First digital design show expresses students’ vision

Twenty-two female digital design students at the premier Dar Al Uloom University’s College of Architecture and Digital Design mounted the first ever show of its kind in the Kingdom’s capital city from Tuesday to Thursday last week.
“We are happy beyond words about the works on display. It should reflect, as it were, the kind of academic training which the students have received in college,” said Nada Abdulaziz Al Nafea, vice dean at the College of Architectural Engineering and Digital Design. She holds a doctoral degree in architecture.
It’s not also farfetched to say that their output, she added, reflects the bright future awaiting them in their careers after graduation. From this early on, the students are ready to hold down jobs, handing out their business cards to the legions of visitors who had attended the show saying, “We are ready to put into practice what we have learned from our mentors.”
Called the “Bedayah Exhibition”, the three-day show projected the budding career of students whose euphoria over the exhibition was complemented by countless hours of hard work. With disarming ways, they convinced sponsors AWJ, Al Mabani and Dar Al Uloom University to bankroll their dream project so that it comes true.
The exhibition’s logo, designed by Fatima Al-Dawood, one of the students, immediately caught the attention of visitors, promising them that what they were about to see was, as it were, a unique experience. “I am very pleased with the compliments from the visitors,” she said.
Another student, Alanoud Al Sudairy, added: "Bedayah is not just an exhibition, it’s an opportunity to share our vision with the people surrounding us. It’s a medium for us to unleash the flowering of our creativity. It’s a collective effort. My colleagues and I joined forces and built our empire so to speak, from scratch. And as any of my colleagues would tell you, it would not have been possible without the involvement of anyone of us.”
Bedayah means beginning, which is expressive of the fact that the students were to begin their career soon after graduation. Some of them will graduate in June next year.
Their mentor, Reem Al Duwaisi, also expressed happiness over the exhibition, saying that the hard work and long hours which the students had spent in the preparation of the show since the semester began in September had paid off.
She said the students’ aim in mounting the show was to design and organize an exhibition for the three departments in the college: interior design, digital design and architecture.
She added that the students “really did their best in spite of having encountered problems and difficulties. These only inspired them to work harder until they had the materials they needed to hold the exhibition,” said Al Duwaisi, who holds a master's degree in graphic design from the University of Houston-Clear Lake in the United States.
“The designs are excellent as far as I am concerned. These students are good at expressing their ideas,” said Tala Al-Shawwa, a college instructor of law at the university.
The law instructor who attended Jordan University was all praise for the works on display, suggesting that the students have a bright future as graphic designers.
For the show, the students were divided into three groups: Team A for interior design, Team B for architecture and Team C for graphic design. Team A was headed by Hala Alkhorayef, Team B by Noura Al Saud and Team C by Deema Wali. Team A had eight members, Team B five and Team C nine.
Deema Wali said: “We really worked hard since the beginning of the semester last September for the exhibition. There was much to do and worry about. But I am proud of what we’ve accomplished. The exhibition has been a wonderful experience and it has given us the idea that we could be better later in our career.”
“The exhibition has been a defining moment for us as students,” she added.
Team A leader Hala Al-Khorayef also expressed satisfaction, saying that they had worked very hard. “I am really proud of what we’ve achieved. I and my team worked very hard throughout the semester to prepare for the exhibition.”