07.Feb.2011 Palatino Sans Arabic wins award and Egypt is still on fire
Never before have I felt it so strongly, that design without a cultural purpose is headed to the dustbins of history. Surely design is meant for more than just ephemera? Two weeks ago I was informed that my Palatino Sans Arabic has won a TDC award for typographic excellence. No need to describe, I was [...]
29.Apr.2009 Khede Kasra: the power of Arabic script
A very interesting post about a successful campaign in Lebanon.
31.Dec.2008 The story of Koufiya: Part I
Koufiya is not a typeface. Koufiya is an idea born through a war-torn childhood, a struggling region, and a great passion for design. Culture, politics, and design come together to mesh into a wish for open communication and equal status. Koufiya is about dialogue and harmony among opposites. It’s about co-existence without the loss of [...]
13.Jun.2008 De Niro’s Game
A Lebanese writer won the prestigious International Impac Dublin Literary Award. His book is about two childhood friends growing up in the Lebanese civil war. I have just ordered it from Amazon. More info here.
26.May.2008 Wishing for peace
There is light at the end of this long tunnel. Today the Lebanese parliament voted for a new president and it seems that there is this small chance that things will be ok for my home country. For more than 3 years now Lebanon has been beset with all sorts of political troubles. My family, [...]
12.Mar.2008 Great opening credits: The Kite Runner
I saw this a while ago in the theater and loved the movie. Today I thought to post a link to the opening credits. Great score and wonderful animation with faux-Arabic. These people did their research and were able to create a wonderful mood. In case you do decide to watch the movie, bring tissues. [...]
17.Sep.2007 Lebanese money
16.Jul.2007 Design for Peace: One year on
Last summer I started working on t-shirt designs that call for the stop of the Israeli aggression against Lebanon. As a political tool, they achieved nothing, but then neither did the UN so I’m not so worried. As a design expression, it helped me voice my own feelings at the time and I found that [...]
18.Feb.2007 Edward Said: Graduation speech at AUB in 2000
He doesn’t mention typography per se, but he did mention dialogue… I had quoted from this speech several times now. We even quoted it in the press release for the Kitabat Conference in Dubai. This person is a gem, possibly the greatest Arab thinkers in the 20th century. I am posting below the entire graduation [...]
14.Feb.2007 My type of love; my love of type
So this morning the Lebanese were exploding with happiness and love. 3 of them went to heaven. Tomorrow is Valentine’s day. It’s been 2 years now. What a cruel cruel thing, to transform the day of love to a day of mourning and sadness. Love turns into the promise of death and the veil comes [...]