QF graphic design senior’s winning works examining topics of identity, and the pandemic, impress international jury.

A Virginia Commonwealth University School of the Arts in Qatar (VCUarts Qatar) – a Qatar Foundation partner university – graphic design student’s artworks have been recognized by the 100/100 Hundred Best Arabic Posters competition, held by the German University in Cairo.

Shima Aeinehdar’s posters, titled ‘Khaneh’ and ‘Omid’, were chosen from posters submitted from across the world, to be included in the list of the top 100 Arabic posters.

"As a growing designer and artist, it is very exciting for me to have my work recognized internationally by globally renowned Arabic type designers who were on the jury,” Aeinehdar said. 

The VCUarts Qatar senior says that her posters touch upon the question of identity, and human response to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

“‘Khaneh’ means home in Persian, and is a visual exploration showing the uncertainty of what home could mean to third culture kids, while ‘Omid’ is an animated piece that visualizes the designer’s overwhelming, yet hopeful experience during the COVID-19 pandemic,” she explained.

100/100 Hundred Best Arabic Posters is a competition that honors the best 100 Arabic posters worldwide. It aims at documenting the Arab world’s visual culture through selecting and highlighting the best Arabic posters of the region. The competition is free, and any designer from the Arab region can participate. The initiative embraces diversity: the diverse identity of the Arabic region, the different cultural backgrounds of designers, and the multiplicity of themes that are explored.

This year’s jury members included Jana Traboulsi, Artist and Designer, Lebanon, and Director of the Graphic and Digital Design program ESAV, Marrakech; Wael Morcos, graphic and type designer, Lebanon, and partner at the Design Studio ‘Morcos Key’, Brooklyn; Möbius: Hala Al-Ani, Hadeyeh Badri & Riem Hassan, Graphic Design Studio, UAE; Mohammed Shennawy, painter and designer from Egypt, and co-founder of Tok Tok magazine, Ninth Art Foundation and Cairo Comics festival; and Mohammad Sharaf, designer and Director of ‘Sharaf Studio’, Kuwait. 

To view Aeinehdar’s winning posters, as well as learn more about other winners and the competition, please visit http://www.100bap.com/, and the Instagram handle @100bestarabicposters.