Virginia Commonwealth University in Qatar alumna Amal Ameen al-Mehain, presently Barwa Media’s acting art director, will present awards to VCUQatar alumni working at Barwa Media, during ‘Alumni Injaz (Arabic for achievement) Night’ on November 15.
Al-Mehain, the force behind taking Barwa Media from a subsidiary to a full-profit centre for Barwa, has in her three years, crafted a list of accomplishments that have been instrumental in getting Qatari advertising and design global exposure.
Graduating with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Interior Design from VCUQatar, al-Mehain started her own design company Pexils and joined Barwa shortly thereafter.
She is currently the focal point between the Design department and the other departments at Barwa. Her job entails meeting new clients and getting them on board, briefing the team, making sure work flow is smooth and approving the same before it is presented to clients.
“Working for Barwa has been a great opportunity as I had the chance to start a department from scratch and build it up to where we are right now – a full design team capable of delivering all design services professionally and efficiently,” al-Mehain stated.
The projects she and her team have delivered for clients reiterate this feat. They include the International Furniture and Design Exhibition and Qatar Real Estate Exhibition booth designs, creating an identity for Qatari rally driver Nasser al-Attiyah, projects for multi-utility service provider Marafeq, the Barwa Media website and the more famous Barwa and Diar taxi advertising projects in London.
The team is presently working on other projects and plans to announce them once they have been launched. The other members of the team are VCUQatar alumni - interior designers Kholoud al-Maneh (senior designer), Nayfa al-Henzab (marketing officer) and Maryam El Bishri (marketing and events officer); senior graphic designers Manar al-Muftah, Nelly al-Hariri and Jawaher al-Mahmoud; graphic designers Rana al-Wehaibi and Shaikha al-Romaihi; interior designers Haya al-Khayareen, Esraa al-Ibrahim and Shaikha al-Mannai.
“Injaz is an opportunity to prove that VCUQatar graduates are out in the market designing and inspiring others,” al-Mehain observed.
She was of the view that these designers, with their continuous efforts over the last few years, have been able to change people’s views on design and how important it is.
“Injaz is also a great occasion to inspire new graduates and students, to provide them assurance and confidence so they can see designers like them succeeding and making a positive difference,” she maintained.
Al-Mehain credits her education at VCUQatar for helping her develop her skills and her personality. “VCUQatar made me appreciate everything around me and look at the world from a different perspective, one that made me realize design is not a career that you choose to be in, it is a way of living, every day.”
Al-Mehain would like to help the girls in her team achieve their goals, see their dreams to become signature designers come true. “My focus for the future is to make Barwa Media a one-of-a-kind services provider that offers unique design solutions to end users. I want people in Qatar to believe in us as designers and in design as a career,” she added.
VCUQatar’s marketing and public relations director Moamer Qazafi said that the breadth of Amal al-Mehain’s achievements showcases the opportunities available to young designers today in a world where the sky is the limit. |
