Acknowledgement | September 2012

The Designs of Diana Duzbayeva

Tracey L. Anderson

Diana Duzbayeva is from Almaty, the former capital of Kazakhstan. In 2000, she graduated from the Kazakh Leading Academy of Architecture and Civil Engineering as an environmental economist. Six years ago, she moved to Canada, which has now become her “second home because of its cultural variety and immense hospitality.” Diana’s appreciation of Canada’s multiculturalism led her to volunteer as an assistant English teacher for the Immigrant Women’s Association.

After winning second prize in the “best portrait of a man” category (and two honourable mentions) in the 2009 International Antique Photo Parlour Contest sponsored by the not-for-profit organization Antique and Amusement Photographers International, Diana decided to pursue a career in photography. She chose MacEwan University’s Design and Photography program. As a 2012 graduate, Diana’s main career goal is to become “a documentary photographer and explore and advocate for ethno- cultural communities and environmental issues in Canada and throughout the world.”

Diana’s design for the Earth Common Journal cover this year was inspired by the title Who will speak for the Earth? She says, “While I was brainstorming for the ideas, I was thinking ‘how can I unite organic design and social media’? In my graphic, I wanted to illustrate the call for environmental advocacy.” Based on the idea of organic design, she made a decision to hand draw the image rather than create a computerized image. “I wanted all elements to look as natural as possible… Nature doesn’t have perfect geometric forms. Everything in nature is rough and uneven.” Diana’s colour choices reflect a desire to use natural earth tones, and her choice of background references the idea of recycled paper. Her use of the Earth as the head of the microphone brilliantly illustrates the theme of this issue and showcases the idea that anyone who is ready can take up the call.

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