When the DIGI-HR project team began looking for a visual identity that would convey digital inclusion and exclusion in Croatia, nobody expected the solution to come from a second-year master's student in sociology. And yet — on closer reflection — perhaps she was precisely the right person for the job.
Sonja Novak, from the Varaždin area, is not a graphic designer by profession. But a few weeks ago, she completed a four-month course in which she mastered three essential software packages used in the field. When project leader Assistant Professor Erik Brezovec, PhD, and team member Assistant Professor Ana Marija Dunaj, PhD, realised that their attempts to create a logo were not producing the desired result, Sonja offered to help. And the logo was born.
DIGI-HR — Dimensions of Digital Exclusion and Inclusion in the Republic of Croatia — is an institutional research project at the Faculty of Croatian Studies examining how and why certain social groups remain on the margins of the digital world. This is not simply a technical question of internet speed or device availability; underlying it are inequalities associated with age, education, place of residence and economic status.
Sonja knew the subject from the inside — as a sociologist training for research. When she sat down at her computer, she did not search the internet for a metaphor. She found it in the subject itself.
‘At the centre of the logo is the power symbol. Dashed lines symbolise weaker connections and restricted access, while solid lines represent better integration. I wanted the logo to convey the possibility of change,’ explains Sonja Novak, the logo's creator.
The result is a logo in which lines — some solid, some dashed — branch out from a central on/off switch, ending in small blue, green, black and grey circles. The visual language of a network, but also of its absence. A line drawn between those who are digitally included and those who are not — precisely what the project studies.
For Sonja, this involvement was not just a design challenge. It was also a personal step forward. She says she inherited her creativity from her grandmother and mother, but for a long time stayed within the boundaries of what felt ‘safe’. The catalyst was a university project — creating a visual identity for an imaginary company — which showed her that the gap between sociological thinking and visual expression might not be so wide after all.
She enrolled on a course. She worked through the challenges of online classes, exercises in software she had never used before and deadlines that piled up alongside her university modules and seminars. And she arrived at the logo that now accompanies the name of her faculty's research project.
‘For me, this project represents my first substantial independent step in creative work — the moment I broke the ice,’ says Sonja. She adds that choosing the research pathway in sociology has further shaped her approach to design:
‘Having chosen the research pathway in sociology, I believe that combining sociological knowledge with the skills acquired through graphic design training can help communicate messages to different audiences more clearly, accessibly and precisely.’
In future, she says, she would like to continue developing visual solutions that combine a sociological perspective with creative methods, and to participate in research projects linking an analytical understanding of society with innovative ways of presenting content. Because sometimes it is precisely this combination that data need to become visible — and understandable.
The project's official website is also expected to launch soon, bringing its aims and findings closer to the wider public.