Art brings compelling ideas to life. It creates meaningful and longitudinal impact. Visual Communication plays a powerful part in shaping our choices — from the icons on your smartphone to the signs in an airport, from the logo on a can of cola to the type on your favourite magazine. Each piece tells a story.
Being an avid lover of all things art and design, it wasn’t a difficult decision for Fathmath Hamna to enrol for the Bachelor of Design (Hons) in Professional Design (Visual Communication) programme back in 2018. Today, she plays the role of a Creative Director at Publicity Bureau, a design and advertising firm based in Maldives.
“As the Creative Director at Publicity Bureau, I am mostly involved in concept building for projects such as branding, execution and overseeing the design work done by my team. I am also involved in the day to day design tasks.”
“As a team, we all aim to foster a culture of growing, inspiring and learning from each other to deliver our clients with the best solutions that help them to express themselves visually,” she adds.
During the pandemic, the 26-year old graduate was able to contribute to her community by spreading awareness on the virus. She worked with UNICEF, WHO Maldives and HEOC (Health and Emergency Operations Centre) to assist them in creating illustrations, animations and visual designs for various platforms in order to prepare and increase the country’s response to possible spread of COVID-19.
Under this project, she had the privilege of illustrating a children’s story book regarding COVID-19, which is now available in all school libraries across the country. “I was also involved in illustrating and designing visuals for two campaigns run by the Gender Ministry of Maldives, against domestic abuse and also a campaign about Sexual Violence against Women and Children in Maldives.”
That’s not all. Hamna also worked with WHO Maldives and Health Protection Agency of Maldives on a nationwide awareness campaign to prevent and control ‘Non-Communicable Diseases’ in the country by supporting healthy lifestyle habits.
“When I started my degree I was quite nervous since I wasn’t familiar with most of the design software that I now use on a daily basis. With the help from my lecturers and a lot of practice, I was able to explore and learn the design process while also working on my technical skills.”
Hamna is currently working on a freelance illustration project for a children’s storybook with a well known local publisher. She is also working on creating a brand identity kit for a local patisserie.
“I usually enjoy working on branding projects a lot, so I am quite excited about a rebranding project of a well established local company that I am working on with my team at the design agency.”
One of her favourite projects was her final project at Limkokwing University. “I had a lot of creative freedom while working on it and was also able to showcase most of my skills through the branding work, UI design and motion design.” She was also involved in the Ooredoo Calendar 2022 artworks with her team at Publicity Bureau.
Hamna illustrated a storybook called “Jaadhooge Foshigandu” which translates to “The Magic Box”, for a local publisher. She enjoys doing storybook illustrations the most as it exposes her to fun and new ideas and also ensures she practices her drawing skills.
“You are never too old to learn something new, especially if it’s something you are interested in. Invest your time and money into it because it will certainly be worth your while as it can open so many opportunities for you to do what you love everyday.”