Jumanah Abualkhair: independent graphic designer
graphic designer
by Elizabeth Lavis
|21 Aug 2025
Jumanah Abualkhair’s philosophy is to embrace what intimidates her. “Doing this puts me in very uncomfortable positions, but forces me to face my fears and move forward,” she says. “I grow in the process.”
Abualkhair is an independent graphic designer and lifelong learner. One of her driving motivations is learning about different cultures and communities. “I’m fascinated by personal stories and experiences, and love engaging with communities,” she says. “As an avid language learner and passionate storyteller, these types of spaces are deeply inspiring.”
She was raised in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, before moving to Geneva and settling in Montreal. “I’m now based in Canada, and my cultural background inspires me to explore visual communication across different cultures,” Abualkhair says. “I’m particularly inspired by bi-scriptual design and would love to incorporate this more into my work.”
Design was present in Abualkhair’s life from a young age. “I would create personal posters and book covers for my story ideas,” she says. “I’d also watch Photoshop tutorials to see how others created cool digital effects.” Her first official experience studying design came in the form of an InDesign course as part of her Media and Communications B.A. program. “I actually found the course to be very intimidating and focused more on journalism instead,” Abualkhair says. “It wasn’t until years later, when I started taking continuing education courses in design, that I embraced the challenge.” She notes that today, InDesign is one of her favorite programs to work in.
"Odyssey Chocolates"
Abualkhair’s design approach starts with defining project goals and empathizing with the target audience, before ideating and exploring different creative concepts. “I like to turn to my physical surroundings and explore online spaces for inspiration,” she says. “I start brainstorming and creating different iterations, refining the design as I go.”
The most important aspect of a design for Abualkhair is that it communicates what it’s meant to. “Good design should definitely be visually pleasing, but it should also achieve its purpose,” she says. “Sometimes, that’s to simply fit an aesthetic style, and other times, it’s to attract a specific audience and communicate a certain feeling or concept. Either way, a good design should accomplish what it was set out to do.”
As an independent graphic designer, Abualkhair has to balance several different projects at once and avoid getting burned out. She does this by setting aside time for personal projects and creative exploration, even when she’s up against deadlines. “Making sure I have enough time to work on passion projects or learn new skills is incredibly valuable for my personal and creative growth, and it definitely helps me keep burnout at bay,” she says.
She also draws inspiration from a very unexpected place. “I can’t help but feel inspired by postage stamps and how they embody history, design, and culture all within the constraints of a small, frail piece of paper,” Abualkhair says. “There are so many creative stamp designs out there, and what blows my mind is to see how these designs have been touched by time and people, regardless of geographic location or people’s socioeconomic status.”
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