Spreading awareness: One postcard at a time

Zahar Al-Sayed, a 21-year-old senior graphic designer studying at Dar Al-Hekma College in Jeddah, designed unique postcards to help spread awareness about breast cancer for her college project.
The story behind the inspiring postcards, started in February 2012, with a college project engaging the students to be creative and socially aware. The graphic design students were requested to choose a cause and couple it with a product, to create posters for the product, in theme with the cause chosen. Al-Sayed chose breast cancer awareness and decided she wanted to connect her cause with a renowned local brand run by an inspiring woman. As such, Al-Sayed contacted the owner of Pink Camel, Mayada Bader, who immediately loved the idea and accepted the collaboration offer. According to Al-Sayed, “ Mayada provided me with all the information I needed concerning the character of her bakery boutique, and even invited me to visit the Pink Camel store, to gain better insight on the store’s ambiance and personality”.
Al-Sayed presented four poignant themes, symbolized in simple photography. One of the posters is a photograph of a Pink Camel macron representing the pink ribbon of cancer awareness. The other poster juxtaposes two Pink Camel macrons, featuring a healthy looking macron near a stale and crumbly macron. The two other posters are motivational, with one conveying boxing gloves to signal strength and a battling spirit, whilst the last poster projects the image of a pink wig, with a caption reading “too sexy for my hair”.
“When I showed Mayada the posters she was very happy with them, and I was pleasantly surprised when she actually posted and framed the posters in her shop during the first week of October, which coincides with Cancer Awareness month,” said Al-Sayed.
As such, a simple college project successfully inspired hope and awareness, and motivated Bader and Al-Sayed to expand their project from merely displaying the cancer awareness posters at Pink Camel boutique, to also printing the imagery of the posters on postcards. The two collaborators aim to encourage women to check themselves regularly and for the community at large to donate and spread awareness about breast cancer.
Al-Sayed also designed a poster for Pink Camel on the occasion of the Saudi National Day, combining her love for design with her passion for baking. “Bader inspired me, and I consider her one of my role models, as she was able to excel in what she loves and set a great example for young Saudi women,” she said. Furthermore, Al-Sayed added “It would be a great honor for me to collaborate again with Pink Camel in the future, as the experience was pleasurable and enlightening”.
Al-Sayed’s postcards are now being sold at Pink Camel, with proceeds from their sale going to the Riyadh-based Zahra Breast Cancer Association.

E-mail: [email protected]