Beyond the Veil of Heritage

This series of 4 posters titled ‘Beyond the Veil of Heritage’ revolve around arabic girls through a mixed media collage of photography, watercolour subjects, and graphic design. The girls in the photos are my own friends, their specific poses are captured in their daily life and visually represents the contrast in their modern day world and their culture and heritage. This series of posters was a continuation of my traditional arabic coffee brand design project that extends the shop’s interior design as posters or elements in the menu focusing on a women welcome space. The series is presented in order, a story that comes along with how Arabic culture slowly progresses to the new age of muslim women: the way they express their wardrobe and how they preserve their culture while also introducing their own identity separate from the heritage of their ancestors. Each subject has their own focal point, a section of their figure cut to match with a filtered photograph. This highlighted section emphasises aspects that point out what I wish for the audience to notice, that is, as the series progresses what focus should be stood so that it introduces the expression and representation of new identity of the modern day. Paired with that, the elements I use in each section have mixed together arabic patterns, textures, shapes along with more simplified and modern shapes that still in its own way retain the essence of arabian design. The 8 pointed star, subtly integrated in my pieces, is an Islamic geometric pattern that symbolises unity and harmony, but I reinterpreted the shape so it matches the style of modern graphic design. Furthermore, I added existing elements from my project into my work, photographing and scanning architectural patterns in Arabic buildings and furniture, as well as Murals and culturally significant structures I had the chance to view across living in Abu Dhabi. My overall design inspiration is from David Carson. I originally looked at his line of work and style of design integrated in my project, but I figured this project would extend my understanding of his style. His motif of not designing off the traditional grid-based structure reflects in my poster series as modern day arabic women have progressed to break from the outdated representations of women: how they are able to express, laugh, work, make decisions on their own now compared to being of traditional value as men’s possessions. Finally, the letters I used are misaligned and structured progressively. The letters itself in Arabic, says my brand name “كرم” :Karam, which means hospitality. The name I chose is significant to the tradition of welcoming and hospitable people from the Middle East, hoping to introduce this culture to others in the UAE. In English, I have also used the letters of “Karam” as well as “Qahwa” which means coffee. The letter placement echoes Carson’s style, combining his conveyance of breaking a certain grid rule in design to how modern arabic women are able to break from the traditional systems that they should be accustomed to.