#1day1news1picture

Graphic designer shows support for Meduza by turning headlines into colorful works of art

It’s been seven months since Meduza was blacklisted as a “foreign agent” and we’re still going strong 💪🏻 — thanks to the support of our wonderful readers, who continue to donate money, buy merch, and call for the repeal of Russia’s draconian “foreign agent” legislation. Thank you all so much!

We’d like to extend a special thanks to Moscow-based graphic designer Alexander Vasin, who, for the past four months, has expressed support for Meduza in his own special way — by taking on a “one day — one news story — one picture” challenge of his own invention. Vasin has been turning the headlines from Meduza articles into striking illustrations, published on his Instagram account under the hashtag #1day1news1picture.

The very first illustration in the series, published on July 29, was based on the headline of a Meduza story about ladybugs swarming a beach in Russia’s southern Krasnodar Krai.

Since then, Vasin has published more than 100 illustrations as part of the challenge. Here are some of our favorites.

Here’s what Alexander Vasin had to say about his artistic endeavor:

“I decided to support Meduza because the newsroom asked for help. I thought: if Meduza suddenly needs illustration, I can draw them for free. This wasn’t really needed, but I was already set on it, and the project became my personal challenge. In principle, I could illustrate any article — but I take the news that excites me the most, [the news] about which I have something to say. So as not to just ‘depict’ what’s written in the headline, but to somehow rethink [it] graphically, to express an opinion. One illustration takes about an hour. […] I’m not going to end the challenge yet: I’ll draw so long as I enjoy it. But the planning horizon in our country is extremely small, so there’s no point in making any predictions.”