Imagine a scrapyard, not of discarded metal and rusted parts, but of forgotten designs and neglected ideas. This was the premise of this year’s Tasmeem, the annual graphic design competition hosted by ICD Brookfield Place Arts. The theme, De-sign Scrapyard, invited designers to delve into their personal archives and breathe new life into their abandoned projects and to display them at Dubai’s DIFC.
Tasmeem is more than just a competition. It’s a platform for young designers in the region, encouraging them to push boundaries and think outside the box. This year, Bahraini-American designer and artist Mariam AlZayani took the helm, crafting the concept of De-sign Scrapyard. Her vision was to pay tribute to the lost ideas and unfinished thoughts that often get left behind in the whirlwind of the creative process.
The challenge was simple yet compelling: designers were asked to revisit their personal archives, dust off neglected designs, and reimagine them into something new and exciting. The result was a collection of works that not only retained the essence of their origins, but also introduced fresh narratives and identities, highlighting the transformative power of design.
A committee of experts and professionals, including Fiza Akram from Alserkal Advisory, Graphic Designer Ibrahim Khamayseh, Designer and Researcher Imad Gebrayel, and representatives from Turbo and 40MUSTAQEL design studios, had the challenging task of selecting the winners from a pool of talented applicants.
Twelve designers emerged victorious, each receiving an AED 1,000 cash prize. These winners, Daniel Alemasoum, Eman Fikri, Fatma Ashraf, Fatimah Emad, Lujane AlQaoud, Maryam Namvar, Maxime Cramatte, Mobius Design Studio, Mohamed Alaa, Mohammed Ameer, Sayed Kammoun, and Younes Al Aboudi, have shown the transformative power of revisiting and reimagining past work. Their winning designs, a collection of posters that breathed new life into their previous selves, challenged the conventional design process and told a story with a different ending.
The success of Tasmeem’s second edition serves as a reminder that in the world of design, nothing is ever truly discarded or forgotten. Instead, these ‘lost’ ideas can be the seeds of new and innovative creations, pushing the boundaries of what is possible in graphic design.
The works of the selected 12 regional designers will be on show until Thursday 31st August.
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