HONOURED: The students whose work has been selected by the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy.

Student designs to form the face of the 2022 FIFA World Cup

Qatar as Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy selects work of

VCUQatar students to be implemented in brand guidelines

 

 

The work of six sophomores at the Virginia Commonwealth University in Qatar (VCUQatar) will feature in publications, events and precinct construction projects of the 2022 FIFA World Cup Qatar.

Their designs — pictograms of Qatari landmarks and culture, and Arabic calligraphy monograms representing stadia precincts — were selected by the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy to be rolled into its brand guidelines, said a press release.

Nasser al-Khater, executive director of communications and marketing for the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy, said: “The [football world cup in 2022] will leave a genuine human and economic legacy in Qatar. By utilising the talent of the VCUQatar students to inform our brand guidelines we are doing just that, giving local students the opportunity to work on one of the world’s most significant sporting events.”

Carmen Smith, brand and special projects senior manager of the committee, presented the awards to the winners at a recent ceremony at VCUQatar. “It’s very important for us to engage with the community and provide opportunities for input into the brand and other projects. The students have delivered an exceptional level of work, which demonstrates both thought and talent. [The students will] see their designs in publications, events and even precinct construction projects,” said Smith.

The three winners whose pictograms were selected are AlDana al-Hajri, Abdul Rahman Anwar, and Yara al-Muftah. The students’ pictograms are currently being tested by the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy’s brand agency so they can be incorporated into brand guidelines. The three winners whose monogram designs were chosen are Wurood Azzam, Fatima al-Naimi and Sara Ebrik. Their designs are currently being assessed by agencies on how they could potentially be incorporated into the design of stadiums.

Students for both projects went through a lengthy research process, assessing the history of Qatar’s culture and design heritage, resulting in the production of 200 different designs that communicated Qatar’s diverse history.

VCUQatar Graphic Design Professor Michael Hersrud said, “The opportunity to create work for professional organisations brings the best out in students and the quality of work they produced on this project was on a par with a professional design studio.”

Dana Chua, a student who worked on the project, said,  “I never knew Qatar had so many birds. This collaborative project challenged me to creatively and formally interpret birds through a pictogram. At the same time, it educated me about my surroundings.”

Another student, Noora Alfadala, said she really enjoyed the pictograms project because it gave her practical experience that she could use when applying for jobs after university.

Yara al-Muftah, whose design won, said the most interesting part of the project for her was the challenge of creating a pictogram that would be legible at any size. “This challenge inspired me to create my own boundaries through my pictogram designs,” she said.

 

l Some of the selected pictograms form up the border of this news item.