Senior designer Shorook al-Fara designs QU’s graduation theme
Senior graphic designer at Qatar University (QU) has designed QU’s graduation theme for consecutive five years. Last year, the design concept for QU graduation was chosen as the main theme for the next five years.
Shorook graduated with a Bachelors of Fine Arts – Communication Design degree from Virginia Commonwealth University School of the Arts in Qatar (VCUarts Qatar), joined QU’s team of designers as senior graphic designer in 2012.
She has been working recently on QU’s upcoming graduation, among many other things.
Shorook said, “Last year, the design concept for QU graduation was established as the main theme for the next five years. I made the artwork last year, and it’s one of a few that I’m proud to call my own. “This isn’t the first time that QU’s graduation chosen concept was mine, but this is the first time that it has been chosen as the main theme for the next five consecutive years.”
About her strategies behind all her designs for QU, she said: “You must find a way to ensure that as a designer, you remain new and imaginative and do not fall into a pattern in your work.
“With this in mind, I’ve always attempted to draw inspiration from everything going around me, including art exhibitions, photography and reading. Reading alone, which is one of my favourite hobbies, I believe, opens you up to a world of limitless possibilities, where imagination comes naturally,” she added.
As a designer, Shorook believes it is important to stay informed about the design world, including all of the various styles and directions available.
She said, “Even if I work with a certain look and feel, it is still beneficial to look around and keep oneself reasonably up-todate with all new developments. Nevertheless, I’d like to emphasise that having a unique style that represents you as a designer is what distinguishes one designer from another, allowing you to develop your own identity and stand out in your field.”
Sharing her dreams, she said: “I’ve been working on writing and designing my own fictional novel, since I enjoy reading and designing. I’m hoping that one day I’ll feel confident enough to publish it, and that day I’ll be able to fulfil another childhood dream.”
While sharing her achievements at QU, she said: “One of my biggest achievements at QU, and to this day remains as my fondest memory is winning the ninth QS Apple – 2013 Best International Print Advertisement Bronze – Creative Award for an educational ad sponsored by Kyung Hee University. Shorook hopes that every designer gets to experience such a rush of excitement. “To work in one place for so long and to become part of its history is quite a special feeling. Walking in QU now, knowing most of the employees there and feeling as a family, only makes me grateful to have found a job that I love, and to be working in a field that I’m passionate about. QU has been an interesting and well-fitted part of my life, and working in the educational sector has been quite interesting and rewarding,” she said while sharing her sentiments on working at QU.