AUK holds 10th Annual Capstone Exhibition
Expo offers students opportunity to display their creative work
KUWAIT CITY, June 20: The Art & Graphic Design Department at the American University of Kuwait (AUK) concluded its 10th Annual Graphic Design Capstone Exhibition which took place from May 21st until June 1st at the Promenade Cultural Center at The Promenade Mall in Hawalli. The exhibition offered senior students an opportunity to display their creative work, which covered to a range of topics that included social and cultural awareness, corporate identity and entrepreneurship, to experts from the industry and the public.
Under the supervision of graphic design professors, Maryam Hosseinnia and Marcella Kulchitsky, participating students researched the topics of their choice and used graphic design as the medium to address their topics to target their audiences. The projects were then evaluated by the industry experts based on their creativity and presentation, their ability to conduct and use graphic design research strategy effectively, and their ability to plan and implement a compelling graphic design display.
Showcases
Hosseinnia explained that the Graphic Design Capstone Exhibition showcases the accumulation of all the learning outcomes rooted in the course offerings in the Graphic Design curriculum. “When students enter in the Art & Graphic Design program, often, they are quiet or shy. By the time they reach to capstone, they gained a personal voice and able to visually communicate through text and image, and they have a strong sense of critical thinking about their environment and their role as designers. As educators, our aim is to teach them about the importance of principles in design, to make them aware that through good design they can bring change within their small community and at large. They] the participating students [have a clear sense of purpose and direction as citizens of this community to advance further in their studies or professional practice,” she said.
Held on an annual basis, the Graphic Design Capstone Exhibition brings together visitors from the field of graphic design, including experts from graphic design studios, publishing houses, film and video production companies, advertising, and multimedia firms. Richard Halabi, Creative Director of Horizon FOB Kuwait, who has been serving as exhibition jury since 2014, found this year’s exhibition exceptional in many ways. “I have served as a jury since 2014 and with each year the students were getting better but this year they were exceptional in executing the concepts, ideas, presentations and designs. Also, I found that the idea of moving the exhibition out of campus to a gallery gave me the feeling as if I was in a design exhibition and not a capstone,” he explained.
“With this year’s Graphic Design Capstone Exhibition, we are celebrating a few extra things at AUK. First this is our largest graduating class, also, it’s the tenth year graphic design is a degree program at AUK and finally, this is our first Graphic Design Capstone Exhibition being held off campus at our own alumnus’ beautiful art gallery, the Promenade Cultural Center. We have a lot to celebrate along with the senior design students’ final projects that demonstrate their wide ranging skills and creative abilities. At the opening event, students were already receiving job offers! Can’t get much better than this!” Kulchitsky expressed.
AUK’s Graphic Design Capstone Exhibition presents an opportunity for senior students to fully incorporate their design strengths and learning into a focused, extended, process of research and visual expression.
Advocate
Senior student Fajer Al Fadalah, who created the “Voice of Women” campaign concept, explained that her project was an effort to advocate for gender equality in Kuwait. Al Fadalah remarked that the process of working on her project helped her evolve on the personal level. “Throughout my project, I did a lot of research and I met with a lot of people inside and outside of Kuwait. The experience has educated me a lot and made me stronger as a woman,” she said.
Senior student Nada Al Kharashi, developed a project concept called “Ta3reeb” (ta’rib: Arabization), which was based on her observation that the GCC region lacks on Arabic type design. “In working on previous projects, it was very challenging for me to find Arabic fonts that were elegantly developed, so I decided to come up with a new Arabic font, inspired by the Gulf region,” she said.
The American University of Kuwait (AUK) is an independent, private, equal opportunity, and co-educational liberal arts institution of higher education. The educational, cultural and administrative structure, methods and standards of AUK are based on the American model of higher learning. The language of instruction is English. More information on the American University of Kuwait can be found at www.auk.edu.kw.