Open Studio Brings Graphic Design to Life

Hania Wahsh 

Twitter Handle: @hania_wahsh99

Photographer: Omar Awad

The fourth edition of the Open Studio exhibition at the Sharjah Art Gallery is currently showcasing several semesters worth of diverse digital and analog works from Graphic Design students.

The open studio format aims to provide an in-depth understanding of the program’s educational vision for graphic design projects by highlighting the challenges overcome and progress the students have made in their four-year academic journey.

The exhibit, which ends on March 9, includes posters, calendars, stamp designs, digital presentations, and new font ideas produced by graphic design students. One common theme which ran throughout the exhibit was the capture of Egyptian culture as portrayed through various materials, mediums, and concepts. 

For Nour El-Sheikh, an AUC student intending to major in Graphic Design, it was the calendar designed in Egyptian motif which stole the show.

“I loved how the exhibition was placed and how they incorporated both digital and actual materials to display the work,” she said.

Associate Professor of Practice and the Curator of the open studio Ghalia El-Srakbi told The Caravan that the exhibition is a celebration of students creativity.

“It’s a way to tell them what they’re doing is good and that even small projects can be showcased in events,” El-Srakbi said.

She added that high school students can visit the exhibition to learn how to apply to study graphic design at AUC and meet with the design faculty.

In that way, prospective graphic design students get their first glimpse of what you expect in the major. 

“This exhibition shows what challenges they’re going to face in the upcoming classes and how the expectations develop from one course to the other as they advance in the Graphic Design major,” said Assistant Professor of Design History and Theory Brenda Segone.