Ayah Jibril applies herself industriously to graphic design and makes jewelry utilizing Arabic calligraphy. She has shown and highlighted the aesthetics of the line on necklaces, rings, and even cake designs. She has drawn lines in Arabic calligraphy formations, with its multifaceted variety. She says that her talent was born out of her love for the Arabic letter and the Arabic calligraphy. “I was driven by my work in design, which led me to design jewelry pieces that are made of gold or silver. I used to apply calligraphic designs on the pieces. What I do is that I make a sketch of the design, and I give to a shop that specializes in this area. I made presentations in many training workshops for young Saudi women,” she said. She designs rings and necklaces that are graced with Arabic calligraphy, in all its varieties. It is known that Arabic calligraphy has seven types of letter design. She has a special style. It’s like a signature that is known to everyone who works in designing jewelry pieces with calligraphic forms. Ayah applies her love to the letter and imprint it on gold and silver pieces. Sometime gracing it with precious stones, according to the customer’s order. Most of her clients are men who buy my designs in order to give them as gifts to their families and wives. She makes the designs using software and puts her characteristic forms. Then turns it to a workshop that specializes in metal cutting, and they manufacture the object according to the design. Ayah tends to use the Kufic and Diwan variety, in addition to free lines. Also she designs company logos. Sometimes business people ask her to make logos for them, like “Little Cake” and with Maha Al-Hamid, a businesswoman who specializes in drawing calligraphic designs on cakes. There is an increasing trend of drawing Arabic calligraphy forms on fashion, bags and shawls, this is since Arabic calligraphy needs attention to its aesthetics, which could be helpful in fashion design, bags, and accessories. If they are done elegantly and with grace, this will help emphasize and underscore Arabic culture and calligraphy. Ayah believes designers have to give more emphasis and attention to Arabic calligraphy. It has a very wide space for creativity, and it should be presented in a way that befits the language of the Holy Qur’an. Ayah attended various training courses, and learned the mechanics of writing in this mode, and the various forms of Arabic calligraphy, like Thuluth, Kufic, and Diwani. She experimented with mixing different forms together, hence combined the traditional lines together with the free flowing and abstract forms. The aesthetics of Arabic calligraphy come from the direction and flow of the basic lines, and must engage them artistically. A silver ring could fetch something like SR 950 and above. For a gold ring, it would cost the client over 4,500. She leave it to the client to choose the precious stones he or she likes to have engrave for them. Different people have different views regarding the precious stones. Some of them like to have the original oriental pieces that are graced with emeralds, aquamarine, agate, or ruby, etc. so she has a partnership with Dar Al-Helia Jewelry in Jeddah to design jewelry pieces that carry her signature. She sees herself in the future be working on advancing and developing her work to more sophisticated modes, hoping to have her own “production lines” in jewelry. And she also wishes to enter the world of Arabic calligraphy design on pieces of furniture, fashion and artifacts.
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