Illustration, art direction, and editorial design for The Caregiver, a quarterly publication presenting the stories that matter to caregivers and early childhood educators.

Skills in use Collaborators

Illustration                                     M. Kristjansson:
Art direction                                 Communications Director
Design                                          C. Parker:
Project management              Staff Writer

Since 2013, The Caregiver has been providing a way for California’s care workers to stay attuned to the state of affairs within In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS) and child care communities. The publication compiles key stories happening at local, state, and national levels, with exclusive updates on legislation and collective bargaining.

When I took over the design in 2019, I took a more illustrative approach to support the written content, which has been especially useful during the pandemic. Previously, the publication relied heavily on photography, but as our ability to take new photos came to a halt under COVID-19 safety measures, I had to find new ways to represent ideas and create emotionally compelling designs. We wanted The Caregiver to be a source of hope and inspiration in otherwise uncertain times—illustrations helped us achieve that goal.

Because The Caregiver serves to tell stories that will resonate with UDW’s membership base, hearing directly from members is incredibly important. In addition to the design and illustration, I organize and facilitate a quarterly meeting with a coalition of caregivers who give input on what kinds of stories they’d like to see printed in each issue. Caregivers’ sentiments also guide the direction that the visual design takes.

Raising up IHSS

UDW represents caregivers in over 30 California counties — and each of those counties has its own UDW bargaining committee that negotiates IHSS wages and benefits with the local board of supervisors. This issue gave a comprehensive update on bargaining fights in each county and highlighted the member activists who are working hard to win a living wage for caregivers throughout the state. I wanted to create a cover that evokes a feeling of power and solidarity while celebrating UDW’s majority-Latina membership base.

Care Wins

At the beginning of the pandemic, California Governor Gavin Newsom announced that IHSS and subsidized child care would be facing significant cuts in the state budget. UDW members organized against the cuts and won. For this issue, I wanted to capture the unique virtual nature of this campaign. Our typical lobby visits were replaced with zoom calls with legislators and our protests replaced with socially distanced outdoor organizing meetings. These efforts, stitched together by workers from all over the state, came together in a digital collage.

Our Union, Our Future

After a year of life in the pandemic, UDW members are seeing signs of a brighter future. Caregivers and child care providers have received new levels of support and recognition for their transformative work and UDW is pursuing new goals like winning retirement security, state-level collective bargaining, and comprehensive health insurance for care workers. For this issue of The Caregiver, I wanted to convey a sense of togetherness in spite of the physical distance separating us. I referenced photos of UDW care workers to create these illustrations, in joyful yet grounded colors.

Are you leaving
money on the table?

Each year, millions of dollars in state benefits go unclaimed. Our team used this issue to compile information about the different resources that are available for IHSS and child care providers, from tax credits to programs that help families save for disability-related expenses without jeopardizing benefits like SSI and Medicaid. I aimed to create a cover with visual interest and a sense of urgency that would compel our audience to read on. I accompanied the resource guide on the interior with illustrations in a similar style.

Care Workers
are the Future

We printed this issue in November, which UDW devotes to celebrating Home Care Provider Appreciation Month. In past years, UDW held banquets throughout California to honor IHSS caregivers. Naturally, 2020 looked different. Because we couldn’t gather in person, we wanted to find a way to express warmth and appreciation with the visual collateral. Using bright, contrasting colors and echoing the “future is in our hands” subtitle through illustration, I created a fun, hopeful brand for this year’s celebrations. Visual motifs from the cover found additional use in a social media campaign that amplified the stories of caregivers and their clients.