Livery project for EMERGENCY’s search and rescue vessel, Life Support

Designing the face of this ship meant showing the dream it represents. Therefore, we wanted the phrase of Gino Strada, surgeon and founder of EMERGENCY, on the bulwarks:

“Rights belong to everyone, otherwise call them privileges”

These words sum up the utopia of this project; the idea that rescuing migrants at sea is simply the only right thing to do. After all, numbers leave no alibi; from 2014 to today (according to IOM the International Organization for Migration) there are over 20,000 people who have died or disappeared in the central Mediterranean, over 1,300 in 2022.

Our work wanted to help give a concrete answer to this drama by making available the experience gained in the field of spatial graphics and emergency design by operating on two levels in the design of the ship’s livery: the symbolic and the functional one.

From a symbolic point of view, transforming the ship into an object that communicates through the messages printed on the bulwarks and the use of the word EMERGENCY as a symbolic reference.

From a functional point of view, through the study of the visibility of the ship in emergency identification; as well as a support to clarify the paths that the survivors will have to take on board once rescued to reach the clinics, on the main deck, or to reach the observation areas, in the open-air reception area.

Designing the LIFE SUPPORT livery meant giving substance to a utopia by working on a strong integration between functional and visual aspects.