Behind The Coding – Mahlaka Bint Shahzad – Graphic Designer

Hi Mahlaka! 

Hi Sajeel 

What are the last 3 things you Googled? 

The first thing I Googled was about Barbie 

The movie? 

Yeah! I was interested in the different marketing strategies and tactics they used.  

What did you find? 

Well, they did a lot of co-branding. For example, on the HGTV channel, one of the shows renovated a house to make Barbie’s Dream House. 

And did you watch that? 

Yeah, of course! I love the HGTV channel and love doing home improvement and design projects. 

Nice Mahlaka! What else did you Google? 

Some Quick Style clips 

Mahlaka, you’re going to have to help me out a little… 

What do you mean? You don’t know Quick Style 

Come on Mahlaka I was your age 412 years ago 😊. 

Hahaha.  Ok let me explain, Quick Style is a group like the Computan team. 

Really? How? 

They are people from different places and cultures who come together and make a great team. 

What are they a team of, though? Clothing designers? That’s what it sounds like… 

No! They are a team of dancers from different countries.   

Ah I see! And you like to dance? 

Of course! I like to dance, but mostly in an empty room….and by myself. 

Nothing wrong with that at all Mahlaka! 

Of course, there isn’t! 

When was the last time you worked after hours to solve a hard problem? 

The other day, I was working with Laraib (Laraib Mushtaq, a marketing specialist on the Computan team) on some LinkedIn carousels. I had never done that before.  

Interesting! And did you figure it out? 

Yes! I did.  Also the other day I downloaded the latest version of InDesign and spent all night playing with it.  Does that count? 

Of course it does!  Who are 3 people you'd like to have dinner with at the same time, and why? 

One would be Sadequain 

Who is Sadequain? 

He’s a fantastic calligraphy artist from Pakistan.  I would love to pick his brain and learn new techniques. Also, get his thoughts on art and design.

Ok! Who else besides Sadequain? 

Mark Zuckerberg the CEO of Meta. 

Are you sure you wouldn’t want to talk with Zark Muckberg? Your QC Engineer teammate? 

Hahaha. Not over dinner no.

Ok, why Mark Zuckerberg? 

I would love to learn how he executed his ideas and made it so big. 

Didn’t he steal much of the credit and innovation from his co-founders? 😊 

Even so, it would be an exciting occasion. 

Agreed. Who else? 

My parents and my elder brother.  They are all nice people. My dad retired recently and was a construction supervisor. I was also thinking of studying architecture.  

Really? I didn’t know that! 

Yes, many people in my family are architects.   

So cool. 

It really is. 

When was the last time you cried tears of laughter? 

Hahaha.  That happens every day Sajeel.   

Wow! You are blessed. 

My mom is jolly, so it’s easy for me to cry tears of laughter all the time.  There is one particular memory I’d like to share. 

Sure! I would love to hear it.  

In University, my friend and I had an assignment to create an art piece using mixed media from a novel. But we skipped the assignment and worked on drawing for an art contest instead. 

Oh no. 

Yeah. We kept delaying the assignment, and finally, on the last day, we put it together in 1 hour and handed it in. To us, it was the worst thing we had ever seen.  But our teacher loved it! We got the highest marks in the whole class on that assignment! 

No way! I guess art means something different for everyone! 

Hahaha! I guess so, but that had us both laughing like crazy.  

I can imagine! What do you love about designing? 

Everything! I can do whatever I want to do with my imagination.  I love breaking the rules. 

Is that your secret? 

I think so! I love to get an assignment, try to break or follow the rules just enough, and then add my creativity. 

You are a professional rule-breaker. 

Yes! Hahaha…I never thought of it that way. 

When was the first time you saw a laptop/computer Mahlaka? 

I was six years old. We got a desktop computer for my older brother, who wanted to do software engineering in school.  I used to play games, listen to music, and watch movies on it. 

You do all those things now on a computer, too, right? 

Hahaha! Yeah, especially the games part.   

What is something your teammates don't know about you? 

I have a lot of interests! There are too many to list. Table tennis, badminton, puppies, computer games, music…if you name it, I probably like it.   

OK, what is something you don’t like? 

I’m an artist like my fellow graphic designers. When someone wants to revise my art, I always can’t help but get a little offended…because they are modifying my creativity! 

Hahaha! The Designer’s Curse. 

Yes definitely.