Design is CRAP!

09Dec09

Don’t be upset all you graphic designers out there. I have a point to this.

I picked up a nice little book called The Non-Designer’s Design Book by Robin Williams (no, not the actor).

A basic and fundamental thing I learned from it, is that

graphic design is nothing but CRAP!

That is…

Contrast – If two things are supposed to be different, make them drastically different.

Repitition – To keep things looking like they’re all part of the same thing, repeat certain elements.

Alignment – Everything on a page should be aligned with something else.

Proximity – Make things that are similar in topic closer together.

I’m still reading through it (almost done). It features many, many visual examples to see. The above information is basically the first half of the book (but it goes into more detail), and the second half deals with type (as in the styles of type and what goes with what), but also includes different things like the theory of color, designing specific things (like newsletters, business cards, etc.). The author, Robin Williams, has many other books out there. I hope that my next read on this subject will be her book The Non-Designer’s Type Book, InshaAllah.

As regards to my thoughts on the book, I definitely recommend it to any Islamic worker that’s in the business of Da’wah. It gives a very good, basic awareness of design elements so that your next Masjid lecture’s flyer looks a little better than a white page made with NotePad.

Too many valuable programs have been undiscovered by attendees due to the lack of Ihsaan in the marketing. When it comes to Da’wah, you always go for the absolute best.

An example of this would be during the Hijrah of the Prophet (sallalahu ‘alayhi wasallam), when he went from Makkah to Madinah; with him he took Abu Bakr and a guide he’d hired. The guide was the best of all the guides he could find, and he was non-Muslim. The Prophet knew that this would be the most important journey in his life, and so he accordingly hired the absolute best based on that importance.

So, in Da’wah we must always do things in the best of manners. After all, you are spreading the best of deens (religions).

Any other helpful design tips or recommended resources? Have any thoughts? Leave a comment, why don’t ya?

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Tags: alignment, book, contrast, dawah, flier, flyer, gimp, Graphic Design, guide, marketing, muslim, non-designer's, photoshop, poster, prophet, proximity, repitition, robin williams, seerah, word

Did You Hear That Verse From The Qur’an?

08Dec09

The reason that Muslims are portrayed as violent.

“Think not that I have come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.” [10:34]

Doesn’t that just sound violent? Isn’t that contradictory to what many Muslims say? They say ‘Islam means peace’. Though, what can they say about the above verse?

—

What they can say is that this verse is from the Bible (Matthew, 10:34). However, is this verse taken as something that makes all of Christianity violent?

Click here to read the rest on Relijournal.com

Filed under: Educate, Islam, Triond   |  Leave a Comment
Tags: bible, bigotry, christianity, clearing air, holy book, Islam, misconceptions, qur'an, racism, religion, scriptures, sunnah, sword, terrorists, verses

And do not become like those…

04Dec09

…who forget Allah.

I just attended a program for a brother that recently died (inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raaji’oon, from Him we come and to Him we return) in Makkah, right after he’d completed his Hajj. I went on a last minute’s notice (with my father).

The program included a Qur’anic recitation, and the verses recited were a reminder to me. You see, I’d seen many  of my friends that I hadn’t seen in a while (mostly youth). Just thinking about the lifestyle of this generation (I believe about 5 cell phones went off during the program, unfortunately all from uncles). Another thing that attributed to my thoughts was a video I watched minutes before I left my house:

I saw it from Kashif Pasta’s blog. (just have to mention that this is an amazing kinetic typography piece).

The poet is Taylor Mali, and he brings to light the speech of my generation. Honestly, what caught me was the ‘conviction’ part, do we really mean and believe the words we say? When we stand up for Salah five times, are we mumbling through the words of our Lord? Or are we proudly speaking the truth that we believe?

Now, this reminds me of a few days back. I did a small personal experiment that I invite you to do as well.

I stood up for Salah (not a real Salah), and I raised my hands and loudly said “Allah is the greatest!”, Then I began Surah Fatiha:

“All praises are due to Allah, lord of all the worlds. The Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Master of the Day of Judgement. You alone do we worship and from you alone we seek aid. Guide us onto the straight path. The path of those whom have earned your favor, and not the path of those whom have earned your anger, nor of those who have gone astray.”

Then, thinking of the first Surah, surah Duha came to mind. “By the forenoon! … um…by the foren-…”

It was an eyeopening experience. If I am to stand in front of my Lord five times daily, will I continue to speak to Him with words that I do not understand?

InshaAllah, I’m trying to study, now, the meaning behind the words, especially in Salah.

/~~~\

All of these thought tangents lead me back to my original contemplation on the following ayah:

“And do not become like those who forget Allah, and He causes them to forget themselves! It is they who are truly deprived.” -Surah Hashr, Verse 19 [59:19]

This is an ayah we easily see the effects of these days. Ask any person that doesn’t believe in God, or isn’t that ‘religious’. Are they happy? Do they feel at peace? A line from the poem (in the video above) also poses a great statement to contemplate on: “I’m just, like, inviting you to join me, on the bandwagon of my own uncertainty.” Is uncertainty where you should be in life?

The truth is, we are all creations of Allah, and our purpose in life is to worship Him. That’s who you are! If you forget that, then you’re forgetting your own self.

Simple and plain.

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Filed under: Islam, Thoughts   |  3 Comments
Tags: 59, Allah, busy, forget, generation, hajj, hashr, inarticulate, lifestyle, muslim, qur'an, speak with it, surah, taylor mali, thought, youth