As a creative person who loves to be able to find designs in anything, Adham Abbas Qaid came to Malaysia to pursue the Bachelor of Design (Hons) Professional Design (Visual Communication) at Limkokwing University.
He describes himself as a person who likes to bring together various forms of art to create his piece.
“I am a very creative person. I produce a lot of creative things, but mostly I like to absorb art and creative designs.”
Choosing Limkokwing
“I wanted to study design and I asked my friends where the best place to study was,” he said.
Adham was told about Limkokwing and it was then that he realised that this University was for him.
He explained that the University has a lot of international people who helped him become more sociable with people of different cultures and traditions.
“You get to know a lot of cultures and learn to speak various languages, he said. “You become a more social person and when I go back home, people can tell that I have changed a lot.”
Starting Young
Adham had been practising to use Photoshop since he was 15 years old.
“I loved designing since childhood, and I have been practising a lot,” he said. “My friend had a book, one of those cheesy books that teaches you how to master Photoshop.”
“When I found the right tools, I just started practising,” he said. “I started editing pictures of my friends while experimenting with new stuff.”
“I used Photoshop every day,” he said “Later on, I just knew that I wanted to do this for my career and I wanted to become a designer.”
Experienced Lecturers
For Adham, the experience at Limkokwing was really incredible.
“The University exceeded all my expectations,” he said. “When I came in, I had no idea that it would be like this.”
“I had a really great group of lecturers,” he said while adding that the lecturers at the faculty of design were very creative and good at what they do.
“They kept pushing me and they were hardworking,” he explained. “They know how to push all the right buttons in me and get all the creativity out.”
The lecturers at Limkokwing encourage students to participate in various projects that enables students to develop their creative skills. These include creative thinking and problem solving skills.
“It was incredible, because those guys know their stuff and they were doing their job very well,” he said. “I just loved it here.”
Adham said that the variety of assignments at the University enabled him to develop his creative talent.
“One day you get to do branding while another day you get to do advertising,” he said while adding that this helps to prepare for new challenges.
Passion for Design
Adham is a Pop Art enthusiast and was engrossed in his graphic design work to the point that it took most of his day while he was a student.
Pop Art is revolutionised in the Middle East and it focuses on mixing two cultures together. Combining Eastern and Western concepts to portray humour, hardship, or to represent an important message.
The theme includes retro type images to convey a meaningful expression of today’s problems.
Adham was a fan of vintage artwork, especially shows and advertisements that were created between the 60’s and 70’s.
The best part for him was that he had a group of globally experienced lecturers who helped him to understand various types of art.
“They would always share new ideas,” he added. “Everything was sophisticated and all the ideas were incredible.”
Achievements and Project
Adham’s final project was a collage called ‘Maqsooda’ which meant ‘Rejected by Publishers’.
“The word is used socially a lot,” he said. His project is a collection of 24 collage arts and all of them had social statements that attract attention to various causes and issues.
“It brings attention to social problems in the Middle East and I hope that one day it will be able to solve problems such as war, poverty and women’s rights.”
But for him, his greatest achievement is that he became a better person.
“I had changed a lot since I came here,” he said. “I changed socially, academically and professionally.”
Now I know more about careers and designs. I am 100% more creative than I was before I came here.
Future Plans
Adham plans to be an art director for his own company, or pursue a career in teaching art and design, and hopes to encourage other students to pursue their own dreams.