, and Asia. [jingzhoustudio.net]