Snapchat Ramadan Stickers.

Ramadan Kareem! At the beginning of May, I was commissioned by Snapchat to create a series of stickers and geofilters for Ramadan in Turkey and Indonesia. Ramadan is a very unfamiliar event for me, I don’t know much about Muslim culture or Ramadan. Before I turned my career around to become a freelance illustrator I worked as a professional chef. At the last restaurant I worked for they had many Sudanese kitchen porters who did Ramadan and they were always really grumpy as they weren’t allowed to have food and drink before moonrise and in Edinburgh the sun, during late spring, summer, autumn etc doesn’t go down until 9-1pm. So these Sudanese porters were very tired, hungry, and grumpy.

Unfortunately, the restaurant I used to work in is always incredibly busy. It’s one of the “must visit” restaurants in Edinburgh and it’s on the Royal Mile so it’s easily one of the busiest places in Edinburgh. During the summertime, business can be up to three times busier than off-season so I felt very sorry for my colleagues who have to do Ramadan. So this is my first impression of Ramadan.

One of my best friends comes from Indonesia (but lives in Edinburgh) so when I was given this assignment by Snapchat I had a chat with her and she gave me a lot of information about Ramadan in her country. For example, Katupat is the green food parcel which is a staple for Indonesian Ramadan. All the text I put on these stickers and geofilters comes from information I got from Snapchat. I don’t speak Turkish nor Indonesian so I can only work on the information I was given so if anything is wrong on my stickers, please don’t be too hard on me.

I also looked for a lot of information online. For example, in Turkey the last three days of Ramadan will turn into a “candy/sweet festival” and kids will get lots of candies or sweets during this period of time. So I illustrated and designed a few stickers with cute and fun Turkish sweets like Turkish delight. Of course, I didn’t forget the delicious Turkish baklava, pita bread, and kebab! Oh how I love Turkish food! Turkey is one of country I’m dying to visit in my life and I really hope one day I can visit Turkey!

I used a lot of happy and fun colours as I asked my Muslim friend exactly how they felt about Ramadan, as my experience with Ramadan is all about being tired, exhausted, and grumpy. My friend told it’s the happiest time of the year so that’s why I used lots of happy and fun colours to celebrate this holiest event with all my Muslim friends and audience.

If you’re participating in Ramadan, please keep well hydrated, keep cool and enjoy your Iftar (I wish one day I can join Iftar as the food looks so delicious! Hope you like these Snapchat Ramadan Stickers.