We just got back from the Tasmeem Doha (Hybrid Making) Conference yesterday and wow, what an adventure! After spending the weekend of March 16 and 17 focused on the dual themes of hybridization—in terms of interdisciplinarity or collaborative work—we headed back to a busy Art Week in Dubai (Design Days, Art Dubai, and more SIKKA!). Tasmeem Doha is an international art and design conference held biennially at VCUQatar, with exhibitions and...

A few weeks ago, amidst a whirlwind day at University, I was called to a press check for the multilingual children’s book I have been working on for over a year now. As you might imagine, it was very exciting to see the pages running through the huge press and to see the finalized work in full-color glory. If you’ve been keeping up with my research, this project emerged from...

[gallery columns="2" link="none" size="full" ids="7983,7985"] The AIGA design education conference titled “Geo/graphics” was a stimulating symposium held this December at the East-West Center of the University of Hawai’i Manoa in sun-drenched Honolulu (Hawaii, USA). Led by educators from around the globe, the conference encouraged rich discussion and debate on the theme of transnational design through panel debates and paper presentations. The conference aim was to provide international design educators, scholars, and practitioners...

The Crossing the Emirates Exhibition opened on May 29 at FN Design Studio (Unit 26, Al Serkal Avenue) in Al Quoz, Dubai. The Design Studio is pronounced fann or فن – the Arabic word for “the arts.” Not only was the space beautiful, but Wafa (the gallery owner) is an outstanding graphic designer and alumnae of Zayed University. Crossing the Emirates II explored a confluence of perceptions as emerging artists from...

The Women as Global Leaders Conference (WAGL 2012) celebrated the courage and creativity of socially responsible leaders and their capacity to leave a lasting legacy, impacting the sustainable future development of communities and organizations across the world. The conference presented a unique dialogue and exchange of ideas with some of the most prominent women leaders in the world today. Held in Abu Dhabi (from March 13-15), the conference theme, "Creating a Sustainable...

The 5th annual Typography Day Conference (TypoDay 2012) was organized at the Industrial Design Centre (IDC) at the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay. The conference allowed me to share research, network with typographers from across the globe and collect research on mother-tongue typography projects. Over a three day period, TypoDay 2012 addressed issues faced by type designers, type users, and type educators under the theme ‘Typography in Publication Design.' After a double-blind peer-review of...

During the Fall 2011 semester, I participated in a 5-day Arabic Typography Workshop led by the Khatt Foundation and held at Tashkeel (Dubai, UAE). As a group, we created a typeface full of unique letterforms and designed posters to highlight the outcomes. Each poster displayed a unique letterform, while also showcasing the full collaborative typeface in some way. Check out the fun variations below!  ...