JEDDAH, 16 February 2007 — Dar Al-Hekma’s mid-year graphic design exhibition last week presented an array of colorful and unique examples of the work of 11 final-year graduating female students and also other first and second year students at the private Jeddah college.

The 11 students, who graduated this semester with bachelor degrees in graphic design, had been handed the task of developing projects consisting of the application of the skills and talents that they had learned during their study.

Each project was displayed at a stand with students on hand ready to answer visitors’ questions and explain their work to people. The exhibition consisted of a mixture of photographs, paintings, newly designed logos for restaurants and hotels, magazine designs and advertisement campaigns.

Al-Aliaa Al-Masoud redesigned the logo of the Muntazah Al-Nakheel restaurant in Jeddah. On display at her stand was the new logo, which she had also placed on letterheads, envelopes, napkins, sugar packs and visiting cards. Al-Masoud said she intends to show the logo to the restaurant once she has finished exhibiting her work.

“We had to create a new identity for a new imaginary project and design a logo for it,” she said referring to her second project — the design of an imaginary hotel in Makkah located in front of the Grand Mosque catering for pilgrims.

“I called it ‘Dhiyaf’ and designed a case to keep your slippers in when one enters the Grand Mosque in addition to a prayer carpet,” she said. The prayer mat was of black velvet decorated with shiny golden strings resembling the cover of the Holy Kaaba.

Al-Masoud also designed the layout for an English-language magazine. On display was the cover and various pages from inside. The magazine was designed in a funky style appealing to male and female teenage readership.

Other students created innovative designs using eye-catching techniques to be used in awareness campaigns. Haneen Redwan designed an anti-smoking awareness poster aimed at discouraging smoking. The poster was divided into two parts. On both sides were pictures of lungs. On one side the lungs were clear, while on the other side the lungs were filled with used cigarettes. Below the picture, Redwan had included statistics about the number of people that die from smoking-related illnesses.

As graphic designing is an important element in designing advertisement posters, the graduates were asked to design posters for different brands. Some of the students designed adverts for mobile phones while others chose to design posters for clothing brands and shampoos.

“We have to advertise in three different ways,” said Noora Anan, explaining that the first is the direct way of advertising — as the onlooker reads the advert she understands what the product is and what it is used for. The second way is to use the image of a celebrity to market the product. The third way is to use drama and play on people’s feelings and sympathy such as using the image of poor people. “I used various ways to advertise an iPod, Nokia phones and the Benetton fashion brand,” said Anan.

Aside from the work of final-year students, second-year and freshman students had also been given the opportunity to display the projects they had worked on during their respective courses. There was a photography exhibition where students had displayed photos that varied from black and white ones to color portraits.

On display were projects consisting of the redesign of packaging for different products including juice cartons, shampoos and take-away bags for restaurants.

Ludmila Armata, acting director of the graphic design program at Dar Al-Hekma, thought that the exhibition was one of the best in years. “The girls are getting there,” she said, adding that she had created a committee for the exhibition that included instructors to decide the theme of senior projects.

“The work I see today is very impressive and I hope visitors to the exhibition think the same thing too. I really liked the work created in the production and packaging classes,” she added.

She said the department’s mission was to prove that women are active and creative in the design field. Some companies approached the director of the department looking for prospective designers to work for them. “I’m surprised at the massive need there is for graphic designers,” she said.

Ziad Jarrar, the managing director of the Promoseven advertising firm, described what he saw as world-class competition. “The projects are fantastic and the standards really high,” he said, adding that not only are designers graduating from Dar Al-Hekma but there are graduates who could be described as advertising people with capabilities in design.

This is not the first time that Jarrar has visited Dar Al-Hekma exhibitions. Previously, he hired two Dar Al-Hekma alumni who are now working at his advertising agency. “I am here to search for fresh talent, something which a lot of them have. It is not a matter of vacancies where I work,” he said.

About the future of women graphic designers, he said that women are doing great in that field and it is a shame that there are not a lot of men in the field. This is especially the case since there are no graphic design colleges catering for men. “It is the first time that women have actually excelled in an industry that is not available to men,” he said.