Ashraf Abdul-Alim

BA Graphic Design

Website: firstnameraf.com

DESIGNER STATEMENT: I’m a graphic designer who mainly creates art in a digital. I explore themes of videogames, the early 2000’s, internet culture, and technology in my work. I’ve been fascinated with digital art ever since I was young because of the different things you could do in this medium. Drawing in a digital image editing program was fun and my mistakes could undone and fixed with the press of a few buttons. There was a whole new world of creativity I had never explored before that was right at my fingertips, free of charge.

My goal is to place my artwork out in the real world. Specifically, in unconventional places or areas where you typically wouldn’t see artwork. Placing my work in a context such as a subway station creates a mysterious and alien effect which fits a lot of the visual design you can see in my work. I create posters that have a futuristic and extra-terrestrial tone them.

Mental Time places my digital artwork in a real-world context. I created a display inspired by a metro ad my work in it, essentially placing my work in a fictional ad. For ads in these posters, I continued to explore the themes that inspire my work which include early internet culture, video games, 90’s and early 2000’s graphic design and digital art.

Mental Time, MDF frame lightbox housing two film posters, 2.5’ x 5.5’ x 1’