First Year of the CSR

First Year Launch

A group of Vand colleagues, project founder Touraj Saberivand, project communications manager Mitra Ferdowsi, project consultants Jalil Noorbakhsh and Ashkan Allahyari, and project coordinator Nazanin Ahani gathered as the core team to start the project. Many consultative meetings were held with Iranian and Afghan social activists who had previous experience of voluntary projects in Afghanistan so that the project could proceed with full understanding of the situation.

Finally, the Project's call was publicized on International Women's Day, March 8, 2022, in news outlets and social networks of Iran and Afghanistan. In this call, Afghan women and girls were invited to complete the initial registration form on the Vand company website. Within a month, 531 Afghan girls signed up from various countries.

Touraj Saberivand

Project Founder

Jalil Nourbakhsh

Advisor

Nazanin Ahani

Cordinator

Mitra Ferdosi

PR Manager

Dr Ashkan Allahyari

Advisor

Those who registered were between the ages of 13 and 48 years old, with the majority of them being in the range of 17 to 32 years old. 62 percent lived in Afghanistan, 25 percent in Iran and the rest in ten other countries such as France, United States, Italy, Turkey and Sweden.38 percent had left Afghanistan less than a year ago. Only 3 percent of these girls were "thoroughly" familiar with the basics of graphic design, and 86 percent had no professional work experience.

Statistical Summary

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First Semester

158 Women in 11 Countries

860 minute
Design Literacy Course
930 minute
Photoshop Course
720 minute
Soft Skills workshops
600 minute
Illustrator Course

The registrants were informed that in order to participate in the course, high-speed Internet and a computer suitable for work are necessary, and they were invited to attend the online opening session of this course. The first semester started in the first days of May with 124 people.

The participants had three subjects in the first semester. Two software training courses "Introductory Photoshop" and "Illustrator" were held on the online platform of "Inverse School of Art and Design". After watching the recorded videos of these two classes, the students had to do the assignments, then for confirmation and corrections, send them to the teachers of these two softwares "Parnia Paupar" and "Ali Shams", renowned teachers in Iran, and get feedback and guidance. In addition, every week they had a two-hour online class called "Literacy of Design" with Touraj Saberivand, designer and founder of the Project.

Vand International was only able to provide financial assistance to a few girls living in Afghanistan who were highly interested in this course but did not have proper internet and computers so that they could participate.

Parnia Pavpar

Photoshop Instructor

Ali Shams

Illustrator Instructor

Alireza OrduAbadi

Photoshop Instructor

Touraj Saberivand

Design Literacy Instructor

Second Semester

40 Women in 10 Countries

740 minute
Design Literacy Course
910 minute
Photoshop Course
400 minute
Specialized Panel

After three months, 40 people out of 120 people who participated in the first semester made it to the second semester, based on the assessment of the teachers. In this semester, the students took the "Advanced Photoshop" course with Alireza Ordobadi and learned more practical techniques than the first semester.

The second course of Design Literacy were held twice a week in this semester, more practical exercises were given to students, and they had to design a project each week. Exercises ranged from poster design, book and catalog covers, social media posts, and office papers of fictional companies.

salamatpaad logo

In cooperation with Salamatpaad Institute and Nazli Ebrahimi, a soft skills course was held for the participants, in which students were acquainted with four soft skills within a month. Effective relationship, personal development, career path, job search and resume writing were among these skills. These workshops were especially important because most of the participants had no work and social experience before.

Third Semester

27 Women  in 4 Countries

1440 minute
Practical Graphic
Design Workshops
3480 minute
Internship Sessions

This project was planned for two semesters, but at the end of the second one, the enthusiasm of the students and the need felt by the organizing team led to the formation of a third semester. 27 students who passed the second semester made it to the third one to do more exercises during the week and achieve more skills in graphic design.5 of the more advanced students were invited to a three-month internship at Vand company. The following designs are some of the works done by the students of the Project.

students work

Project Timeline

Planning & Consultation
5 February 2022
Publication of the call,
International Women’s Day
8 March 2022

1st Semester

Inaugural Webinar
24 April 2022
Inverse Joining Date
28 April 2022
Beginning of Design Literacy
class(1)
30 April 2022
Starting introductory Photoshop and Illustrator
18 May 2022
Human communication
basics panel
30 Jun 2022
A free meeting between the designer’s mind and hand
30 Jun 2022
Open session of designer’s professional life
28 July2022

2nd Semester

Start of design
literacy classes (2)
4 August 2022
Beginning of advanced
Photoshop classes
20 August 2022
Soft skills
workshops
16 September 2022

3rd Semester

Typography open session
With Damon Khanjanzadeh
27 October 2022
Beginning of design
workshops
3 November 2022
Beginning of Internship
Sessions
3 November 2022

End of the Project

Methodology

The founder of this project , Toraj Saberivand, is a critic of the Bauhaus education method and has written about his idea. He believes that graphic design should be taught not with the basics of visual arts, but with what he calls "design literacy". Design literacy is the title he has given to a set of knowledge including "communications", "semiotics", "aesthetics" and "eye movement". In the first semester, he implemented this idea and instead of teaching based on conventional methods, he started with communication studies, and in the session where he had to talk about form, he took help from the book “Al-Manazer” by Ibn Haitham, the prominent 9th century scholar.

4 Master Classes

In this semester, several online master classes were held. The first one was with Fatemeh KarkeAbadi, a graphic designer and former head of the Iranian Graphic Designers Association, in which she talked about her professional life and her academic, work and life experiences. The second master class was with Iranian typeface designer Damoon Khanjanzadeh, in which he talked about Persian calligraphy for Kelkin students and answered the students' questions about calligraphy design.
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Another master class was held with Dr. Azam Deh Soufiyani, professor of communications at Allameh University in Tehran where a challenging discussion about color, its meanings and semiotics took place. In addition to these three, another master class was held with three of the course instructors and also the head of Inverse Institute. The title of this master class was "Distance between the Designer's Mind and Hand" and the lecturers and students of the course discussed in-the-field challenges. This master class was also broadcasted live on the Inverse page for the audience of this school.

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Fatemeh Karkeabadi
Graphic Designer
damoon khanjanzadeh photo
Damoon Khanjanzadeh
Typeface Designer
azam deh soufiyani photo
Azam Deh Soufiyani
Communication Professor

Project Impact

At the end of the  first year, at least 27 Afghan girls have become graphic designers. At least 7 of them are "very good designers" based on the strict standards of  Vand , and all the rest are ready to enter the job market, despite having said they don't know much about graphic design at the beginning of the call.

Only two of them majored in graphics from the university, and the rest came from the fields of psychology, biology, computer, journalism, medicine, literature, economics, and law. They are 17 to 31 years old and except for a few, all of them live in Afghanistan or Iran.

students work

TOP STUDENTS

top students

Student's Notes

Fatemeh Ahmadi

"This project was not just a training course for me to acquire graphic design skills and earn income; Rather, it was a course that strengthened humanity, empathy, companionship, courage, bravery and the will to be strong in me. During the difficult days of my life, I met this project, and it became a reason and a light to overcome and endure those hardships. The skills I learned in this project are very valuable to me, both materially and spiritually. With this course, I gained an income-generating skill and will be earning soon."

Masoumeh Rezaei

This project was not only a project for me to learn design, but a hope for the hopeless days when I had motivation. In addition to design, I have learned countless other useful things in this project. I know that I still have a long way to go, but every day I will continue this path with more enthusiasm and motivation. I am sure that I am on the right path and I am more hopeful about my professional future than ever."

Narges Hosseini

This project is a window through which I can see a more beautiful tomorrow. After participating in this project, I realized that there are people who don't preach altruism, but practice it and adhere to it. One of the most important things I gained from participating in the project was to look at issues from different angles; To be subtle and considerate, and that the issues themselves are not so complicated, but maybe it is us who are used to complexity. Just as complex designs do not lead anywhere, people with complex behavior and thoughts will not be very successful.

Najiye Nosrati

"The launch of Kelkin project, amidst all that despair, was the beginning of my good days, the memories of which are among my most precious possessions. Finding new friends, getting to know professional professors, etc., which will always bring a smile to my face. By participating in this project, I learned many lessons not only in design but also in life, and it changed my view of  events and surroundings. I learned from this project that "It is only through effort that one can get anywhere."

Fateme Akbari

Once I was a top student in my university. on 15st of August the worst thing possible happened and everything was destroyed. I lost everything I had strived towards for years. My family was slowly getting ready to immigrate and this made it more difficult, along with my school I had to leave my friends, the city full of memories and everything that was dear to me. But at the same time, Kelkin project was like a ray of hope in the most difficult days and nights of my life. After joining this project and starting work, I no longer felt the passage of time. Every new subject was like another world for me, where there was no sadness and disappointment, only the concern for learning. For me, Kelkin project was like the single window of a castle that opened to the free world. This project was a reminder of the solidarity and companionship of nations. I realized that we are not alone and the dear people of Iran are with us not in words but in action.

Marzieh Sedaghat

"When I got to know about this project through friends, because it was free, I felt that maybe like some other projects, it is more about building a resume and a good name for the company with all the events of the Taliban takeover trending. But in the first sessions, my opinion completely changed and I followed the work seriously. I spent all my time on it. I slept only four or five hours. It was a big risk, but I hoped to achieve something that has always been my passion. Finally, the project was very significant and fruitful for me. At some point in time, on the other side of those who supported the Taliban, there were the people in this project who took the hands of the women and girls of this land without any claim."

Download the First Year Report
Second Year of Academy