We at Sakina Design do our best to combine the contemporary and traditional, creating a unique and elegant look. This concept goes beyond our products, permeating our entire company, including  our name and logo. Judging from the response, we’ve been successful … if not a bit confusing. Some have even asked if we’re Turkish, to which we reply … hayir.

Joking aside … we do want to spread some clarity on this issue. We’re a U.S. company based out of southern California. Our approach is to pull on traditional Islamic art and give it a contemporary look.

To represent the traditional we have taken the name ’sakina’, which is the transliteration of the Arabic word for ‘tranquility’.

And to represent the contemporary we use a very clean and modern font. The connection to the original Arabic is retained by keeping the corresponding dots of the Arabic letters. The letter ‘a’ at the end of ’sakina’ is also reversed to make it look more like its corresponding Arabic letter. All this gives our logo a somewhat Turkish appearance. A society which also bridges the eastern and western worlds.

We hope this helps to answer your questions and clarify any confusion.

With Peace and Tranquility!

Quality products start with quality designs. For this we thank our obsessive-compulsive graphic designer, who does not rest until every last detail is perfect. She spends considerable time contemplating the use of our products before even designing them. As a result, you will notice our wall art and greeting cards are flexible and convenient. Because of this process, our wall art can be used individually to fill small spaces, or combined to fill larger spaces. This insightful design strategy was also applied to our greeting cards. By using a “greeting insert” we allow our customers to use the same card for any situation.

After finalizing the design, we proceed to the next step, identifying manufacturers who can meet our quality standards. For our wall art, we work with a U.S. framer who hires craftsmen committed to high quality standards. Together we selected a recycled wood product that was not only eco-friendly and contemporary, but also stronger than any virgin wood. The printing process for the wall art naturally involves minor variations and imperfections as part of the process. However, if we feel these variations take away from the quality of the artwork, we do not allow it to be framed. This is accomplished through a painstaking process of going through each piece of art individually.

For our greeting cards, we utilize one of the latest techniques to create an elegant look and feel, laser die cutting. This technique is applied to high quality 100% post-consumer (PCW) recycled, chlorine-free paper. We also use thicker paper in order to maintain rigidity and give it a high quality appearance and feel. Instead of the traditional petroleum based inks, we use more eco-friendly soy-based inks. However, we don’t stop there.  We also ensure that the inks contain no toxic heavy-metal compounds.

I hope this helps to explain some of the steps we’ve taken to produce quality merchandise that we hope will set a new standard for “Islamic products”.

Many people have approached us, concerned that our wall art may not fit the space they want to decorate. However, we feel confident that our artwork can fit almost any area. We specifically chose the square shape for this reason. Depending upon the size and shape of the space you want to fill, you can order the appropriate number of pieces, and arrange them accordingly.

For example if you want to fill in the area above you sofa, you might want to use three pieces of art arranged horizontally:

Or maybe you want them arranged diagonally:

If the space is tall, you can purchase four pieces and arrange them in a square:

Maybe there is an area underneath or above a staircase you want to fill:

Use two pieces to fill in a narrow area.

Smaller areas can easily be filled by a single piece:

The beauty of the square shape is that it provides almost unlimited flexibility. Combine our geometric patterns with calligraphy to fit your style and decorating needs.

Please share your creativity with everyone. Submit photos of our artwork in your home and we’ll choose some of them to post on our blog.