Um Ahmad
Identity Design
Um Ahmad, an 80 year-old Saudi artisan, does not know how to display or sell her craft. She is her family’s breadwinner and needs the right tools to promote her jewelry brand.
The Task
To create the Um Ahmad brand and raise awareness about her designs.
The Common Thread
Proposal 01
in Collaboration with Riham El Ghosseini and Michelle Abou Aboud
The Logo Build-up
Um Ahmad’s multilayered character is clear even in her name, particularly the hamza: as a letter, it can be written either alone or with a carrier. All these layers come together in the lines of the hamza and the thread woven by Um Ahmad to form a logo that infuses into linear typography.
A thread-like layering forms the double hamza pronounced in ”Um Ahmad”.
Um Ahmad is full of contrasts
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wearing flashy colors.
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designing modern jewelry.
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in a man’s world.
Pattern Creation
Also inspired by Um Ahmad’s work are endless patterns, which are created through elements abstracted from her art and translated into the branding’s linear language.
The Gleam in her Eyes
Proposal 02
The Logo Build-up
In order to embody Um Ahmad’s affinity with visual communication and the versatility of her craft, the logo creates a visual language based on a square grid inspired by embroidery and beadwork.
The eye, as the essence of everything Um Ahmad does, is the constant element in the logo
Surrounding geometric shapes are inspired by patterns found in Ahmad’s collections, while the larger circles representing the beads give the logo a haptic feel.
The dynamic logo creates a multitude of variations and its own visual communication system.
Every variation can represent a collection or a group of items, and embodies the versatility in Um Ahmad’s artistry.
Illustration Elements
Using the grid system, visual elements inspired by Um Ahmad’s life are drawn to narrate and communicate her past, present, and future stories.
