News

LAU Awards Eight Creative High Schoolers a Scholarship to its Graphic Design Program

The School of Architecture and Design holds an introductory graphic design workshop for high-school students with a chance to win a scholarship to the program.

By Dana K. Haffar

Guided by faculty members, the students worked with letterforms and graphic elements and learned the basics of motion graphics.
The high schoolers executed their ideas using the latest technological equipment at the graphic design computer lab.

As university looms closer, high schoolers often wonder what their chosen major entails, whether they have the talent for it or even stand a chance of pursuing it.

With that in mind, and to help them make a smooth transition, the School of Architecture and Design (SArD) invited grades 10 and 11 students interested in studying graphic design at LAU to join a one-day workshop and stand a chance of winning a scholarship to the university.

In March, the school held two full-day sessions, one on the Beirut campus and the other on the Byblos campus, for a total of 77 students from secondary schools across Lebanon. No previous experience in graphic design was required.

The workshop was designed to introduce the students to visual communication and the use of letterforms and graphic elements to convey ideas and teach them the basics of motion graphics and 2D animation to tell a story. It was also an opportunity for them to work on a creative process in teams.

In a hands-on approach, the participants acquired an understanding of the workflow from ideation to execution. They worked on their own graphics and placed them in a sequence of frames to create an illusion of motion that expresses an idea, a quote, or a phrase. With the use of software, they produced a GIF to their name.

A review panel consisting of SArD faculty members evaluated the work to select the best four participants on each day and campus. The eight winning students were awarded scholarships covering a percentage of their tuition fees upon joining the Graphic Design program at LAU as follows:

  • A 20 percent scholarship: Nadim Oussama Sinno (Grade 10) of Collège Protestant Français, Loyd Hadi Daher (Grade 11) of Collège Frères Maristes-Amchit, and Yara Elias Antoun (Grade 10) from Collège Saint Jean.
  • A 15 percent scholarship: Samia Mohammad Ali Hassoun (Grade 10) of The Canadian Lebanese Academy of Excellence, and Lucia Nerses Bedikian (Grade 10) from Yeghishe Manoukian College.
  • A 10 percent scholarship: Tamara Chadi Makarem (Grade 11) from Irfan High School Sawfar, Ayda Fawzi Shaaban (Grate 10) from Al Qualaa Secondary School, and Rita Ghassan Bou Farhat from Collège Central des Moines Libanais Jounieh.

Students interested in learning more about applying to LAU should get in touch with the Student Recruitment Office.