Shabaqo Founder held a workshop for students of AUE

Last week was a very exciting week for Shabaqo and its co-founder! In cooperation with American Univerisity in the Emirates (AUE) and Dr. Gulnara Z. Karimova, our co-founder Paula Kovačić held a series of workshops from 8th-15th of November 2021  about graphic design in content creation, and the implementation and adaptation of promotional materials to different digital channels.

About Workshops at AUE

In the series of 3 workshops, our co-founder was holding lectures as part of professional training for students of the College of Media and Mass Communications at AUE and talked about content creation through design applications such as Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop, and Canva design.

The courses were intended for beginners and students who are willing to expand their knowledge in content creation.

Graphic design and content creation workshop plan

Workshop 1: Creating a poster for World Antibiotic Awareness Week with Adobe Illustrator.

-necessary steps for assignment analysis
-the psychology of colors
-the creation of  illustrations
-combining elements into an attractive poster

Workshop 2: Creating materials for the student’s final project within the IMC 302 course with Adobe Photoshop and Canva

-usage of free online tools ( photographs, elements, illustrations, and vectors)
-analysis of their previously submitted work
-the creation of content examples and what to do to make their creatives better
– explaining the understanding of customers needs basing on their target group and message and its implementation in design

Workshop 3:  Adaptation and implementation of promotional materials to different digital channels

– explaining the importance of research regarding audience and industry
– the existence of different size formats for different channels
– usage of copy and tone of voice
– discussion about the importance of language barriers and types of content
– implementing all learned skills and tools into different sizes and examples

At the end of workshop 3, students and the co-founder had a discussion about their improvements on the final project visuals, and what else can they do to improve.

Here is a comparison of students’ work before and after the workshops.

Final thoughts about workshops

The series of workshops finished with one last goodbye and sharing thoughts and ideas about the lectures. Here is what our co-founder told us after the lectures ended.

“I am extremely grateful to the AUE for giving me the opportunity to share knowledge with the students of their university.  I am also so thankful for the patience of students and their cooperation, and a big thank you to Dr. Gulnara Karimova which supported both me and students in making this workshops alive.

I am so sad that our workshops has ended and I hope that we made a difference in their lifes by improving their knowledge and bringing a spark in ther life. I hope to see them and their growth again in the near future.”

Assist. Professor Gulnara Z. Karimova, Ph.D. also shared a few words about her experience at workshops.

“Seeing how the abstract ideas transform into visuals and flesh is always like a miracle. Equipped with the necessary tools, students were able to design promotional materials based on research data and analysis of the target audience and competitors.

Using Illustration, Photoshop, and Canva, they created their posters and received instant feedback from Mrs. Paula. It was exciting to see a great improvement of students’ posters just within four hours!”

About Gulnara Z. Karimova, Ph.D

You can benefit from the co-creation of knowledge that is enabled by the unique combination of practical experience and theoretical understanding that she possesses in the field of marketing communications specializing in marketing artificial intelligence (AI) by developing a unique framework for marketing AI. Having a Ph.D. from a university in Cyprus, a significant publication record, many professional certificates from top technological players (IBM), and international experience in integrated marketing communications (advertising, public relations, business communication, and social media marketing) enable her both to provide consultancy to various companies and share knowledge with students.

“Nothing is Impossible!”

It is amazing how students in this workshop showed great interest and at the same time managed to improve their skills and knowledge in just 4 hours. And as the President of the respected American University in the Emirates, Dr. Muthanna G. Abdul Razzaq (AUE) would say: “Nothing is Impossible!”

Shabaqo Team and Co-Founder Paula Kovačić congratulate students on their work and dedication!

Supporting the growth of students and their knowledge 

At Shabaqo, we believe in knowledge and its importance to the community. We are glad to have our co-founder share the same towards improvements and lifelong learning and we hope to share more inspirations stories and participate in many more workshops sharing the same principles in the future.