Al Bayan is Northwestern’s Muslim-led student publication that produces an annual magazine. As Editor-in-Chief, I worked with a staff of editors to curate a set of visual and written submissions in an issue with the theme of “Origins.”
Below, is a sample of the work I did with the Origins Issue as well as previous Al Bayan work.
We wanted to capture the duality of being the product of two seemingly opposing cultures in the theme and aesthetic of the magazine, so the font and color scheme choices were deliberate. The use of Arabic type faces was designed to be more abstract and aestheticized than readable, hence the distorted quality of the bottom right spread.
Tools: Adobe InDesign and Illustrator
One of the central elements of each issue is a photo-shoot which often follows the theme of the entire magazine. This photo-shoot was inspired by the rich ancestry that our community comes from and was a way of paying homage to that.
Communicating Islamic or so-called “Eastern” aesthetics without reinforcing a rudimentary understanding of the region was difficult––but rugs became a simple yet rich motif that made building this set look so layered.
Before becoming the EIC of Al Bayan, I helped out with the layout design where I could, including designing the front and back cover of the Spring 2022 issue: Rebirth.
Sticking to what I know and love best––collages––I wanted to evoke the idea of rebirth with spring imagery such as the flowers and butterflies that made it into the last draft.
Sama Ben Amer 