By Hessa H. Alghandi
DUBAI – Maha Mohamed Alrais is a Zayed University student from the College of Communication and Media Sciences who is majoring Integrated Strategic Communication. Alrais took a chance and defied the odds by winning the Academy of International Business – Middle East and North Africa competition in Amman, Jordan. The competition provides an opportunity for people to create logos for the AIB-MENA conference. Maha’s logo will be used for the AIB-MENA conference in 2019.
Hessa: How did the opportunity of entering the competition come about?
Maha: I read the announcement and said, “Why not?”.
What was the inspiration behind the logo?
I searched about famous places in Jordan, their heritage, and chose the colors based on the AIB-MENA logo.
How did your major help in creating the logo?
In the first semester of my major, I took a course with Prof. Zelal Wattar where I got introduced to design software. After that, I started to explore Photoshop on my own, which improved my skills. I also took a course called Creative Advertising where we used Photoshop to create an ad and a course called Introduction to Social Media where we created a professional campaign using social media platforms such as Instagram. My design skills in Photoshop improved because of courses like this.
When and how did you hear that you won?
About two weeks ago, Dr. Filareti emailed me that she wanted to see me.
How did you feel when you heard that you won?
Happy. Because it’s something new and unexpected. This was the first time I’ve participated in a logo competition, and I won. This is not the last time I would participate for sure.
Do you think this is going to change your future? Career-wise?
Yes, it’s going to benefit me because I can include it in my CV and feel like it motivated me more and that there’s a chance to improve my skills.
What advice do you have for people who want to participate in such competitions?
Never think less of yourself. Because when I did the logo, I thought I wouldn’t win, but then they liked it. And I think people should prove themselves and try to experience something new and challenge themselves.
Note from the editor: ZU students who would like to participate in the competition for the 2020 AIB-MENA logo should send an email expressing their interest to AIB-MENA Vice-President of Marketing and Outreach Dr. Filareti Kotsi at filareti.kotsi [at] zu.ac.ae. Interested students will be notified about the competition once it is open. An independent AIB-MENA panel will judge the competition.
About the interviewer: Hessa H. Alghandi is an apprentice student editor at Zajel. She studies Interior Design in the College of Art and Creative Enterprises at Zayed University in Dubai.
This story was originally published on Dec. 13, 2018. It was re-uploaded on Jan. 4, 2021.
