RTLTR II: Some time later 2016/2016

Over the course of the year that followed, we put out a number of print products, oriented around the colouring and visual style of the guide- again, having set that precedent to follow, we found it to be more expedient not to reinvent the roundness of the wheel every time, but to try to make a better wheel every time.

2016 did not bring more publications, to my disappointment (and some relief- those things are hard work), but it did provide several opportunities to play around with what we had already developed, and see how it dealt with the ever-changing contexts. And so followed a year of banners, flyers the aforementioned reprint of the "Best Practices" guide. Without going into too much detail, I think I can describe this period as business as usual- we had a certain basic vocabulary established, and familiar with that, we expressed ourselves through it and adapted it into new shapes and contexts.

Throughout year, we realised that the logo we had started out with, which we had inherited from a previous iteration of the association, was not longer in keeping with the visual identity that had evolved in the meantime. I began comparing the logo to others we were encountering in cooperations and joint undertakings, with a special focus on bilingual and translated logos, documenting visual semantics and attempting to find a solution to an old challenge- how to achieve a consistent visual balance between Latin and Arabic type, no matter what the size the type is displayed at (we'll get into that when discussing the actual logo development). But, for the time being, save for a different, more legible font for the Arabic type, the logo remained mostly untouched.

What did shift, however, was the colour palette we were operating with, shifting from full-tone colour to a more pastel palette for most occasions. This was decided upon as, though the group was hosting a number of conferences and meetings, it did not want to visually dominate those meetings, while remaining present, and so it felt appropriate to dial back the flashiness of the designs we had been using in favour of something less ostentatious that we continued refining.

Towards the end of 2017, we began developing the visual identity of a new project: Deutschland bel-logha el 3arabeyya.

And that is where we go in the next part.

Part I can be found here

Comments

IGAF: Utopia- Les Jours Meilleurs

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote this post, titled Dystopia , containing a dark version of the future, a look at the negative outcomes that might crawl out of the COVID-19 crisis. It has, by now been described as "9/11 in slow motion". Someone else broke a golden editorial rule to describe it as "2008 on crack". Media outlets, including Youtube, have warned of the long-term effects of this, on civil rights, labour and employment, surveillance and press freedom. And some, most notably Mr Orban of Hungary, have used this excellent opportunity to pass new, restrictive legislation that concentrates power in their hands. There have been calls for the elusive COVID cure not to be patented. And yet… And yet… It's easy to lose yourself in a media bubble, following the news and media 24/7, following, queuing in line to get into expensive shops, just walking into discount stores and the constant desire for many drinks (preferably with 10 friends or more, in a park

In Taheyya we Trust - How an Egyptian bellydancer found her posthumous stage in Berlin

“You should have winked at her,” Aida said dismissively, as if such a possibility had been imaginable for someone as timid as I was. Tahia Carioca was the most stunning and long-lived of the Arab world’s Eastern dancers (belly-dancers, as they are called today). Edward Said, Farewell to Taheyya My story with Taheyya begins in the summer of 2016, at Bulbuls Café in Görlitzer Str. in Berlin. It ends two blocks down on Wiener Str 17. Bulbuls is a café and art space around my corner that I have grown to like to sit in and drink smoothies (1). He had commissiond us- a crew of Syrian and Egyptian artists, as well as myself, to paint the walls inside the café. El Tenneen (the Dragon) is the one who ended up drawing Sheikh Imam, with the help of Salam Alhassan (known as Salahef/ Turtles) and Sulafa Hijazis (whom we call El Hayya/The Snake’s) beamers’ illumination. The Sheikh sits happily in the place to this day and Crew El-Zoo was born. Tenneen had the adv

Random Browsing gets me a new face.

Two o'clock in the morning is generally a good time to randomly surf the web and the blogs. This lovely lady, known to me only as Wow Legs, points the blogophere in general to this brilliant Manga face creator . Akin to the Simpsonize me Viral effort, this allows you to create a mangaesque face for yourself, using prefab elements that actually work. Hours of fun to be had here. I think this might be how some tv cartoons are made, right down to the script, except that they don't possess the power of a handsome jawline. Just to clarify: This is Wow Legs manga avatar. Generally, I try not to mangafy people I haven't seen in real life. The picture above is something I threw together as a test. UPDATE: I don't know what happened here, but my clarification seems to have caused more damage than good. As my editorial standards prevent me from knowingly misinforming you, I posted the clarification (above) to do exactly that and not mislead the reader. I also wanted to preserve

Caramblogage

Search This Blog