Champion student designers

Lina Nader of the American University in Dubai won the top prize in two categories at the recent Student Design Awards

When graphic design student Lina Nader set about creating an Arabic font as part of her final year project at the American University in Dubai, she was looking for a typeface that would stand out.

Inspired by comic books and cartoon strips, she believed the catchy lettering seen in them, if transferred to Arabic comics, would add to their appeal. The result was Anawbas, which means ‘me and only me’.

The font won Lina first prize in the first Student Design Awards launched recently at the Gulf Pack and Gulf Print Exhibition 2004 held at the Airport Expo, Dubai. Her entry was among 76 entries submitted by students from seven colleges in the UAE.

“I wanted to use a font that, instead of being serene, evoked the rather provocative aspect of a comic,” says Lina.

“Arabic has a very limited set of fonts and generally the same font is used for both comics and other kind of books. So Arabic comics lack the bold, instantly catchy design that can add to the overall effect.” Lina created the font during her 10-week course in typography.

Five categories

Instituted to recognise and encourage design talent at local universities, the awards are given in five categories poster design, book design, corporate identity, font and packaging.

Lina stood first in the book design category too. Her double-sided catalogue created for a senior student exhibition won her the prize.

The catalogue, which listed the work of some visual communication and interior design students, was the “footprints” that these students were leaving before they entered the real, professional world.

It showed their work alongside a photograph of the artist/designer, their contact details, the kind of music they liked, and a favourite quote.

Another AUD graduate, Shubha Goenka, won in the corporate identity section. She set up the Bhasha Language Foundation of India, a fictitious organisation working to promote literacy in India.

Shubha created logos, posters, display stands and booklets in four Indian languages Marathi, Bengali, Gujarati and Tamil to spread the message of literacy. “The concept was meant to appeal to the illiterate while motivating the youth to promote understanding of these rich languages,” Shubha explains.

Tough to decide the best

“The calibre of the entries was excellent and the judges had a hard task identifying the best,” says Professor Maureen Wayman, vice chancellor and dean of the faculty of art and design at Manchester Metropolitan University, who headed the panel of judges.