When passing by a store, a bus stop or just stopping by a traffic light your eyes automatically turns to the most eye-catching thing it can find. It could be the sale sign outside a store or a poster of the movie you’ve been waiting weeks for. Some messages you come across in daily life automatically attract you since the message is about something you’re interested in.
In this part of the world, some of the many repetitive messages sent are about Islam; I’m not talking about promoting Islam to non-Muslims. All around the media you can find messages sent to both young and old Muslims reminding them about different Islamic behaviors or the importance of praying everyday, helping the poor, fasting etc. I’m going to emphasize on the young Muslims, people in my generation, we find nothing attractive or eye catching in the ways we receive these messages. Posters with white background and black or gold text with a picture of a hand rising upwards praying to God isn’t going to make a 17 year old stop and read the poster since it already looks like the hundred of other Islamic posters we come across. Getting a plain white envelope with text on it in a mall, isn’t going to make me want to stop and read what it says to give the charity a bigger chance in getting someone’s attention to put some money in that envelope and walk back to help.
For my senior project, I decided to use my graphic design skills to develop more efficient methods to attract people in my generation to think twice when looking at something that relates to their religion. My inspiration came from a new brand of casual wear I found on the internet called StyleIslam. It “communicates Islam in a language young people can understand, without sacrificing our values in the process.”
