Polymode designed This Morning, This Evening, So Soon: James Baldwin and the Voices of Queer Resistance which accompanies the exhibition by the same title at the National Portrait Gallery curated by Rhea L. Combs. The catalogue was edited by the Pulitzer Prize–winning author Hilton Als together with Rhea L. Combs.

The book brings together artworks that feature James Baldwin alongside portraits of other key figures who had an impact on his life and situates him among a pantheon of culture bearers who were instrumental in shaping his life and legacy, particularly in relationship to his advocacy for gay rights.

La Grotesque (designed by Francesca Bolognini and Naïma Ben Ayed) is used as a core typeface on the book cover and for titles and captions throughout the book. La Grotesque embodies stories of queerness and migration which echos the life of Baldwin. More on the typeface design process at TPTQ Arabic. It is supported by Joshua Darden’s Dapifer.

The catalogue was published in hardback (9″×0.6″×12.5″, 112 pages) by DelMonico Books/National Portrait Galley.

I have designed the typography for Remi Laudat’s short movie Afro-Arab. It includes the names and identities of the protagonists set in La Grotesque in both Arabic and English, as well as the movie credits and a custom lettering piece for the movie title.

You can watch the movie online on Remi Laudat’s website. He writes:

This film explores the complexities and experiences of what it means to be Afro-Arab. For many years Africa and the Middle East have been connected. However not many people speak about the nuances and experience of the people who are born from the fusion of both cultures. The merging of two worlds – Africa and the Arabian Peninsula – create an identity that is known as Afro-Arab.

La Grotesque is co-designed by Naïma Ben Ayed (Arabic) and Francesca Bolognini (Latin). It was designed in an effort to create Arabic‭ and ‬Latin in collaboration‭, ‬like a conversation among friends‭, ‬like a meal you prepare together. La Grotesque is a fun summer trip from Marseille (France) to La Marsa (Tunisia) via Marsala (Italy), celebrating the interconnectedness of the Mediterranean triangle that forms our cultural heritages.