Projek DNA was a project that got the founding team members inspired while working for Brotherhood Arts (Bro Arts), a local design studio based in Taman Melati, KL. DNA is an abbreviation for “Dengan Nama Allah” which is a literal translation of the Arabic, Bismillah. During the two years of the project, we come out with three series:

The “Standard Issue” ⎯Projek DNA OGs is a packet of 3 stickers printed on a gold-foil sticker paper and 2 button badges the size of old Malaysia 50 cent packed in a custom DIY-ed Kraft paper sachet. We also pre-made a thank-you note with Bismillah khat for a what soon-to-be produced T-Shirt series.

The “Yang Empat” ⎯derived from the four characteristics of prophet Muhammad ⎯ Siddiq (truthfulness), Amanah (trustworthy), Tabligh (informative) & Fatonah (intelligent). There were three different merch produced under the Yang Empat series which were a set of sticker & button badges, a hand-cut A4 poster printed on a canvas, and t-shirt.

The last of the project series was a A1 size poster calendar for the new year back in 2014 with the the theme of “With hardship, will be ease”.

The overall branding back then was to produced something that is unique and different. The direction that we decided to take was not that difficult because back then, the Islamic-themed produced product was rather rare and the design world was not yet fully immersed in the circle yet. Even if there were some design-led elements, it was somewhat saturated because the design was led by a small group of people.

Projek DNA was a passion project driven and inspired by the Islamic community. No money was made but we enjoyed the time and have a lot of fun working on it.