Melis Sönmez is the founder and director of Bright Side, an online magazine dedicated to telling the stories of creative immigrants living in the United States. With her small team, composed of herself, a writing volunteer, a social media volunteer, and a design partner, she hopes to empower immigrants and educate American citizens about the obstacles that they must overcome to live in this country. She’s starting at the grassroots level with her newest project, titled “From Immigrants,” a series of cards featuring vibrant artwork and brief anecdotes from immigrants that Sönmez will leave in various public spaces across Chicago. She wants the people who pick up the cards to think of them as love letters from immigrants to the United States. Last month, Sönmez launched the “From Immigrants” project on Kickstarter to help spread the love letters beyond Chicago.
While the United States was the sixth country she’s lived in, she was ready to settle down in Chicago and build a life here. The company she worked for encouraged her to speak to an attorney, who suggested that she apply for a different visa, the extraordinary ability visa or EB-1A visa. Sönmez, a design reseacher by trade, applied and waited.
Torcal created the images for both the website and the “From Immigrants” project. Torcal’s style is very colorful and striking, which Sönmez loved and felt would fit well with her mission. Torcal also being an immigrant made her a perfect fit for Bright Side.
