The Definitive Guide to Living in the Capital , Cairo , Egypt

Featured image courtesy of Shahinaz ElMasry

 

The 15^th of April saw the launch of The Knowledge Hub Universities’ first virtual exhibition, which presents works by foundation year students of the Design and Media school at Coventry University in Egypt. The exhibition’s main sections cover three fields; Graphic Design, Interior Architecture, and Digital Media.

Many Graphic Design students discussed various social issues through their projects, like dealing with mental health problems and disabilities, while others focused on fashion and branding. The students conveyed their concepts using various audio and visual media tools, as well as interactive apps and QR Codes. Mohamed El Sayed, a student, whose project is a comic book called Mr. Stress A Lot.

“I have always been into art and drawing since I was young. I used to gather all my cousins and siblings to draw together and create masterpieces. I also love singing and music in general, but that is for another time…”

“My focus now is on graphic design, as it is the major that I am currently studying. In this project, I decided to make a short comic book about a guy named “Mr. Stress A Lot”. He always does the clumsiest things because of how stressed he always is. Accompanying him is a frog, Lily, that always has a smug smile on her face and acts like the queen of the world.

It’s going to be a book and a bunch of merchandise such as keychains, mugs and t-shirts. Oh, I totally forgot to tell you that Mr. S.A happens to have a cup of noodles in his grip that most of the time gets spilt or maybe thrown at someone”.

 

Meanwhile, students of Interior Architecture presented several projects that carried their vision of what makes a particular space functional, aesthetically pleasing, and sustainable. Below is a project by Shahinaz Elmasry:

“I have been driven by my passion for art and design for as long as I can remember, recognising elements of art anywhere I go. I am an interior architecture student at Coventry University, TKH campus. I have always been fascinated by transforming things, which is why I am very interested in interior architecture…”

“For my final major project, I wanted to transform a space that would interest most people I know and capture their attention. Therefore, I decided to redesign my university’s student lounge as it is a space that many of us have in common, and it is interesting to see an alternative and better design for this space. My main goal while redesigning the lounge was to efficiently use the space and include as many functions as possible, without cramping it up. The redesigned lounge include functions such as a student gathering area, a study area, a game area as well as a sleeping area. The inspiration behind the colour scheme is the Google for entrepreneurs lounge, located in Indonesia. I chose a bright colour scheme to motivate students to think creatively and innovatively. Although there are many different zones in the lounge, I aimed to connect them all to form a sense of unity between students. A student lounge is a place where students go to rest in between their hectic classes and to get to know each other, which is why I insisted on not dividing it up. I am really satisfied with the design I created, as I think it fulfilled all student lounge functions and purposes”.

 

Digital Media students used their projects to speak about various topics, from sexual harassment and spending time in quarantine, tourism, and more. Omar Abdel Raouf talks about his project; a comic book about a man, who’s on the look to find a cure for a virus.                              

“I’m a couch survivor. I’ve left an indentation in my couch, and now the area’s depression is almost impossible to ignore. Thus, I must fill the void I’ve created to conceal the shame of its existence. My feet forgot what ground tastes like, and shoes, but not socks; the socks are an indispensable asset of warmth that they’d rather die than lose them. It’s convenient that feet have no sense of smell. I hate clocks; they remind me of time, which I also hate. It’s never enough, always either too much of it or too little. Of course, I don’t have any clocks at home, because why should I worry about what I can’t control? I like waking up at dusk or dawn; the feeling of disorientation I feel when awake is always fulfilling. For my project, I’m making a comic about a heroic man who journeys to find the cure to the Coronavirus as he must fulfil his epic destiny to protect himself from it”.

 

Want to see for yourself? Check out The Knowledge Hub Universities’ first virtual exhibition.