Al Sorayai Trading and Industrial Group announced recently the winning designs of the 1st Creative Design Competition. The results were announced in a ceremony held at Home Style-Aya Mall in Jeddah.

Al Sorayai invited Saudi female contestants to illustrate, in text, their vision of Arabic writing. The theme of the contest was “Arab Calligraphy —Our Heritage.”

Saleh Nasser Al Sorayai who serves as Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of Al Sorayai Trading and Industrial Group said: “The competition aims to give a chance to Saudi female artists to show their talents and ability with the Arabic letters and at the same time to encourage and support the development of Arabic typography and to detect and publish new and original trends in Arabic type design.”

He added that next year’s competition will have many surprises for young Saudi artists. “I am very happy to see such creative and talented girls and the awards included many cash prizes, awards and certificates.”

He announced that this year, 3,000 calligraphers participated with art works in different categories of Arabic calligraphy known in the Islamic world. Contestants come from all over the Kingdom.

The competition has 3 categories: Text, display, and calligraphic. The text category is reserved for text faces, the display category for designs intended for larger sizes, and the calligraphic category is intended for designs based on calligraphic models. The jury is composed of renowned calligraphers, type designers, and academics who have each offered a great contribution to the development of Arabic typography.

The three finalists were Bayan Barbood who won the first prize and received a check of SR20,000, Arwa Shafiaa who grabbed the 2nd price of SR15,000 and Bashaaer Ba Hassan who came in third and received SR10,000.