Fabric as Social Identity Publication Design

Publication Design for a Communal Textile Biennale Documentation of a 130-year-old communal textile, positioned within a Biennale about worth because it has to be.

A record that has its worth in it. Fabric as Social Identity documents a communal textile tradition as part of Womanifesto – WeMend, a project for Lahore Biennale Foundation LB03.

Role & Details Book Layout & Design Mariam Dawood School of Visual Arts and Design (MDSVAD), 2025 Role: Book Layout & Design 

Problem Navy was not an aesthetic choice; it was a deliberate one. The textile's history and the biennale's themes needed a visual language pulled from the material itself, not applied as decoration.

Insight Pulled from the textile. The colour and pattern system was extracted directly from the textile's own palette and motifs rather than an external editorial style.

Concept Two covers, two positions on the same publication; the design resolved into two distinct cover treatments (a dark maroon/navy editorial cover and a warm ochre/pattern-led cover), each offering a different entry point into the same content.

Execution Colour: navy, maroon, ochre, and deep red, drawn directly from the documented textile. Format: dual-cover publication system with a consistent internal layout across both versions, including a companion piece, "Kyun or Where?"

Outcome Multiple cover and layout directions were developed and reviewed before the final version was selected; each section of the publication was resolved with its own distinct layout and theme.

Credits Project: Womanifesto - WeMend for Lahore Biennale Foundation LB03 Institution: Mariam Dawood School of Visual Arts and Design (MDSVAD) Project Lead: Prof. Kiran Khan | Co-Lead: Anam Khurram Sewing & Production: Fehreen Mujahid, Samak Hamid Editor: Prof. Salima Hashmi | Publisher: Artistic Xploratorium Book Layout & Design: Ummul Bannin Haideri ISBN: 978-1-0695957-0-6