TEHRAN – Iranian graphic designer Aidin Arjomandi stated that he had to forego judging at the 2019 Adobe Design Achievement Awards (ADAA) due to sanctions imposed on Iran by the Trump administration.

In an article published by Persian news agencies last week, Arjomandi said that he had been invited via an email to join the jury of the ADAA, which is held at Adobe HQ in San Francisco, California.

However, the organizers sent another email and said that they could not collaborate with him due to the sanctions.

“I had never been confronted with such discriminatory treatment by societies that always claim they are in a fight against various aspects of discrimination,” Arjomandi stated.

“The organizers of the ADAA have said that they made the decision due to the legal limits imposed by the sanctions, but this explanation failed to convince me,” he added.

The Creative Director of the Arena Design Studio, Arjomandi won A’Design Award in 2015 by inventing a brand new musical instrument, the Celloridoo, which was a hybrid one by combination of cello and the didgeridoo.

He is the member of the World Design Consortium, International Design Club, International Council of Creative Industries and the International Association of Designers.

He was also a member of the juries at the 2018–2019 A’Design Award in Italy and the 2019 Asian Design Award in South Korea.

Photo: Iranian graphic designer Aidin Arjomandi.

MMS/YAW