Offshore Studio's Christoph Miler reveals the ideas behind Migrant Journal

Zurich-based graphic design studio Offshore is one of It’s Nice That’s Ones to Watch 2018 and with good reason. Founders Christoph Miler and Isabel Seiffert are behind the design of Migrant Journal, for which the duo created a bespoke typeface and visually arresting design. Politically conscious, sensitive and striking all at the same time, it sums up the designers’ capability way beyond their years.

In his talk, Christoph spoke about the beginnings of the magazine during the height of the migrant crisis, wherein the studio wanted to rethink the word migrant and migration. “We wanted to show that migration has, of course, to do with the movement of people, but also goods, information, money, even plants and landscapes, and how all these different aspects interconnect with each other.”

The first came out in 2016 and focused on the countryside and the movement of borders. The most recent, the fourth, titled Dark Matter, is about the invisible and illegal aspects of migration. One feature Christoph shows is a photo essay by Javier Corso, documenting the petrol smuggling trade between Nigeria and Benin. “In Benin you only have six gas stations, run by the state, and only two work, and it’s super expensive, so people go to Nigeria and smuggle it back on motorbikes in bottles, which is really dangerous.” This kind of reportage is how the magazine aims to tell the human stories behind the politics of migration as a whole.