Located in Beirut, Lebanon, Nation Station stands as a testament to resilience and unity. Originally an abandoned gas station, it was transformed after the tragic Beirut blast into a community kitchen that nourishes and supports residents in need. It invites everyone to participate, whether by volunteering in the kitchen or helping with meal preparation, fostering a welcoming environment for all community members.

The branding embodies these core values through thoughtful typographic choices that leverage local Arabic elements. The incorporation of the kashida—a typographic elongation of characters—alongside the Inline Arabic typeface by Arabic Typography, ensures a sense of unity and inclusiveness. These decisions not only enhance the visual identity but also reflect the collaborative spirit that defines Nation Station. In the logo, it is paired with Aeonik from CoType.

This is further maintained through the use of both Arabic and Latin scripts. Gawhar, designed by Heheh Type, was selected as the secondary Arabic typeface for its readability across various platforms and sizes. The pairing with the dashing and elongated Formula from Pangram Pangram introduces a dynamic interplay between x-heights. This contrast creates a visual balance and a sense of aliveness in the identity. Each language and script contributes uniquely to the branding, adding depth and character.

Bridging these distinct typefaces – differing in language, script, proportions, and style – symbolizes the cohesion and collaboration at Nation Station. This typographic strategy, complemented by the use of contrasting colors, underscores the message of unity in diversity.

Bagdad Motors is a a short documentary film about Hassouni, the youngest driver and drifter in Baghdad. Directed by Charles Thiefaine and produced by Miles Cinema, it works to reveal moments in the life of an Iraqi teenager.

For the title design, I combined Dobb for the Arabic with Media Sans for the English text. You can watch the film on Nowness.

Nardine Shenouda and her team at Ntsal Cairo developed the design direction for the Shasha Mobile Film Festival, a festival in Cairo, Egypt that was launched to celebrate the short films shot only using mobile phones. It created a space for young talents to compete, promote, expose, and challenge themselves amongst other filmmakers and storytellers.

The identity pairs the Arabic typeface Dobb by Heheh Type (available via Future Fonts) with Space Grotesk by Florian Karsten. The visual identity was created by Nada Sultan, and the digital experience executed by Yasmine Nagui & Lama Ahmed. Nardine Shenouda of Ntsal Cairo explains:

Our strategy for this project was to channel the innate rawness of filmmaking on a mobile phone into a visual identity and an iconic Arabic logo. So we went for a fresh, raw and flexible take on things through custom Arabic lettering, a candy palette, and heavy use of texture which was perfectly complemented by the heavily stylized Arabic typeface Dobb by Heheh type foundry, whose heavy weight provided the necessary contrast with our freeform elements and bright palette.

Poster showing the medicine’s packaging.

Shoglanol is a poster series I did in response to an open call by archief cairo. Under the title “Makhtout” (مخطوط⁣, manuscript), the multilingual lab for research, preservation and communication presents “designers with an opportunity to explore and experiment with the relationship between Arabic-Islamic manuscripts and contemporary graphic design. It challenges designers to interpret these manuscripts in today’s context.”

My concept was to create a fictitious medicine for workaholics that would help them take a break, have fun, and rest. Shoglanol is derived from the Arabic word shogl (“work”) .

On a formal level, I took inspiration from some of the geometric patterns and graphical elements found in old manuscripts, then slightly modifying and modernizing them to fit my idea. The placement of key text elements in clouds (or bubbles) references a commonly used way to highlight text in manuscripts. Likewise, the layout and the framing is directly inspired by historical examples.

I chose Dobb because it has this sort of playfulness in the way the letters are drawn. Furthermore, it’s a hybrid Naskh Thuluth typeface. Such styles were commonly used in old manuscripts. I felt that the amount of boldness and jest in Dobb is a good fit for my concept. I paired it with Iranian Sans, another typeface in the Naskh genre that is also a little frisky. Iranian Sans is easily readable at a small sizes. Its texture gives the vibe of handwriting, which made the content feel lighter and not so formal, in addition to enhancing the humorous part in the concept.

I was lucky enough that my posters were selected from the Makhtout open call and will be featured in a physical exhibition. Due to Covid-19, the time and place is yet to be determined.

Poster advertising the medicine.

This poster takes the shape of a medicine leaflet. The content on it was written in a humorous way.