MUBS Art & Design Department Works with Ministry of Public health to Design Awareness Campaign for Ma3an App

By MUBS Communications Dept., 2000-2021.

The Art and Design Department at the Modern University for Business & Science (MUBS) partnered with the Ministry of Public Health (MOPH) to create an awareness campaign for its latest application, “Ma3an”, the official contact tracing and exposure notification app for Lebanon. The application was conceived and developed by the Ministry of Public Health in collaboration with a team of experts from the American University of Beirut’s Faculty of Health Sciences, Faculty of Engineering and Architecture, and Faculty of Arts and Sciences, supported by TedMob.

MUBS Graphic Design students were tasked with designing the material for the awareness campaign and presenting their projects to a jury of designers and MoPH’s Director of the National e-Health Program, Mrs. Lina Abou Mrad.

Upon its arrival to Lebanon in February 2020, the spread of COVID-19 was relatively under control, with the Ministry reporting less than 100 daily cases from 15 March 2020 to 12 July 2020. After the tragic explosion that devastated Beirut Port on 4 August, 2020, reported cases began to skyrocket, with a daily count exceeding 1,000 cases since mid-September, and setting a new record of 2,817 cases in one day on 6 December 2020.

The launch of MoPH’s tracking application “Ma3an” could not have come at a better time. Ma3an helps users fight the COVID-19 epidemic by using Bluetooth® technology on mobile devices to broadcast its presence anonymously to other mobile devices, alerting the user to infected cases in the immediate vicinity when detected. The system is designed to be energy-efficient, and does not collect any geolocation or GPS data to guarantee confidentiality and privacy.

Participants in the competition included graphic design students in their senior year. Each of our 30 designers worked closely with the faculty at the department to create social media posts, an animation and a video. The winning projects would be adopted as the official Ma3an app awareness campaign.

The competition took place on the 11th of December, 2020 via Zoom platform, with jury members including Mrs. Rima Ammar, Art & Design Department Chair, and Graphic Design Instructors, Mr. Rawad Dalal, and Ms. Zeina Jamaledine, in addition to MUBS Art Director, Mrs. Ginan Saeed, and MoPH representative and e-Health Program Director, Mrs. Lina Abou Mrad.

The collaboration with the Ministry is unique as it offers students the opportunity to test their skills in a real life professional experience, where designers present a proposed project to a client- in this case, the Ministry of Public Health. Students faced the similar challenges to those awaiting them in the competitive graphic design field beyond the University campus.

“These collaborations are very important for our Department as they serve to bridge theory with practice. They prepare our students to stand out as competitive key players in the marketplace,” commented Mrs. Rima Ammar, Art & Design Department Chair.

The jury selected the submission of student Sara Mahmoud as the winning project in the “Animation Design” category, and the submission of student Hiba Bahmad as the winning project in the “Video Design” category. Both wining projects highlighted, with creative excellence, the importance of the application and its use to fight the spread of the disease.

Speaking of the experience, Ms. Mahmoud stated that the competition “was an enjoyable opportunity and a new experience for a great purpose,” and expressed her pride that she could “take part in raising awareness to enhance wellbeing and good health during these difficult times.”

The winners have also secured an internship with the MoPH to fully develop their designs and oversee their execution in the coming weeks. Mrs. Lina Abou Mrad reiterated the Ministry’s commitment to partnership, adding that, “the Ministry encourages collaborations with the academic sector, which we view as a critical aspect of MoPH success in engaging the community at large. MUBS Art & Design Department has provided creative support, and a fresh perspective, which is welcome and appreciated.”



The collaboration with the Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) reaffirms the University's commitment to UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), specifically SDG 3 that aims to ensure healthy lives and wellbeing for all. It also demonstrates a commitment to SDG 17 which addresses building partnerships towards these goals.

For additional information, kindly reach out to Rima Ammar [rammar@mubs.edu.lb], Chair at the Department of Art and Design at MUBS.