‘ICOON for refugees’ is a free picture dictionary and android app, an adaptation of the ICOON picture dictionaries for tourists by German publisher Amberpress. Both the book and the app are designed especially for the needs of refugees and help them make themselves understood quickly in every possible situation.
In the summer of 2015 Amberpress received an increasing number of enquiries from aid organisations, asking if they could use their ICOON books, invented by Berlin-based designer Gosia Warrink, and distribute them for free to refugees. The small publisher wasn’t able to absorb the cost of printing for the large number of books that were urgently required.
As a solution ‘ICOON for refugees’ was made, a non-profit picture dictionary and app, created in cooperation with with aid organisations, like the German Red Cross. It contains concise symbols and photos as well as useful phrases in the most important languages. The book is divided into intuitive categories such as clothing, hygiene, health, food, and transportation that help refugees find the right description for their problem quickly so all they have to do is point at a picture to make themselves understood.
The app can be downloaded for free, while production costs for the printed version is kept as low as 1 euro per book. A crowdfunding campaign provided the necessary funds for 30.000 books. Donations through the ICOON for refugees site make printing of additional books possible. A second edition is forseen for February 2016.
Amberpress states: ‘Our vision is to empower the refugees that are on the move to find what they need and get a clearer picture of their situation by offering them a useful communication tool. Our ultimate goal is to contribute to better integration of those on the move. And integration begins with language.’
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