The document discusses the design of an Arabic version of the Dutch store HEMA called El HEMA, including the logo designed by Tarek Atrissi and products sold at the exhibit such as Arabic chocolate letters and clothing with Arabic text. It also describes the opening event which included an Arabesque fashion show and attracted long lines of customers. The project aimed to showcase new Arabic typefaces in a realistic recreation of a HEMA store.

1. El hema Arabic design 10$

3. Contents
04 Editorial
06 Advertising design EL HEMA , the Arabic fictive version of
the famous Dutch HEMA depatement
Store. EL HEMA originally a, idea of Me-
diamatic was organized this year
through cosmoplis incollaboration with
the brand hotel and we were glad at
Tarek Atrissi Design to be commissioned
for the design of the design to be com-
missioned for the design of the main
graphic and information design work in-
voleved in the project.EL HEMA designs
was a huge success the lines soon strete-
ched around the block .The visitors could
buy the designs The creativity about
HEMA have many original idea ,no ar-
tistic profession has been courted more
intensively by advertising in preceding
decades as that of visual artist.
18 Projects 36 Print 54 Gallery
Blog Tarek Atrissi: Pro- The pantone Matching Event Art dubai 2009,
posal routes for MTV System of color ,the leading contemporary
Arabia is Identity and accuracy of Pantone and internationnal
El Ghad design . Mul- color is critical in gra- Gallery to go to the
saqat project by khatt phic design tools of event Dubai Art for the
foundation design . print . third edition.
26 Photography 40 Software 60 Professional advice
The work about the Creative Suite CS4:
arabic artist photogra- Photoshop,Illustrator,I 20 ways ti avoid creative block,Use the
phier Toufic Arman ndesign,Flash,Dream following 20 tips to avoid and get
and a the concept, the weaweaver and Fire through a tough designer's block.
vision and philosophy works.
by this artist.
34 Type design 48 Interview 64 Books
The new arabic type by Interview with the ara-
Bifan magazine it is bic designer Yousef Ik- « Visual narratives from Arabic» by Tarek
design by Kassis Ma- freis,he is a graphic Atrissi and«Graphic design from the
riem , Bifan arabic designer and anima- Arab world »,Arabesque investigates The
arial type, it is inspired tion industry, he is from book collects of recent innovative and
by the latin Arial type. Jordon. groundbreaking design work .
Contents 03

4. Editorial
Welcome
The graphics professionals are always looking to preserve a certain spiritual free-
dom and a special aesthetic sensibility and the evolution of new technologies for crea-
ting, now the designer is expected to be about news of his domain. In particular,
graphic Arabic is known to maintain and deepen its knowledge to affirm its identity
and existence despite the obstacles that face and obstructing movement. It must also
acquire the domain specific language to enter the world of graphic design and more
about its methods and tools. The graphic designer Arabic must be open to the Gra-
phic Arts and informed on new trends and the latest graphics tools and creative com-
munication methods to be able to achieve its mission, Hence the mission of actors in
the Arab graphic design is not limited to the simple design, but any expression of
Arab culture, a culture renewed and adapted to the new. The role of Arab graphic
designer is not so simple but it is important . This is the main vehicle of our new ma-
gazine " Bifan ", with mediation between modernity and originality to a new vision of
art in particular and Arab art world in general. We thank the whole team for their par-
ticipation so that our publication is born.
Editor by KASSIS Mariem
welcome to Bifan magazine ,the new
magazine for Arabic graphic designers
in our space of the universe and all gra-
phics to the art and visual communica-
tion Bifani is your new magazine invites
you to join this world, our team is made
to ensure a good reading on areas and
subjects of interes.Gallery, Projects , ad-
vertising design, Print,Books, Advice
,Software...
The Group of Khatt foundation
(www.khatt.com)
Tarek atrissi
Mariam Al Dabbagh
kassis Mariem
Huda Abi farés
04 Editorial

5. 9

6. Advertising design
El Hema Arabic Design
Hema becomes El Hema
HEMA stores are official suppliers of tatouages of work on design
my bicycle lamps. HEMA annually brings Arabist.HEMA and design are closely lin-
together designers for a contest but this ked we know. Mediamatic designers
year, the mark was doubled by another have presented their project El Hema in
design. Mediamatic is a very interesting Dutch Design Contest 2007 in the cate-
creative located at the foot of the provi- gory visual id. Apparently it has rained.
sional location of the Museum of Modern The metamorphosis of the contemporary
Art in the city Stedelijk Museum CS Post. Hema to an Arabic modern . Taking a
Many facilities and conferences on des- step further in developing its
ign and new media are developed.At the brand,Hema seems to be smoothly intro-
moment, this Mediamatic El Hema, an ducing its new simplified logo on the
exercise in style on the opening of a store products. The Arabic version of the new
HEMA North Africa. The exhibition would logo was designed based on the primary
then look like a shop whose display pos- El - Hema, originally designed by Tarek
ters and play on the Arabic typography Atrissi .The difference is minor but gives
and a staging capable of creating a vi- the shop a more updated image. The lo-
sual id célèblres close to the shops. Ani- gotype drops the blue underline and lays
mations are organized works henna down on a bright square with edges.
El HEMA logo was designed by Tarek
Atrissi using The Mix Arabic from the
Khatt set of fonts.It was designed by
Lucas de Groot and Mouneer Al-Shaa-
rani with the support of Pascal Zoghbi.
T-shirts very fashion about EL HEMA.
06 Advertising design

7. Khatt Foundation
The Khatt Foundation was created in with the Western perception of typogra-
2004 in Amsterdam as a non-profit cul- phy. For Khatter foundation, typography
tural foundation dedicated to design re- should serve as a cultural bridge bet-
search and development through ween Europe and the Middle East. To
projects and programs that focus on re- promote the book and typo) chart in the
juvenating (from within the culture) the Arab world, has revolutionized the world
applied arts traditions of the Arab world of typography to 5 asking to join Dutch
and the Middle East. The word khatt not designers to 5 designers to create Arab
only refers to writing, script, lettering, cal- Arabic characters with "a key Dutch in
ligraphy, and typographic style. It also order not westernize of Arabic typogphy,
means line, as in a trace on a page… a but to make it more contemporary, talk
line of thinking… a direction. The story about Arab culture, the Khatter Foundtion
starts with AbiFarès Huda Smitshuijzen, and the Dutch company Mediamatic
a young Lebanese woman married to a have appealed to 5 young graphic des-
Dutchman, author of the book "Typogra- igners, four Lebanese and a one Kuwaiti
phic matchmaking." In a spirit of cultural . In Holland, they have a very false idea Posters advertising the store with new
exchange and abolition of prejudices of Arabs, and for this reason that Khatter logo Arabized El Hema, is a key Arab.
about the Arab community, the represen- Foundation and organized an exhibition
tative of Khatter Foundation (Khatter or in Holland for the book launch and im-
calligraphy in Arabic),a nonprofit orga- plementation of these typefaces . It was
nization working to develop and improve at that time that we intervene in this ad- The Khatt Kufi & Kaffiya Symposium on
communication (Fwith a design that is venture. Arabic Visual Culture.
Advertising design 07

8. Advertising design
EL HEMA MODESHOW
El Hema could not have opened its
doors without an official Arabesque
fashion show displaying some of the
available merchandise at the exhibit. The
models, which included the five El Hema
graphic design , strutted down the cat-
walk wearing burkas and turquoise
ropes around their heads as spectators,
photographers and TV. Upon reaching
the end of the stage, a strategically pla-
ced fan blew their burkas up revealing
models wearing t-shirts with Arabic pick-
up lines designed by intern Abrar Al-Mu-
sallam, Arabic “I AMsterdam” t-shirts
created by intern Wael Morcos, and a
chosen selection from the Morecult
fashion label designed by Farida Nouna
and Thomas van Gelder. The crowd
cheered and applauded after each burka
gracefully flew up. Choreographer Mar-
tin Butler said he developed the concept
for the show after returning from a trip
to Istanbul two weeks ago. While on va-
cation he said he saw someone step on
the bottom of a woman’s burka. When
she took a step forward it caused her
burka to rise in the front revealing her
pair of fashionable Jimmy Choo
pumps.“I wanted the [El Hema] show to
be more quirky, for it to be a full unvei-
ling.”The concept worked well as the day
not only marked the unveiling of a new
book, exhibit and clothing line, but also
a glimpse into modern Arab culture.
Long queues leading up to the exposition
area, attention in the national press of
the Netherlands, heated comments on
weblogs about the loss or the very en-
richment of culture: seldom has there
been so much ado about typography.
Five new Arabic fonts led to a symposium
discussing contemporary.
08 Advertising design

9. An exposition of t-shirts, price tags, cho- the more popular items were the choco-
colates and plastic bags. But the real late bars, embroidered kitchen towels,
point was the font.After the fashion show, underwear and hamsa tank tops. Inside
the excited crowd hurried inside Media- the muggy exhibit room, attendee Karen
matic’s exhibition room to experience Voors stood at the end of the long check-
what an Arab version of a Hema store out line waiting to pay for a hamsa tank
looked like. Exhibit-goers were not allo- top and an Arabic book. She said she
wed to buy any of the merchandise until had been anticipating the opening of the
Saturday, but were welcomed to stay for exhibit and had even marked the date on
drinks and music outside the exhibit her calendar. "It’s a fun way of combi-
room. "In Lebanon, nobody stands in line ning both cultures," she said. "People can
for t-shirts," graphic design intern Khajag either take it for granted or go on and
Apelian said. "We didn’t expect this to think about it." Karen Mulder who bought
happen with El Hema—it’s exciting!" In- kitchen towels and a box of hagelslag
side parents and children ransacked the decorated with Arab patterns and des-
store as they searched for their favorite t- igns said it would be nice if the real
shirts, djellabas, socks, bottles of wine, Hema would provide Arabesque pro-
books and even Halal sausages. Organi- ducts such as these. Both ladies agreed
zers eventually had to limit the number the designers did an excellent job of ma-
of t-shirts and which items customers king the store look like a real Hema
could buy in order to keep the exhibit store. Interns Apelian and Morcos said
looking like an exhibit. Organizers said they were extremely happy .
Advertising design 09

10. Advertising design
A concentrate of creativity
Sticker pointing towards towards the
Kaaba in Mecca on the celling of the el
hema show-room in amsterdam. the ins-
cription reads al qibla, which is used to
indicate the direction that should be
faced when a Muslim prays.
The project had gotten quite a bit of while the t-shirts are really nice (al-
media attention as HEMA had been so though the my favorite one does not
stupid to threaten to sue mediamatic for even have text on it) my favorite part of
trademark infringement some 4 weeks the whole installation is the little arrow on
back (which is more of less the best free the celing in one of the corners that indi-
publicity you can get). the whole thing is cates the direction of the Kaaba in Mecca
really well executed (much respect to the (’qibla’). makes me almost want to have
whole team that worked on it over the one for my flat…. The Khatter Founda-
last two months). they did not sell any- tion and the company Mediamatic provi-
thing on the opening night on friday ded them this opportunity. A dream that,
and when they finally started selling the for these 5 hopes the Middle East, has
merchandise they almost got run over by become a reality. Through this award,the
hordes of dutch people who acted as if t- doors were opened for young people
shirts with arabic script are something who have found jobs upon their return to
that that never existed before: just try to the fold. Like what, intercultural ex-
image the opposite scenario: arabs changes are always very positive.Hema
going crazy over t-shirts with latin script didn’t see it that way, however. Large
on it (hint: does not really happen unless posters outside the exhibition waived all
you are taling about expensive brand responsibility for the project, emphasi-
names). today when i passed by media- zing that Hema had no part in it. The
matic there was a linestretching almost posters also said that Hema followed El
100 m outside of the shop. El hema Hema .
10 Advertising design

11. The interesting thing about the new fonts
is not only how they were received, but
also how they were conceived. Teams of
Dutch and Arabic typographers worked
on designing modern Arabic fonts that
can be combined with Western fonts wi-
thout either of the two dominating. A dif-
ficult challenge among the designers. As
well as the different writing traditions.
Nadine Chahine, one of the participa-
ting typographers, explains: "Graphic
design is improving in the Middle East,
but many of the projects are done in
Latin script. The beautiful things we have
are in museums, but the things that re-
gular people see on the street are so
ugly! You want Latin and Arabic script on
the same page .
The dream of a typographer who grew
up during the Lebanese civil war: Please,
no more conflict."The cooperative project
Typographic Matchmaking was an initia-
tive of the Khatt Foundation. The objec-
tive of the Khatt Foundation is to initiate
dialogue between the Arabic world and
the Western world, and to contribute to
an Arabic identity. The foundation hopes
this will initiate cultural change. Huda
Smitshuijzen AbiFarès of the Khatt Foun-
dation: "The font was a logical starting
point. Script is an identifying part of the
culture." Identity is one word that was fre-
quently repeated during the symposium.
Not always in the same meaning, howe-
ver. While visionaries talked about fin-
ding and communicating one's cultural
identity, others were discussing the des-
ign of a good corporate identity.
Advertising design 11

12. Advertising design
El Hema products
El Hema choclate
The EL HEMA exhibition will open at the
Mediamatic exhibition space. It is a tem-
porary shop where the new Arabic type-
faces are used in the styling of the
exhibition and in the products, such as
Arabic chocolate letters and several other
products. The products of El Hema in an
identical with labels translated into
Dutch, English and articles.." Arabic in
the new fonts created. "They wanted to
make the expo as true as possible,the
place resembles true supermarket Hema.
So we began to study lighting, shelving,
tiling, infrastructure in general, and any-
thing that characterizes the supermarket
Hema.They have proposed to customers
items that had inscriptions in Arabic
,chocolates Arabic letters .
A concentrate of creativity Chocolate let- However, with the exhibit less than 20
ters reflect a cultural aspect of dutch tra- days away, it would be quite costly and
ditions and creating the first chocolate time consuming to make molds for all 19
letters to include them in the exhibition letters, Baeiras said. It took him one and
was a must. Bernardo worked on the a half days to create one mold with a kit
molds of the typeface Fedra Bold and re- that cost about 50 euros. Negotiations
vealed the first results on the koopavond are still being made. Similarly, measures
,The idea directly coincides with the or- are also being taken to produce a do-it-
ganizers’ concept of creating an Arabic yourself stamp kit designed by graphic
version of the Netherlands’ Hema chain design intern Maria Hakim.this is the first
stores to publicize the release of five new Arab chocoladeletters in the Nether-
Arabic fonts. By creating products with lands. In recent months, the Mediamatic
Arab inspired culture, El Hema organi- molds for the letters in the Fablab, pro-
zers hope to expose locals to Arab cul- duction area of the EL HEMA made. To-
ture through script design. The proposal gether with the corporate Chocolateria
to create chocolate Arab letters was ins- Jordino Amsterdam. A new Arabic font is
pired by the traditional chocolate letters used in the design of the various choco-
available at Hema stores during Christ- ladeletters, it is one of the new digital
mas time. “Kids usually receive their ini- Arabic fonts that this summer led to the El
tials for Christmas,” Gaeiras said. The Hema formed, El Hema is an imaginary
plan is to produce molds for all 19 Arab Hema. The Mediamatic is a expres-
shapes of the 29-letter Arab alphabet. sions of Dutch and Arab culture .
12 Advertising design

14. Advertising design
Another Product
Most of the items were very interesting
to work on: Graphic and Typographic
solution for wine labels, chocolate
packaging, water bottles, Duo umbrellas
(with fairuz’s famous rain song), impor-
ted food, and much more; all with an in-
tercultural twist. The focus remained on
making a balance between the initial El
Hema identity and drawing a parallel
line with the real HEMA look- that has
changed a lot over the last year with the
introduction of a revised look and
feel.Images and impressions from the
actual El Hema Exhibition & store in Rot-
terdam. Above: Images of several items
of the new the new collection, mostly ty-
pographic design solutions for intercul-
tural concepts and ideas.
El Hema project seems to always come
with its own challenges and problematic
issues. Amsterdam’s mediamaric exhibi-
tion was faced by an initial unpleasant
reaction from the Dutch Hema depart-
ment store. This year, the difficulties were
faced by the fact that many organizations
and parties were involved in the project,
and not all of them shared necessarily
the same vision on some key issues for
the El Hema brand, particularly that the
concept has moved from its initial
“home”. Not to mention of course an in-
credible short deadline, by which an en-
tire department store had to be
designed!Above: Images of several items
of the new El Hema collection, mostly ty-
pographic design solutions for intercul-
turl concepts and ideas.
14 Adversting design

15. El Hema, the Arabic fictive (yet real) ver- Arabic logo of El Hema, working the
sion of the famous Dutch HEMA depart- Arabic lettering version El Hema, the
ment store, is back again this year, with Arabic fictive (yet real) version of the fa-
an exhibition (or rather a store) in Rotter- mous Dutch HEMA department store, is
dam. El Hema, originally an idea of Me- back again this year, with an exhibition
diamatic, was organized this year (or rather a store) in Rotterdam. El
through cosmopolis, in collaboration Hema, originally an idea of Mediamatic,
with the brand hotel, and we were glad was organized this year through cosmo-
at Tarek Atrissi Design to be commissio- polis, in collaboration with the brand
ned for the design of the main graphic hotel, and we were glad at Tarek Atrissi
and information design work involved in Design to be commissioned for the des-
the project.The first El Hema project in ign of the main graphic and information
Amsterdam organized by Mediamaric design work involved in the project.The
took an incredible press attention and first El Hema project in Amsterdam orga-
was a big success: It was simply very un- nized by Mediamaric took an incredible
conventional to see a brand that is so press attention and was a big success: It
Dutch, HEMA, taking a small twist and was simply very unconventional to see a Water bottle packaging for the El Hema
becoming in an Arabic form. A simple brand that is so Dutch, HEMA, taking a Oasis Desert water.
idea that reflects much more on the small twist and becoming in an Arabic
highly debated cross cultural integration form. A simple idea that reflects much
and communication in the Netherlands., more on the highly debated cross cultu-
we designed at Tarek Atrissi Design the ral integration and communication .
Adversting Design 15

16. Advertising design
Buraqas and Djellabas
El Hema designs was a huge suc-
cess the lines soon stretched around the
block. The visitors could buy the designs
if they wished, and by the time a closing
down sale celebrated the end of the exhi-
bit, tens of thousands had come to see
what all the fuss was about. Theshow in-
cluded a whole range oftextiles featuring
Arab text, Velthoven himself which said:
“I can’t read this”, to underpants for men
wanting to try their luck with: “Hey, swee-
tie!”. The designers also used burqas
and djellabas as inspiration, and Leba-
nese wines were presented in classy bot-
tles.‘Mother brand’ also provided
inspiration. The el hema designers used-
burqas and djellabas as inspiration to
Islam society.
Vascular about El Hema Describe the materials and techniques ged or without henna tattoos. Hema
you will need to produce your design. Product, and then appeared on your re-
Latex gloves and silicone-screen printing tina household gloves with tattoos. It was
ink. Zeefdrukkerij that the gloves can be a ghost.
printed.Paperboard for packaging, cello-
phane, printing inks and printing. Fin-
ding a printing that the gloves can be
printed. The creativity about HEMA have
many original idea ,no artistic profession
has been courted more intensively by ad-
vertising in preceding decades as that of
visual artist. What to do if the dishes
must be done and you want the beautiful
henna tattoos on your hands not fade?
(You will not, of course, they hide in ordi-
nary household gloves) Do you not the
dishes or you use Vascular-i-Maatjes for
ultimate protection and elegant. The de-
coration is a simple means to an oerhol-
lands product with a deep-rooted Arab
Vascular about EL HEMA product, it is tradition.By the name a double meaning
inspireted to henna tattoos. to be given cultural - (and physical) brid
16 Adversting design

18. Projects
Blog Tarek Atrissi
Proposal routes for MTV Arabia ‘s identity
MTV Arabia have launched two amatter of fact. We were invited to put
weeks ago, creating a buzz in the Arab a proposal for the logo and visual iden-
world, particularly Dubai, as the new tity of the channel, and we proposed an
youth oriented and long awaited chan- exciting, youthful and rich Arabic solution
nel that will compete with existing Music for a corporate Identity system,but we
Channels in the Middle East. For more never won that Pitch; the project was
than 8 month, we have been working at awarded to a Dubai based agency. The
i Design on supporting with the concep- logo created for MTV Arabia consisted of
tualizing, design nd production of some the classic MTV logo, filled with Arabic
of their Motion Graphics (as well as a isolated letters that form the word “ara-
custom Arabic Typefaces font, see pre- bia”. While the concept of the logo has
vious Post)- and I will summarize in this potential, I found its execution to be very
post the design process of our work, and poor. The Arabic letters in the logo were
some of our comments on the visual from the widely used Bassima Font- a
identity created for it.Unfortunately, we calligraphic digital font that fails in my
were not behind the logo and visual opinion to create a unique look, and that
identity branding created for the MTV in itself is a poor handwritten calligraphy
Arabia Channel. We are not a big fan of imitation. That said, our most criticism .
the identity created was that it did not in-
clude, beyond the logo and the brands-
trapline, a clear and elaborate identity
manual that explains the usage of the
multi-version very colorful logo, and the
definition of a unique visual language
and graphic elements. And as users of
this identity, at a later stage, we found it
very difficult as designers to understand
the visual brand, or how to expand it
while working on several projects for the
channel.Back to our work involvement;
Loosing the Pitch did not stop MTV Ara-
bia from commissioning us at Tarek
Atrissi Design to create the identity of five
Shows of MTV- from logo, look and feel
and motion graphics design and pro-
duction- as well as design a series of
Bumpers for the channel.The project was
challenging on many levels. On one
hand, the five shows were very different
in style and content; On the other hand,
18
Projects

19. we were wondering what the bigger pic-
ture of MTV is if they will just be impor-
ting international Lack of elaborate briefs
and a vague vision of the entire channel
did make things more difficult- and even-
tually we approached the branding of
every show as a separate project, trying
to base our process on the information
given to us about each specific show,
and our understanding of both the Ara-
bic culture and the Europe Culture. We
approached most of the shows not spe-
cifically with a visible Arabic style, be-
cause we certainly did not want to have
an imposed obvious “Arabic” visual lan-
guage, and kept our consideration and
understanding of the geography and cul-
ture behind MTV Arabia on a deeper less
visible layer. Each show’s look and feel
represented the actual music genre or
content nature present in the program:
“Alternative Nation” visualized its grunge
and rock nature; “World Chart Express”
visualized the adventurous and travel as-
pect of the international music showca-
sed in the program; and “Introducing
Blocks” used a kitsch style to visualize the
“gossipy” aspect of the program. The
only show which truly looked Arabic in its
opening sequence and identity is “Pure
Arabia” and hence the typographic ap-
proach seemed the most appropriate. he
final outcome was a series of flat and
abstract short animations, starting with
patterns inspired from an arabesque
concept- yet very modern- that builds up
the MTV logo. On the bigger picture, the
success of logos MTV Arabia as a chan-
nel is to be judged . In the future, seeing
MTV channel ,if it will be able to be as
influential in Arabia both in music and
cultur it has been in the West...
Projects 19

20. Projects
El «Ghad»Type Design
Since I started my Design Studio- Tarek
Atrissi Design, we have been more and
more involved in designing Arabic Type-
faces- which resulted from our focus in
our work on Typography and on creating
modern Arabic Graphic Design. The
Lack of variety of Arabic typefaces made
us develop our own fonts for some pro-
jects, particularly corporate identity pro-
jects. Eventually We started putting more
effort in making our own fonts, and on
delivering custom Arabic fonts for a va-
riety of our clients. The Challenges are
always many- but I always enjoyed the
process of Type Design- and juggling
Design and technology; And Type Design
is one of the studio’s main focuses today.
Several of our fonts will be soon availa-
ble for sale, since I have launched a new
typographic Design in the office, focused
only on type design.I am presenting here
an overview on some of the Typefaces
developed over the last six year. The font
comes in two weights, bold and regular,
and was designed Particularly for screen
usage. This font (shown Above) was
based on a previous font developed for
Al-Ghad newspaper, which was used for
the masthead and for the headlines of
the newspaper, back in 2004.Another
Font developed in 2004 was the Spirit of
Doha Typeface, developed for the Asian
Games 2006, that will launch in around
two weeks in Doh Qatar. With the ope-
ning ceremony approaching, it is so
great to see the typeface in use everyw-
here in and outside Qatar, promoting the
event.This year I completed the type fa-
mily for Amwaj Islands in Bahrain, that
needed a three weights font for use as
the main Arabic font in their corporate
identity. By Tarek Atrissi
20
Projects

21. Student work from VCU Qatar
Graphics in the evironment
The notion of “local Design” was the
main field of investigation in the typogra-
phy course. Through a variety of experi-
mental assignments, the students were
focused on creating typographic and
graphic pieces that were a true reflection
of their own visual environment: The Task
was to simply see if it was possible to
create a graphic design language that
belongs to their own surrounding, a vi-
sual language that is unique to the loca-
tion where the design work was
produced, and that couldn’t be develo-
ped elsewhere. Students were asked to
explore the rich environmental graphic
language that surrounds them: Signs,
neon letters, big Arabic and English Pos-
tings, wall graffiti .They started by taking
photos of a corner, a street, an angle that
has a cluster of signs with a lot of bilin-
gual typography, particularly Arabic
[type, handwritten lettering, Calligraphy
.The end result is a series pieces develo-
ped by every student, documenting the
specific environment they chose.Below
are some examples of the work develo-
ped by the students: fo example shown
below is a complete series of pieces de-
veloped by student Dana Ahdab. the first
piece started with a collage of a specific
corner that she decided to document,
and she developed that collage graphi-
cally and typographically into further
compositions, with focus on type, ima-
gery and interesting graphics. The last
being made only out of type found in the
images yet independent from the photos
or the previous compositions. Note how
interesting for example composition is; a
balanced combination of imagery and
type, giving a good feel of the street lan-
guage of that specific area in Doha City.
Projects 21

22. Projects
Project Mulsaq
The khatt Design collection of wall stickers
Project mulsaq is a competition for ara-
bic designers , about the home , or the
arabic home .Homes and their interiors
have become a reflection of the perso-
nality of Arabic house ,site web the site
web about khatter fondation, their ow-
ners ; an eclectic mix of international and
local products , found objects and sou-
venirs, and memorabilia from around
the world . Expressing one is identity
through design commodities is a com-
mon occurrence in the materialistic cul-
ture of consumerism.In contemporary
design and visual communication ,em-
bracing global design trends and self-
conscriously mixing them with local :the
visual culture is done with the aim of as-
serting one is cultural identity in the big
melting pot of world cultures.The home
space is seen as a way stake a unique
sense of place tha can be set apart from
the greater equalizing and transient pu-
blic spaces. In the age of global nomadic
lifesdtyles , the temporary home that is
also a portrait of the life and experiences
of its owners is a secure and stable area
in an otherwise stressful living enviro-
ment. The designers whose work has for-
med this special collection have
originated from all over the world ran-
ging from aras who have lived in Europe
and the Middle East to Europeans who
have traveled and lived in the Arab
World ; From countries like Egypt , Leba-
non ,Jordan , Iraq ,Kuwait, experiences
way of life and specific national social
norms. Though the work is inspired by
traditional Arabic calligraphy and Islamic
and Arabic symbols and customs are re-
visited with a resolute and atypical
contemporary look good humour and
somtimes thought provoking visual puns.
22 Projects

24. Projects
Winner of Projects Mulsaq
The Khatt Foundation and the trend-set-
ting company Mosaiques, in collabora-
tion with Dubai-based design gallery
Traffic, are launching for the first time a
wall stickers collection reflecting the mul-
tifaceted Middle Eastern identity. Wall
stickers are the latest innovation in
contemporary interior design. They de-
mocratise art by bringing it into ordinary
people’s living spaces. They help consu-
mers create a personalized sense of
place.This design competition will there-
fore provide a platform for talented Khatt
Network members to reach out to wider
audiences within and outside the design
world of Dubai, the Middle East and
beyond.The reputation of Traffic as ‘must
stop shop’ for individuals and architectu-
ral/design firms, and its location near the
up-market Mall of the Emirates makes it
the perfect partner for the launch of this
culturally sensitive and sought-after des-
ign product. A couple of months ago The
Khatt Foundation and the trend-setting
company Mosaiques, in collaboration
with Dubai-based design gallery Traffic
organized a competition to design limi-
ted edition vinyl stickers under the theme
‘Reinvent our space, bring the middle
east home’.My submission, entitled If
walls had ears… eyes & mouths, was se-
lected by the jury to be among the 20 fi-
nalists of the competition. Inspired by the
famous, rather middle-eastern proverb if
walls had ears I elaborated the concept
with an analogy to the famous 3 wise
monkeys’ saying: see no evil, hear no
evil, speak no evil. The idea focuses on
the fact that walls are better off not
seeing, hearing or speaking about what
happens in the room or anywhere else.
Away from evil, away from gossips.
24
Projects

26. Photography
Toufic ARAMAN
Biography
A trained painter and award winning
photographer, Toufic Araman spends his
time between Dubai and New York. He
does advertising and conceptual photo-
graphy. He has displayed his talent
through major advertising campaigns.
His conceptual work was shown at the
Noorderlicht Festival, The Netherlands
and Brecht Forum, New York. He is the
Middle East official photographer for
Starwood hotels. He also teaches photo-
graphy at the American University in
Dubai. Araman's work is distinguished by
his propensity for story-telling, lighting
which plays a character and images that
often have a sense of humor. He studied
at the International Center of Photogra-
phy. He is a member of the Middle East
Professional photographers in Dubai - We are too involved in our emotions,
MEPP . beliefs and human conditions to portray
objectivity in its finest forms. I don't build
Photolosophy
my creativity on a person's influence; ho-
I don't define myself as anything more wever, I admire the pioneers, as they de-
than an observer; I don't give solutions, I fine the concept of uniqueness
simply reflect. My work takes the viewer (individuality) to me. They dared to do
through the journey of my thoughts, to- the different against the mainstream,
wards the exact feeling or moral I try to thus becoming the first in history. It is
reflect. I want to be labeled as an effec- when you are able to view the world
tive communicator, and let that be from all sides and perspectives that you
through photography, painting or film. acquire that gentle touch of art, which re-
Photography is modern and fast. Photo- flects your deep belonging to humanity
graphy reflects the fragility of objects; it in general. Photographs are not real.
combines different elements to produce They reflect the reality of the person be-
one masterpiece. The reason I favor hind the lens. Photography is very sub-
photography is because of its stillness. It jective and it is very subjective, and so
could gather all the elements of a 10 mi- the frame will reflect only what I have
nute film in one single frame. One shot, chosen to capture.We are too involved in
and the message is there: crystal clear. our emotions, beliefs and human condi-
Photographs are not real. They reflect the tions to portray objectivity in its finest
reality of the person behind the lens. forms.I don't build my creativity.
26 Photography

27. He ended up interviewing me at one
point.I was so taken by the level of depth
and knowledge Araman showed during
our 2 hour interview, that I actually star-
ted spilling out my personal sentiments
about art, photography, politics, and life.
I kept answering his questions, and with
no recollection of time, I found myself
being interviewed by my subject. Ara-
man, an intelligent artist, the way I would
describe him. Talking to him, I couldn't
help but wonder about the resemblance
between him and Socrates: they both
reached their versions of truth by ques-
tioning everything else around them. I
have always admired Socrates; conse-
quently, my admiration of Araman was
inevitable. It didn't matter where he was
from, and what belief system he follo-
wed. We talked and talked about so
many aspects of life, without noticing that
the bridges of cultures were connected
without human intervention, without silly
attempts and forced opinions. he best
thing about being an artist, or involved
in art like I am, is the common ground
you find with others who share the pas-
sion. Life, for a moment, becomes a se-
ries of questions and answers: humanity
is what matters.I enjoyed every second I
spent talking to this young great talent,
and I found it to be refreshing that some
people still maintain that strong belief
system of the human being, and his abi-
lity to reform the world. Toufic, you are a
photographer, a painter, a designer,
would you simply call yourself an artist,
and congregate all of these talents toge-
ther? I won't define myself as anything
more than an observer; I don't give solu-
tions, I simply reflect... I send subtle mes-
sages in order to change someone.
Photography 27

28. Photography
Questioning Life, Art & Photography
He ended up interviewing me at one tioning everything else around them. I ries of questions and answers: humanity
point. I was so taken by the level of depth have always admired Socrates; conse- is what matters.I enjoyed every second I
and knowledge Araman showed during quently, my admiration of Araman was spent talking to this young great talent,
our 2 hour interview, that I actually star- inevitable.It didn't matter where he was and I found it to be refreshing that some
ted spilling out my personal sentiments from, and what belief system he follo- people still maintain that strong belief
about art, photography, politics, and life. wed. We talked and talked about so system of the human being, and his abi-
I kept answering his questions, and with many aspects of life, without noticing that lity to reform the world. Toufic, you are a
no recollection of time, I found myself the bridges of cultures were connected photographer, a painter, a designer,
being interviewed by my subject. Ara- without human intervention, without silly would you simply call yourself an artist,
man, an intelligent artist, the way I would attempts and forced opinions.The best and congregate all of these talents toge-
describe him. Talking to him, I couldn't thing about being an artist, or involved ther? I simply reflect... I send subtle mes-
help but wonder about the resemblance in art like I am, is the common ground sages, as I believe that, in order to
between him and Socrates: they both you find with others who share the pas- change someone, you need to slowly
reached their versions of truth by ques sion. Life, for a moment, becomes a work on sending the desired message.
28 Photography

29. thoughts, towards the exact feeling or stress on the important factors that play a Thus, for me photographic realism is an
moral I try to reflect. I want to be labeled role in making an Artist. We see in your issue of controversy, it doesn't hold a spe-
as an effective communicator, and let last work, a lot of symbolism is involved. cific meaning. I believe photographs re-
that be through photography, art, pain- Do you believe photography is ultimately flect the reality of the person behind the
ting or film making. The medium is not the strongest form of modern art in ex- lens. Photography is very subjective, as a
important, what matters is the pressing social moralities and senti- capture. We are too involved in our
purpose.Why Photography? Photogra- ments? Of course I don't. How can I emotions, beliefs and human conditions
phy is modern and fast. I think I favor it make such a strong assumption about to portray objectivity in its finest forms.
sometimes for its production ease, the one form of media? Again, I say it There have been many excellent photo-
possibilities of using different media, the doesn't matter what medium you use, as graphers throughout the evolvement of
clarity of the lenses, and my passion for long as you know what to do with it. this form of art, which of them has had
light and glass. Photography reflects fra- Symbolism is not restricted to any form. the greatest influence on you? There are
gility of the objects; it combines the diffe- It's just like a weapon, it can kill, and it many that influence a person through his
rent elements to produce one can protect.It's a matter of choice. In spite life. Influencing people affect your life for
masterpiece. Do you believe that people of that, the reason I might favor photo- a period of time, and then you move on
are born artists? Or do they become ar- graphy is because of its stillness. It could developing yourself. For example, for a
tists with time? In the sense, can art and gather all the elements in a 10 minute period of time, my father was my role
creativity be nurtured and cultivated? To film in one single frame. One shot, and model, however as I grew older, other
be able to answer your question, I would the message is there: crystal clear. Are people triggered me and I moved from
need to define the word Artist. However, you into photographic realism? Do you one phase to the other, with different per-
to a greater extent, does it really matter? look to describe reality with your photo- ceptions. Having said that, I don't build
I don't think so. Whether you are born graphs, or simply enjoy the artistic free- my creativity on a person's influence; ho-
one, or become one, what matters is dom of subject and photography wever, I admire the pioneers, as they de-
your will to do something about that gift. manipulation?Photographs are not real. fine the concept of uniqueness to me.
Photography 29

30. Photography
They dared to do the different against he your vision in their desired fields. Photo- Lebanese, I was born in Egypt, but lived
mainstream, thus becoming the first in graphy here is winning its well-deserved 10 years of my early childhood in Leba-
history. An example of that is Jheronimus reputation as an effective form of art and non, until the war broke out, a traumatic
Bosch, who changed the way people loo- media, and with time, it will become a experience, which affects me still. I have
ked at art, with his screaming painting pillar of the modern city.Many argue that seen what a child can't tolerate, and that
and his vivid imagination.t I admire the- photography has not been defined yet in left me with memories of loss and pain.
nonconformist Many artists complain the country, and some confuse that artis- We moved to Egypt, familiar with the
about the hardships of making a living; tic aspect with the commercial one; do country I tried to fit in. But the truth was
is providing the food on the table a pos- you agree? Yes I do agree. A lot of that I have always been an outsider, a
sible thing for you?Can photography be confusion does exist, but that's why we minority, a foreigner in my home.I was
In Dubai, yes you can survive as a pho- are here isn't that right? There are a lot of the Egyptian in Lebanon, and the Leba-
tographer only. However, my definition perceptions that should be changed, and nese in Egypt. So to answer your ques-
of a decent living status might be diffe- it is my duty as an artist as well as others' tion, it is when you are able to view the
rent from others. Still, Dubai is a city that to contribute to this community by defi- world from all sides and perspectives that
allows such professions as photography ning the art, and distinguishing it. Toufic, you acquire that gentle touch of art, to
to prosper without the need for other re- why do you think you are an artist now? answer your question reflects your deep
sources.In your opinion, and from your Let me tell you this of : I am originally belonging to humanity in general.
30 Photography

32. Type Design
Bifan Arabic Arial Type
The Design concept of Bifan Type
Today you can create characters for use
on computers, there is no single method,
each creator develops know-how of its
own, a few sketches on paper or more
directly on the screen. From the Latin po-
lice can create a police Arabic as the
structure and morphology of the Latin, it
is well known that the Arabic writing is
different from the Latin script, it is under
one form and character are linked, we
will suggest to reproduce the font in Latin
Arabic character, the study on the mor-
phology of the font "Arial" will help us to
create our new font Arabic. (Latinized
characters Arabs), with a simplifiacation
the structure of writing Arabic.The treat-
ment of curves is softer and more com-
plete than in most industrial style sans
serif, the axes of the letters are vertical.
The police "Arial" is extremely versatile, is
a character that is used with success in
text reports, presentations, magazines,
posters in newspapers ... It is essential to
know the morphological structure of
"Arial" to create our new Arab character
to facilitate the Latinized letters Arabs.
With minimum ascender and descender
of heights and large x-height, are to be
translated naturally in the Arab style Bi-
fani, "Arial" is a sans serif could work bet-
ter with Arabic, and it actually did.The
design features.The design of Arabic Bi-
fani can be summarized as follows:1.
Contrast: Bifani Arabic is a robust and
simple Kufi characters, with monolinear
stroke (from a low modulation thick and
thin)giving a character of the contempo-
rary and functional look. 2. Openness
and overall color: Arabic is Bifani gene-
rous open windows that match the color
and the overall effect of its Latin counter-
part.3. Proportions: In order to achieve
32 Type Design

33. the great characteristics x-height of the It is an aspect of the design type that is ,world). And enrich the typothéque Ara-
Latin without compromising the integrity not often applied to Arabic, but it is bic, the basics of Arabic and Latin are
of the Arabic script, the height of the highly necessary.5. And the rate base: very different, but a Latinized the Arabic
body in the Arabic version was pushed Some horizontal loop in the connections letters can give us a very good result with
as high as possible within the acceptable between certain characters, a feature ins- the characteristic of the simplicity of
level of normalcy Kufi for design conven- pired by the more rounded Arabic Arial.the creation of this policy was a
tions. The descenders are short and to scripts. This feature of the design helps good experience for me. The most diffi-
match the proportion of the Latin version, to create the same tone of gray and avoi- cult part was handling the issue, that
making position. 4. Strokes and details: ding the pitfalls of dark ink. the same Arabic is drawn from scrata better
the thinning of blows before the very eco- tone of gray and avoiding the pitfalls of rhythm and break the rigidity world). en-
nomic comcommon in Arabic characters, dark ink. making Arabic Bifani more ap- rich the typothéque Arabic, the basics of
where little work optical adjustment is propriate for continuous playback as Arabic and Latin are very different, but a
made by a majority of models available. textface.Deleting Arabic Arial type sevira Latinized the Arabic letters can give us a
This feature helps to achieve arial fonts. to communicate more with the designers very good result with the characteristic .
Type Design 33

36. Print
The pantone Matching Systhem
Always show your true colors
The accuracy of color is critical in design.
Because what you see on your monitor is
never what will appear on a printed
sheet, designers need a standardized
color key. It can be very frustrating to see
the logo you worked hard to create look
deep blue on the client's letterhead, blue-
greenish on his business card, and light
blue on his very expensive envelopes. A
way to prevent this is by using a standar-
dized color , such as the PANTONE MAT-
CHING SYSTEM. Though PANTONE is
not the only color standardization system,
it is the most widely used and the one that
most printers understand. Aside from
being able to have consistency, PAN-
TONE Colors allow you to use colors that
cannot be mixed in CMYK.
Guides through a color
There are several types of swatch guides
that catalog the colors of the PANTONE
Library. Some are narrow swatch books
made of strips bound on one end with
printed rectangular samples showing the
different PANTONE Colors. The strips can
then be opened or spread out in a fan-
like manner. There are also binders with
chips (rectangular swatches) that can be
torn out and sent to a client with a proof,
so that the client knows how his colors
will look when printed.Some of the PAN-
TONE Colors can be reproduced by
mixing CMYK inks while others must be
pre-mixed inks. Pantone has guides for
their spot colors (called "Solid" or pre-
mixed ink colors by Pantone) and guides
which show the Process colors. Samples
in the process guides are therefore colors
achievable through mixing CMYK (or
36 Print

37. "process") inks. A special guide also ated U = uncoated and M = matte. shing software will see the color as two
shows you the spot color and how it will These three are the most important PAN- different colors and this will cause the
look printed in CMYK along with CMYK TONE Library abbreviations. You may, production of one extra plate, and the-
values. This way, if spot colors, which are however, encounter the abbreviation CV refore the expense of extra money.
an added expense at print time, cannot followed by C, U or M. CV stands for
be used, close colors may be mixed in Computer Video, which is the electronic
process.Same Colour, Different Looks. representation of the PANTONE Colors.
The type of paper used, will affect the Now discontinued, but still seen in old
appearance of colors. In separate swatch versions of software, CV merely meant
or chip books, Pantone shows you how that the color was an on-screen simula-
their colors look on coated, uncoated, tion.There are also specialty guides for
and matte paper. Therefore you have the tints, metallic and pastel colors. One
number of the color (for example, PAN- note of warning: If you use a color with a
TONE Red 032) followed by a suffix, certain suffix, don't use it again with ano-
which indicates on what stock your PAN- ther suffix in the same publication, unless
TONE Color is meant to be printed. If there is an actual need for that, such as
you want PANTONE Red 032 on shiny when you use a color on a 4-colour
paper, then you would specify the color glossy magazine with an insert printed
in this manner: PANTONE 032 C, where on bond paper. In this case you would be
C stands for "coated". You then have U, using the same color both on coated and
which stands for "uncoated", and then M, matte paper. If you use two different suf-
which stands for "matte". You get:C = co fixes in the same publication,
Print 37

38. Software
Creative suite CS4
This software trial is a fully functional
version of Adobe® Creative Suite® 4
Design Premium edition in a DVD set.
Every feature and aspect of the product
The six different editions of Creative Suite
4 is available since October 2008 in the
United States. Each suite includes a set of
software to meet the needs of specific
trades. Both suites Design (Standard and
Premium) are intended to start their crea-
tive projects focusing on paper (But this is
a sampling of the many innovations pro-
posed by the Creative Suite 3. Indeed, all
the software component have been des-
igned to be compatible with both Win-
dows XP with Windows Vista and to
exploit the strengths, which is incompa-
tible with Vista until the last .
Premium version allows you to increase content for mobile terminals . This "revi-
the production on the Web or on mobile sion" of the Adobe Creative Suite also led
terminals. In this suite comprising inclu- to a huge gain in performance, espe-
ding Photoshop and Illustrator, the cen- cially for Mac users who benefit most
tral tool is the InDesign desktop from the new Intel processors used by
publishing software. The latter is not in- Apple through a direct method of execu-
cluded in both suites "Web" (Standard tion instead of 'Emulation, due for pre-
and Premium) addressed themselves to vious versions to the use of lines of code
designers of websites and rely mainly on created for Apple processors. Moreover,
Dreamweaver .For trades of the video, Adobe has done a great job of homoge-
following "Production" is a platform for nization, for all software, including those
post-production that manages the flow who were already in the Creative Suite 2,
from capture to distribution, through edi- including to propose a similar interface
ting and creating special effects. Finally, especially for software from the acquisi-
"Master Collection", which brings toge- tion as Macromedia Flash, which was
ther all the twelve software, is the most deemed to have an interface separately.
comprehensive suite offered by Adobe. Adobe has also worked for the establish-
Among the new software offered by the ment of a cross-reference format of each
publisher, it should be noted Photoshop of its software. The native Photoshop for-
Extended, an enhanced version of Photo- mat (. Psd) is now supported in Flash, Fi-
shop offers 3D processing functions, reworks and Dreamweaver and the
video and image analysis for the world launch of Device Central, which creates.
38 Software

39. Photoshop CS4
Photoshop Creative Suite is most widely layers perfectly colors and shades and
used application: Revolutionary features this extends to your depth of field, auto-
of painting and compositing 3D.Now matically correcting the vignetting and
paint directly on 3D models, dress 2D distortion lens:Modification of properties
images of 3D forms, convert curves and 3D objects .Enhance, brightening
transfer grading 3D objects, give inten- and manipulate 3D images using a sim-
sity to layers and text, get exceptional plified interface without dialog boxes.
print quality with the new rendering en- Adjust the lighting, nets and materials.
gine for raytracing and export your work Orient objects and easily move the ca-
in formats 3D currents.Panel mera with axes and a 3D projection ho-
Masks:Create and quickly correct your rizontal plane: Fluid rotation of the
masks since the new panel masks. It of- working area.With a simple click, rotate
fers all the tools needed to create masks your work area and view your work in a
and pixelated editable vector, to adjust non-destructive in terms desired - the for-
their density and contour of their pro- gotten torticollis!ouplesse pan and
gressive, selection of things not conti- zoom:Navigate easily to any part of the
guous, and so on.Preserve sharpness image using new tools to zoom and pan
when automatically optimized merging ultra-flexible.
pixel and operate easily touch the zoom
factor is greater with the new grid of
pixels. Scale adapted content: Use the
revolutionary new function to scale intel-
ligently to automatically redial a picture
as you resize, preserving the essential
parts. Get away from a perfect image,
without expanding operations cropping
and editing.Display Options files:Handle
multiple files easily opened with the pre-
sentation by the tab or for multiple docu-
ments.pixel and operate easily touch the
zoom factor is greater with the new grid
of pixels. Scale adapted content: Use the
revolutionary new function to scale intel-
ligently to automatically redial a picture
as you resize, preserving the essential
parts. Get away from a perfect opera-
tions cropping and editing.
Software 39

40. Software
Adobe Illustrator CS4
Explore new avenues with vector dra- and display control to speed up rende-
wing tool par excellencen-Work Plans ring. Shape tool-spot: Use a brush that
multiple: Create files containing up to produces a perfect vector, even if the
100 work plans of various sizes, which traits overlap. Draw as on paper using
can be stacked, juxtaposed or superim- the tools Form spot, and Rounding gum.-
posed. You can also save, export and Graduated: Speaking on the degraded
print them separately or together. Fi- directly at the object. Set the angle of the
nally, you can save all or part of them gradient, its position and size elliptical.
as a PDF file of several pages.-Transpa- Add and change colors to the aid of sli-
rency gradients: Set the opacity of diffe- ders, you immediately see the result.-In-
rent colors of a gradient. Reveal the tegration and dissemination .Overview
objects and images underlying layers of separations: Avoid unpleasant sur-
and use, break and melted to create prises such as unexpected spot colors,
rich mixtures of textures and colors.- missed the overlays, unwanted or white
Changes in appearance in one panel: and black in the CMYK text files and im-
Change the characteristics of an object ported. Elegant style graphics:Combine
directly in the Appearance control panel styles to produce original effects and
and avoid opening the signs of subs- apply them without changing the appea-
tance, or contour effects. rance of an object.
humbnails and an extensive library of
predefined styles.-Simpler masks clip-
ping: Handle easily masks only viewing
area capped objects. Use the insulation
and the Modify the mask for a Masters
accrue predefined styles.
40 Software

41. Adobe Indesign CS4
Upstream control dynamics:Perform a , which update automatically when the of rotation and x and y, you can quickly
upstream as your creation. With the contents of a document is changed or magnetize the edge of an object or its
continuous control upstream, the poten- moved. Milestones -commentés - Align, center horizontal or vertical on other ob-
tial production problems are reported in space, rotate and resize quickly one or jects in the layout. Display key attributes
real time. You can quickly access the mis- more objects with dynamic benchmarks. of your feed production such as scale,
take, correct it directly and continue your Thanks to the dynamic benchmarks, ob- rotation and resolution.-Export to Adobe
work.-customizable:Use this panel to ject dimensions, angles of rotation and x Flash CS4 Professional (XFL). Export do-
search, sort and manage all the files im- and y, you can quickly magnetize the cuments to the XFL format and then open
ported from your document. Display key edge of an object or its center horizontal them in Adobe Flash CS4 Professional
attributes of your feed production such as or vertical on other objects in the layout. who faithfully keep the InDesign layout
scale, rotation and resolution.-Export to -Creating interactive documents with ex- of origin.
Adobe Flash CS4 Professional (XFL). Ex- port SWF files:Turn your layout dynamic Rotation of planche:Rotate temporarily
port documents to the XFL format and SWF files without going through the des- for a plate without having to turn your
then open them in Adobe Flash CS4 Pro- ign environment of Adobe Flash ®. screen and pull full editing features to 90
fessional who faithfully keep the InDe- Create digital documents complete with and 180 degrees to include non-hori-
sign layout of origin. Use Flash to add interactive buttons, hyperlinks and zontal elements in your models.-Crea-
interactions, animations and navigation unique page transitions, to be read in ting interactive documents with export
features sophisticated models for a com- Adobe Flash Player.Compass commen- SWF files:Turn your layout dynamic SWF
plex reading attractive. Cross-Refe- ted :Align, space, rotate and resize files without going through the design
rences. Simplify writing, production and quickly one or more objects with dyna- environment of Adobe Flash ®.
management of long documents through mic benchmarks. Thanks to the dynamic
cross-references, both flexible benchmarks, object dimensions, angles
Software 41

42. Software
Flash CS4
Animation-based objects: Exercise tight create kaleidoscope effects and use of
control over the various attributes of ani- funds with the tool Deco, spray or sym-
mation using the animation-based ob- bols at random from a defined area
jects, which can apply to objects through the brush tool sprayer.
interpolations, not keyframes. Easily Support for metadata (XMP): Add your
change movements with Bezier handles. metadata to SWF files from the new
Inverse kinematics with the tool Segment panel XMP Assign quickly tags to im-
.
Create animation effects chain with a se- prove collaboration and content for mo-
ries of related objects or misrepresenting bile terminals.Presetting movement. Start
quickly to a single tool Segment. 3D a project quickly through the integrated
transformation: Animate 2D objects in animations for any object. Choose from
3D space with new tools rotation and a dozen presets or create and save your
translation 3D, which can create anima- own animations. To save time, share pre-
tions on the axes x, y and z. Apply local sets with your colleagues.Support for the
or global changes to any object. Proce- H.264 standard: Encode the contents in
dural modeling tools decoration with any file format recognized by Adobe
brush and spray.Turn any symbol instant Flash Player with Adobe Media Encoder,
design tool. a tool Adobe video software which now
etadata to SWF files from the new panel
XMP Assign quickly tags to improve col-
.
laboration and content for mobile termi-
nals.Presetting movement. Start a project
quickly through the integrated anima-
tions for any object. Choose from
42 Software

43. Dreamweaver CS4
With the new Live View mode Dream- geover work area.Dynamic objects
weaver CS4, you design web pages in Adobe PhotoshopYou can insert a docu-
real navigation while maintaining direct ment in Dreamweaver Photoshop PSD to
access to the code. The code changes create an image. The dynamic objects
are immediately visible on the screen. are closely related to the source file. You
Indicators code frameworks for Ajax and can modify the source and update your
JavaScript.Create more effective JavaS- image in Dreamweaver without opening
cript code through better care of basic Photoshop.Subversion:You can update
data types and main JavaScript objects. your site and save the changes directly The dynamic objects are closely related
Implement Civil extensive programming from Dreamweaver. Through its integra- to the source file. You can modify the
Dreamweaver CS4 incorporating current tion with the Subversion software system, source and update your image in
JavaScript frameworks, including jQuery, open source version management, Dreamweaver without opening Photo-
Prototype and Spry.New User Interface:A Dreamweaver CS4 streamlines opera- shop.Integration with Subversion:You
new common user interface allows you tions archiving extraction.Methods advi- can update your site and save the
to work more quickly and efficiently in sed CSS:Apply methods advised CSS changes directly from Dreamweaver.
the various components of Adobe Crea- without writing any code. Create rules in Through its integration with the Subver-
tive Suite ® 4. Go quickly from one en- the CSS Properties panel and get clear sion software system, open source ver-
vironment to another work with the new indications on the as Display key . sion sociation properties and styles.
Software 43

44. Software
Fire works CS4
Create your prototype Adobe ® AIR ™ Gain speed and efficiency through opti-
directly in Adobe Fireworks ® and de- mized performance since the opening
ploy instantly to the HTML and CSS, and saving files to intensive manipulation
Adobe Flex ® or SWF Easily convert your
. of bitmap and vector images through
model. Export-PDF: Generate, from your updating of symbols.Integration with
compositions Fireworks, PDF documents Adobe Kuler:Fireworks go for the latest
protected and faithful to the original fa- color themes of Adobe Kuler web service:
cilitating communication with customers. test them and apply them to your web
Protect your work password - passwords creations. Design color harmonies for
can be assigned separate to the consul- your personal use or to be transferred to
tation and other tasks (print, copy or add Kuler.Typography-sophisticated: Sign ty-
comments).Exporting CSS: Design your pographical creations of emergency with
full web pages within a powerful graphi- the functions of composition engine op-
cal environment and then, a simple click, timized text Adobe.Import or copy and
export layout with CSS style sheets out- paste the double-byte characters from Il-
side. Integrate, in the foreground and lustrator (CS3 or CS4) and Photoshop
background images, including new types (CS3 or CS4) without compromising
of installment.. Performance Tuned: quality.
Integration with Adobe ConnectNow:
Gather client and creative in a meeting
online in real time with full screen sha-
ring, all platforms combined in the coun-
tries implementing the Adobe Connect
Now.
44 Software

46. Interview
Yousef Ikhereis
Q. Could you tell us a bit
about yourself (age, location,
country, and education in CG)
and your background in CG?
My name is Yousef Ikhreis, I’m 30 years
old, and I live and work in Amman, Jor-
dan. I’ve been involved in the graphic
design and animation industry for 10
years; I now work as an Art Director in
JAID Productions with 70 employees and
this is a subsidiary of ITG Solutions, one
of the leading companies in design, ani-
mation and e-learning in the region. I
am self-taught artist, and this is my story
of how I got involved in this
business:Going back to the beginnings
of the eighties, when I was a child, I was
afraid to go to the bathroom alone and
always looking for my mom or waking
her up to be around with me, because I
used to see strange faces and creatures
in the corners, and was always very upset spent the later days like a fugitive with Q. Can you tell our readers
when my mother and brothers would not this word “Softimage”, it was like the what’s the actual work of the
believe me and stare at me with strange holy sword that will empower me to
Art Director and what qualifi-
faces with a hectic smile, sometimes I create my creatures and will enforce the
cation is necessary for this job?
would run naked to get them to watch disbelievers to bow to that little child vi-
them, pointing with my little fingers, but sions. By Softimage I will recreate my
no one see….so they couldn’t believe. worlds. At the time Softimage was unk-
Later in 1995, when I was watching TV nown and not available in Jordan, I star-
programs with boredom feeling, moving ted investigating about computer
from one channel to another I watched graphics and someone told me that there
the last minutes of behind the scenes is a good software called Photoshop,
program, and they were talking about with flicker speed I purchased a book
the making of “Alien” character (H.R. about Photoshop, I read it three times (it
Geiger) and while watching it with great was hard at the beginning), then I started
enthusiasm I kept telling myself (ha, you learning Illustrator, CorelDraw, Macro-
can do that!! it’s easy, you are a grown media Flash, Premier to help me in my
up now to watch such things, you always presentations, After Effects, 3Ds Max,
see these creatures,but don’t tell Maya, Digital Fusion,ZBrush, Softimage
anyone…they will start joking on you XSI…etc, also learned script writing,
again), I waited for the next episode, and screen play, storyboard….etc. Until now
it was about “ Jurassic Park”where they I spend a lot of time, effort and money
mentioned “Softimage”, a word which spent the later days like a fugitive with
46 Interview

47. Actually, There are different Art Directing
types, the actual work of the Art Director
is depending on the nature of the type;
Printing Art Director, Multimedia Art Di-
rector, Life Shot Art Director, e-learning
Art Director, Architectural Art Director,
games Art Director, Cartoon Art Direc-
tor….etc. so every Art Directing type has
its own consistent workflow that is built to
guarantee, achieve and reach the hi-
ghest levels, and each workflow has its
own specialty such as; the targets, the
production pipeline, the Soft tools, the
Hard tools, the resources… My responsi-
bilities in JAID Productions are:Direct the
design and production of graphics and
animations. Formulating concepts and
supervise workers engaged in executing
layout designs for art work and copy to
be presented by visual communications
media. Review illustrative material and ting this word ” Yesterday we had philo- IMr. Marc Peti reflect that.6- Who can
confers with client regarding background sophers. Today we have directors”. guarantee that Softimage will be down in
information, objectives, presentation ap- Q. What’s your comment on the near future?
proaches, styles, techniques, and related the Autodesk acquires Soft-
production factors. Formulate basic mage?
layout design concept and conduct re-
search to select and secure suitable illus- t was like a shock or bad Joke, and I
trative material. Assign and direct staff asked myself: for god sake why is the
members to develop design concepts fate of Softimage to be dealt like that?
into art. Review, approve, and present (He) doesn’t deserve that …then after ac-
final layouts for approval. Mentoring, cepting the fact, I thanked my
training, career directing and performing god...why?1- Crying can’t turn anything
evaluations for the Art teams. For the Art back.2- No one can blame Autodesk be-
Director qualifications, I will consider his cause they are a successful company 3-
philosophy, personality, vision, creativity, Autodesk is the most powerful company
educated and cultivated as the most im- that is able to understand and undertake
portant qualifications. Those simple des- Softimage.4- Autodesk has excellent
criptions will lead him to present the most knowledge and experience in the CG in-
unique and innovative results, those are dustry. 5- Softimage has a solid history
spiritual resources for the real talent, and very powerful to compete so...Softi-
which will give him the ability to visualize mage will stay alive and healthy, because
the ideas and visions everybody loves the power.
Interview 47

48. Interview
7- By looking at the last two versions of this is the fact. Facts are the strongest
Maya (Autodesk) we will notice very good words. 10- Hatred waves are increasing
enhancements, such as the n cloths, n for Autodesk, EA, Adobe, Microsoft... but
particles, selection tools, UV folding, ani- these things are always happening form
mation layer, speed…, all of that should the beginning and changing naturally,
be considered as a confident points. 8- look at ZBrush for example, they are the
As we remember, when Adobe acquired innovative of Digital sculpting technique,
Macromedia everybody thought that all and everybody thought that it will be do-
Macromedia products will be distorted or minating on the digital modeling indus-
metamorphosed, on the contrary Flash try, but look around you now, new
has great features with Action script 3, Mudbox, Silo, Modo created their own
bones, Animation tracks…9- If you are a displacements,… even Softimage or
wealthy rich man and start to bankrupt, Maya after three or four releases will be
and you have a Rolls-Royce car that you able sculpt as we do in ZBrush, on the
love very very much, but you have to sell other hand for the last release of ZBrush
it, and you got two buyers, rich arro- it’s revealing their pure vision by working
gance man whoknows how to deal with three steps ahead. Everything is chan-
such a car and strange man who has no ging whether Autodesk or Adobe or any
license to drive, for whom will you sell the else, but now it will be faster.This is a
car? Of course to the rich man because NEW ERA, and I agree with Mr. Kim Da-
with him it will stay clean and live, I know vidson President and CEO of Side Effects
you will feel that your pride is heart but Software.
48 Interview

50. Interview
Q. You provide lots of services to the
clients and one of these is “Pipelines
and Software Consulting”,please tell
us in detail what exactly is this and
how much this service is in demand?
There is an old say, describing the pro-
blem is half the solution, everybody in
this industry knows that most of the was-
ted time is lost in the management and
the project planning, the leftover time will
be divided to the production phases with
killing deadline, including the extra re-
quests, and how hard to modify and
change the pipeline or the plan. My ser-
vices is to present common language
between all sides and save the precious
time, all I need is a ful list of the project
requirements, available infrastructure
and resources, human skills, software,
hardware resources…hen I start studying
the project requirements and targets, re-
searching, planning to produce the re-
commended reasonable pipeline,
recommendations for software based on
the project demands, deadlines for the
production phases and more… also
good knowledge in choosing the right
software’s could affect positively on the
pipeline, deadline,and performance,be-
cause of the variation of the procedura-
lism in the software’s workflow and the
variation in the strong features in these
software’s.Someone could ask; what are
the differences in my services that other
studios could not offer? When the man-
ger loses one hour from the project time
it will be discounted from every level
down, my pipeline is to built and base
the pipeline from down up of the pyra-
mid, on the contrary of other pipelines
this will afford more time for all
quality,and less stress. Thank you for this
chance to talk with you and Good luck
for all.
50 Interview

52. Gallery
Event Art Dubai
Introductory starements
The Arabic world has always apprecia- Art Dubai, a DIFC subsidiary, has been
ted art in all its forms and in recent very successful. The DIFC has a signifi-
months there has been a resurgence of cant art collection of its own, and has
interest in contemporary art, not only in long considered the collection, display
Dubai, but across the region. This, I be- and promotion of regional and contem-
lieve, is due in part to the growing reco- porary art as integral to our vision. We
The honorary Patron of Art Dubai His gnition of some excellent artists that we firmly believe that Dubai can become a
Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid have among us as well as the awareness truly global centre for art and that the
Al Maktoum ,Vice President and Prime generated amongst the art-loving public DIFC can play an integral role in that
Minister of UAE, Rule of Dubai. Visiting through visiting art galleries as well as process. Indeed. The DIFC art strategy is
the art fair in March 2007 with John the efforts of the Dubai International Fi- to establish itself as both an international
Martin Fair Director. nancial Centre through initiatives such as and regional presence collecting, dis-
Art Dubai and its own collection. Since playing and promoting artists from this
the inception of the DIFC in late 2004, region and across the world.Art Dubai is
we have had a clear desire to promote very important to us. It is an expression of
the arts of the region in theregion and the cultural philosophy of the DIFC and
the world. As DIFC bridges the East and as such is themed to promote Dubai and
Art Dubai was the first international the West and serves as the gateway to the DIFC in all its aspects as a hub for art
contemporary event Art fair in the Mid- the financial world to people in forty-two a meeting point of the Occident and the
dle East. countries, we additionally aim to be the Orient. Selected from over 300 applica-
gateway for art. Selected from over 300 tions, the participating. Of the arts gal-
applications, the participating galleries , leries were chosen by an international
52 Gallery

53. As the DIFC brings together and pro- local and regional art. Works bought at
motes financial union across the globe, Art Dubai or as a result of it benefit the
Art Dubai and other art initiatives of buyers who may have acquired works of
DIFC aim to promote cultural understan- art forpleasure or as an investment.Du-
ding through art. Art is an international ring the inaugural Gulf Art Fair, we recei-
language that appeals equally to diverse ved 9,000 visitors over the three days it
The gallery sources the most unique and
people. Art Dubai is not just a display of ran. We are pleased that some1,500 of
captivating Australian artworks from
art pieces that is held for a couple of them came from overseas.We had works
across the vast landscape, including
days once a year. It is an on-going pro- from 41 galleries and collective sales du-
contemporary oil painted landscapes,ex-
cess that takes place throughout the year ring the event had stood at US $9-11
pressionistic portraits and intriguing pho-
in an ever-expanding cycle. For exam- million, a significant figure for a first-time
tographic compositions.In recent years
ple, the planning of the next event be- event of its kind in the Arab World. Art
Indigenous art has grown in popularity
gins right after the current one is over. Dubai 2008 is already double the size
in Australia and is gaining recognition
That includes a marketing and promo- with seventy international galleries
worldwide in Europe, America and Asia.
tional campaign which aims to introduce confirming participation. We are paying
the public to Art Dubai and what is new special attention to the galleries and ar-
in it. What art means and what is avai- tists from the region, South and Central
lable in the market and who is new and Asia and the Far East to ensure tha this
which work is in demand. It also high- truly global event serves as an important
lights trends and fashions increasing the showcase for contemporary art to the
visibility of both local and regional art. world.local and regional art. Works
Works bought at Art Dubai or as a result bought at Art Dubai .
Gallery 53

54. Gallery
Participating Gallery
Leading contemporary Gallery to go to Art for the third edition
Taking place from March 19-21 2009,
over 65 carefully selected galleries will
gather in the beach resort of Madinat Ju-
meirah for the third edition of Art Dubai.
Emphasis will be placed on galleries re-
presenting artists from the Middle East,
South and Central Asia and the Far East,
showing along side established artists
from the West. The participating galleries
were chosen by an international selection
committee that considered the merits of
each individual exhibition proposal to
create an innovative and diverse event,
appealing to new and experienced col-
lectors alike.“The quality and strength of
the applications from galleries round the
world offers continued proof of the gro-
wing importance of Dubai as a new art
market centre.” said John Martin, Co-
founder and Director of Art Dubai. “In an
economic downturn, the best galleries
still require a global presence and must
take advantage of the opportunities that
Art Dubai offers them to engage with the
changing face of the regional and inter-
national collecting community.” Accom-
panied by the Abraaj Capital Art Prize
the critically acclaimed Global Art Forum
as well as a comprehensive programme
of projects, films, performance, events
and tours, Art Dubai provides visitors an
unrivalled vantage point onto the shifting
global art scene.” said Martin. “The qua-
lity of the event and the tightly selected
group of galleries reaffirms Dubai’s re-
putation as one of the most in the world,”
An exclusive selection of more than 60 of
the world’s leading contemporary galle-
ries from more than 30 countries will ga-
ther in Dubai next March for the third
installment of the Art Dubai 2009
contemporary art fair.
54 Gallery

55. Trends in the Art Dubai 2009 gallery se- A These galleries include: Agial Art Gal- Located beside the beach at the stunning
lection include: Over a third of the galle- lery, Galerie Janine Rubeiz, Sfeir-Semler Madinat Jume iand Silk Road Gallery
ries are returning to Art Dubai in 2009, (Beirut), Anant Art Gallery (New Delhi), (Tehran)rah resort, Art Dubai presents a
including , Bodhi Art (Mumbai), White Atassi Gallery (Damascus), B21, The unique opportunity for international and
Cube (London) and The Third Line Third Line, Elementa (Dubai), Bodhi, regional art lovers to experience the vi-
(Dubai). Galleries new to Art Dubai 09 Chemould Prescott Road, Project 88, brancy of the region’s thriving cultural
include BREENSPACE (Sydney), Almine Sakshi Gallery (Mumbai), Dirimart, Ga- scene. Quotes from participating galle-
Rech Gallery (Brussels), Galerie Emma- leri Artist (Istanbul), Galerie El Marsa (La ries about Art Dubai: “Being a contem-
nuel Perrotin (Paris), Max Protetch, (New Marsa, Tunisia), Art Dubai is helping fos- porary art gallery from India, Dubai is
York), Fredric Snitzer Gallery (Miami) ter the UAE’s reputation as a meeting close enough to be a hub for markets
Goff + Rosenthal (New York) and Ele- place for the international art world. In around the area. As the fair has gained
menta. A strong selection of US and Eu- the last two years, the art fair has witnes- significant status from the moment it was
ropean galleries pioneering exhibitions sed robust growth in thenumber of art conceived, it has become relevant for
of Middle Eastern and Asian aritists in- collectors, artists, dealers, curators, critics galleries from within India to be part of .
clude Albion, BISCHOFF/WEISS, Rossi & and art enthusiasts Selected from over . . In order to develop the growing inte-
Rossi, Green Cardamom, Aicon Gallery, 300 applications, the participating galle- rest of persons from the Middle East as
Bitforms Gallery, Goff + Rosenthal, Frey ries were chosen by an international se- well as expat Arabs in Indian contempo-
Norris Gallery and Salon 94. Mongst the lection committee . With the added of rary art, our participation at Art Dubai
international participants there is strong the newly opened Museum Art Dubai is gained particular significance. It’s a
presence of the most important galleries seeking more than 5000 visitors from wonderful platform to reach collectors
from the Middle East, North Africa and overseas, doubling the number of inter- and curators from the Middle East. The
South Asia (MENASA), Tunisia region. national visitors from Art Dubai 2008. fair is meticulously managed”.
Gallery 55

56. Gallery
Participating Gallery
Leading contemporary Gallery to go to Art for the third edition
DUBAI.- Taking place from March 19-21
2009, over 65 carefully selected galleries
will gather in the beach resort of Madinat
Jumeirah for the third edition of Art Dubai.
Emphasis will be placed on galleries repre-
senting artists from the Middle East, South
and Central Asia and the Far East, showing
along side established artists from the West.
Selected from over 300 applications, the
participating galleries were chosen by an
international selection committee that consi-
dered the merits of each individual exhibi-
tion proposal to create an innovative and
diverse event, appealing to new and expe-
rienced collectors alike.“The quality and
strength of the applications from galleries
round the world offers continued proof of
the growing importance of Dubai as a new
art market centre.” said John Martin, Co-
founder and Director of Art Dubai. “In an
economic downturn, the best galleries still
require a global presence and must take ad-
vantage of the opportunities that Art Dubai
offers them to engage with the changing
face of the regional and international col-
lecting community.” Accompanied by the
Abraaj Capital Art Prize the critically acclai-
med Global Art Forum as well as a com-
prehensive programme of projects, films,
performance, events and tours, Art Dubai
provides visitors an unrivalled vantage point
onto the shifting global art scene.” said
Martin. “The quality of the event and the
tightly selected group of galleries reaffirms
Dubai’s reputation as one of the most exci-
ting and stimulating new centers for art in
the world,” he added. An exclusive selec-
tion of more than 60 of the world’s leading
contemporary galleries from more than 30
countries will gather in Dubai next March
for the third installment of the Art Dubai
2009 contemporary art fair.
56 Gallery

57. Trends in the Art Dubai 2009 gallery selec- AThese galleries include: Agial Art Gal- Located beside the beach at the stunning
tion include: Over a third of the galleries are lery, Galerie Janine Rubeiz, Sfeir-Semler Madinat Jume iand Silk Road Gallery (Teh-
returning to Art Dubai in 2009, including (Beirut), Anant Art Gallery (New Delhi), ran)rah resort, Art Dubai presents a unique
Galerie Krinzinger (Vienna), Bodhi Art Atassi Gallery (Damascus), B21, The Third opportunity for international and regional
(Mumbai), White Cube (London) and The Line, Elementa (Dubai), Bodhi, Chemould art lovers to experience the vibrancy of the
Third Line (Dubai). Galleries new to Art Prescott Road, Project 88, Sakshi Gallery region’s thriving cultural scene. Quotes from
Dubai 09 include BREENSPACE (Sydney), (Mumbai), Dirimart, Galeri Artist (Istanbul), participating galleries about Art Dubai:
Almine Rech Gallery (Brussels), Galerie Em- Galerie El Marsa (La Marsa, Tunisia), Art “Being a contemporary art gallery from
manuel Perrotin (Paris), Max Protetch, (New Dubai is helping foster the UAE’s reputa- India, Dubai is close enough to be a hub
York), Fredric Snitzer Gallery (Miami) Goff tion as a meeting place for the internatio- for markets around the area. As the fair has
+ Rosenthal (New York) and Elementa nal art world. In the last two years, the art gained significant status from the moment it
(Dubai). A strong selection of US and Euro- fair has witnessed robust growth in thenum- was conceived, it has become relevant for
pean galleries pioneering exhibitions of ber of art collectors, artists, dealers, cura- galleries from within India to be part of . .
Middle Eastern and Asian aritists include Al- tors, critics and art enthusiasts from around . In order to develop the growing interest of
bion, BISCHOFF/WEISS, Rossi & Rossi, the world visiting the event. With the persons from the Middle East as well as
Green Cardamom, Aicon Gallery, Bitforms added benefit of the newly opened Mu- expat Arabs in Indian contemporary art, our
Gallery, Goff + Rosenthal, Frey Norris Gal- seum of Islamic Art in Doha and coinci- participation at Art Dubai gained particular
lery and Salon 94. mongst the international ding for the first time with the Sharjah significance.” - Chemould Prescott Road.“It’s
participants there is strong presence of the Biennial, Art Dubai is seeking to attract a wonderful platform to reach collectors
most important galleries from the Middle .more than 5000 visitors from overseas, and curators from the Middle East. The fair
East, North Africa and South Asia (ME- doubling the number of international visi- is meticulously managed”. - Galerie Kashya
NASA) region. tors from Art Dubai 2008. Hildebrand.
Gallery 57

58. Gallery
The third edition of Art Dubai
Trends in the Art Dubai 2009 gallery. Ta-
king place from March 19-21 2009, over
65 carefully selected galleries will gather
in the beach resort of Madinat Jumeirah
for the third edition of Art Dubai 2009.
Emphasis will be placed on galleries re-
presenting artists from the Middle East,
South and Central Asia and the Far East,
showing along side established artists
from the West. Selected from over 300
applications, the participating galleries
were chosen by an international selection
committee that considered the merits of
each individual exhibition proposal to
create an innovative and diverse event,
appealing to new and experienced col-
lectors alike.“The quality and strength of
the applications from galleries round the
world offers continued proof of the gro-
wing importance of Dubai as a new art
market centre.” said John Martin, Co-
founder and Director of Art Dubai. “In an
economic downturn, the best galleries still
require a global presence and must take
advantage of the opportunities that Art
Dubai offers them to engage with the
changing face of the regional and inter-
national collecting community.”Trends in
the Art Dubai 2009 gallery selection in-
clude .Art Dubai is helping foster the
UAE’s reputation as a meeting place for
the international art world. In the last two
years, the art fair has witnessed robust
growth in the number of art collectors, ar-
tists, dealers, curators, critics and art en-
thusiasts from around the world visiting
the event.The added benefit of the newly
opened Museum of Islamic Art in Doha
and coinciding for the first time with the
Sharjah Biennial, Art Dubai is seeking to
attract more than 5000 visitors, doubling
from Art Dubai 2008.
58 Gallery

60. Professional advice
20 Ways to avoid creative block
As a designer everyone has experienced a point where they just can no longer think of anything worth while. It’s in these situations
when you have to reevaluate your perception of what works and what doesn’t. Use the following 20 tips to avoid and get through
a tough designer's block.
1. Take Photography Sometimes all it takes is a friend to say and short stories can also help get
something worthwhile. Call your friend(s) you out of slump. Here is a great list
and discuss past events to help you recall of graphic design books.
something enjoyable, being in the right
set of mind is what it’s all about, and
4. Read Tutorials
friends bring you out of the “working Most tutorials are out there for people
mode” and into a much more pleasant who want to learn about design, layout,
frame of mind. Remember not to call them graphics and illustration software, but for
and interrupt them when they are at work graphic designers it can also be used to
as it may work the opposite way in that brush up on old techniques or to see the
case.Read and Get Inspiration. newest trends. These sites also often
contain links to sam
3 . Flip through Design books ples of how the tutorial was used in
Almost all graphic designers have a ca-
context of an actual design piece. With
mera with them, so why not use it? Can’t
the latest design suites, it’s often impossi-
find that perfect texture or color That’s
ble to learn every new feature of a new
fine, go out and take a picture of what
software and these tutorials can also help
you need. You may find inspiration in a
show you what it new and useful with a
very uncommon place. Be sure to take
software update. Here is a huge list of Tu-
plenty of pictures, not just a few, then re-
torial Sites.
turn to your office and review them to re-
call special feelings or smells from those
memories.
2.Call a friend
From Graphic Design Books ,There
are a ton of books out there that were
made just for people that have des-
igner’s block. The authors of most of
these books have compiled huge
5. Visit inspirational websites
amounts of graphi design work into
one comprehensive picture book. It’s almost a given that you know about a
These are often sorted to help you whole range of inspirational sites that you
find a specific idea or theme. Just frequent for ideas. However, going into
don’t underestimate the power of any these sites is almost a guaranteed way to
ole' books,even novels, comic books, break a difficult graphic designer’s block.
60 Professional advice

61. Also, don’t go to the same inspirational an office environment, you probably have 10.Listen to music
sites all the time, but instead try to find online peers who are also designers.
new ones, as the process alone could Chat, skype, or email them to ask for help
spark the idea of what you were looking or to just talk.
for. Here is a great list of 180+ of the top
sites that list inspirational designs. 8. Watch a funny movie or
video
6. Create Art for personal use
Laughter is truly the best medicine. Whe-
therit is within a group or by yourself,
laughter will help relax you and has been
thought to stimulate current parts of the
brain that control a person’s artistic and
cognitive abilities. Use this fact to your
advantage and don’t be afraid to really
let it out. A few chuckles is good, but a
Music is food for the soul, and also a gra-
real good “knee-slapping” laugh is even
phic designer’s mind. You may find that
listening to certain types of music may
9.Doodle in a sketch-book cause you to design a certain way, whe-
ther it be hard rock to create a grunge
The key to staying sharp and up to date design, or acoustic jam for those soft ele-
is to frequently produce art for just your- gant designs. Use the mental “flow” you
self. Practicing is really the key to perfec- get from music to your advantage and it
tion. Not only will you become more will set up your entire session. Something
proficient with design software, but you even better is if you are a musician, step
will also come across new ways to do the away and play some music. All the same
same thing, in turn creating something en- rules apply except that it sparks a creative
tirely new and unique. Use these personal part of your brain and will help get rid of
projects in your office to recreate those that nasty designer's block.
techniques for a client.
7.Speak with colleagues 11.Find a separate hobby
All graphic designers doodle as it’s a
Not everyone will be able to do this as habit that you have probably been doing Being on the computer all day long, every-
many of the readers of this article are since you were in school instead of liste- day, can be excruciating. Don’t let it hap-
freelancers. But if you are in an office en- ning to your teachers. Doodling can often pen to you. Instead, find a hobby that has
vironment, speak to colleagues when time help you focus and think freely. Instead of absolutely nothing to do with graphic des-
permits and if they’re not busy. Often you trying to create something with a pur- ign or being creative or artistic. Hobbies
can have small quick brainstorming ses- pose, you simply let your mind create so- such as fishing, camping, collecting, bil-
sions that may help you to open your mething. Forcing creativity can often liards, chess, or working out are great ways
mind to a new focus. Colleagues can also drain a graphic designer quickly of any to relax your mind. Trying to be creative all
help to relieve a lot of tension and stress good ideas they might have had. Some- day is too stressful and you will quickly burn-
built of from not being able to think about times it is just better to just let everything out as you need a way to completely step
new designs ideas. If you don't work in go and draw freely. away sometimes.
Professional advice 61

62. Professional advice
12.Take a step outside
Language is within a different part of the and sounds to help sketch out ideas for
mind that thinks about words so you can your design and you will find that you
work them hard and it will still let your can think better if you are not really trying
design muscles rest. This is a way to get to think at all. In addi tion to all of that
rid of designer’s block and plays very ni- the caffeine you are drinking, you should
cely into the next method.n your quest to focus your mind on a particlar thought.
write an amazing piece of literature, you Just don’t drink caffeine in excess as it
may find that you lack a correct way to can lead to addiction with many nasty
say something. When this happens, you side-effects..
should use a thesaurus.
14.Look up synonyms or anto-
Probably the most widely used method of
trying to get rid of designer’s block is to
nym
just to take a quick stroll outside. The pro- I Finding related words will often help you
blem lies within us. Most graphic des- look at the same thing with a different
igners step outside expecting ideas to spin, and finding antonyms can help you
come out of them. In other words, by narrow your ideas. Maybe buy a “word-
doing that, you are not taking a break. a-day” calenda. This is a great way to
Just step outside, smells some fresh air, lis- keep your vocabulary fresh and they are
ten to the birds, and enjoy the feeling of also pretty good conversational pieces.
just being with nature. Ignore everything 17.Work in puzzle books
except what you can see, smellor hear. 15.Go for a drive
Then you can step back into your office If weather permits, go out to your car, roll
and feel refreshed.. down the windows (or sunroof), and just
take a cruise around the countryside or
13.Write poetry or prose
within the heart of the city. Just try to drive
somewhere you don’t normally go, find
new back roads, or get lost somewhere.
Listen to some music while you are driving
as well, it’s a win-win situation really, but
just make sure you don’t get too lost,
you’ll eventually have to come back to the
office.
These little workbooks are great and
16.Visit the local coffee shop using them will increase your focus
Yes, that means Starbucks too. Coffee has and help you process thoughts and
caffeine and as most people know, caf- ideas more effeciently. Solving pro-
feine can help stimulate the brain (when blems is the job of a graphic des-
Often as a graphic designer you run used in small quantities). However, don’t igner and anything you can use to
across an idea or phrase that gets stuck sit inside the coffee shop, but rather sitout- help with your problem-solving abili-
in your head. Use that, write a short side and enjoy the weather and bring a ties is a must. There are also puzzle
poem about it. Flex those verbal muscles. pencil and paper as well. Use the sights books that will help with proof-rea
62 Professional advice

63. ding and error-checking as graphic
designers need to have the ability to
check over their own work and notice
small differences with shapes and co-
lors.
18. Sleep on it
Sleeping does many things, such as in-
creases energy, enhances focus, and
helps memorization (just to name a few).It
helps graphic designers by allowing them
to think about something without actually
thinking about it. Most of the time, co-
ming back to a design layout the next
morning is the best way to look at some-
thing with fresh eyes. You will also find
that you can judge your work much better
with a fresh look at your design. It will also
help you determine if it still portrays the mes-
sage the way that you had wanted it to.
Naps are also another way. Eat while you
are working and use your lunchtime to take Fonts spark ideas for layouts and some- fworking in an ergonomic environment.
a nap in the car. You will find that this helps times designers actually base an entire- Try not to sit too far away, above, or
boost your creativity a noticeable amount. design on a font that they have found. below your keyboard and monitor, make
Also, most really creative fonts include sure your monitor has the correct refresh
19. Look for interesting new design elements within the lettering and rates and resolution, your chair should
fonts ligature that can be used in an entire have proper lumbar support as well as
layout as shapes and backgrounds. make plenty of cushion, and have lighting other
sure sure you have a good font manage- than flourescent bulbs.
ment program as well as your font collec-
tion can get pretty big. Here is a Remember this, if you are going to try
humongous list of free font sites. any of these techniques, do not perform
them expecting positive results every time.
20.Straighten up your office
The trick is to really let your mind wander
Having a clean environment is very in different directions, because if you are
conducive to your creativity. Clutter across trying too hard to be creative, then it will
a desk is the same as cluttering your never work. If you have any suggestions
thoughts. Organize your desk and your or additions to these, please feel free to
mind, file away old projects, put together leave a comment and I will try and put it
doodles into one older, keep hard-copies in the article. Here is another article
Finding fonts is a pretty fun thing for gra- of all work on the wall or desk, and just about The Best Ways That Graphic Des-
phic designers as it creates this sense of get comfortable. Which brings up ano- igners Can Overcome Their Creative
“What can I use this for?” in their mind. ther point ... Block.
Professional advice 63

64. Books
The typographic landscapes of the arab world
Arabesque investigates the current creative potential of the Arab World
The book collects examples of recent in-
novative and groundbreaking design
work that is inspired by the richness of the
region’s visual culture. In addition to a
wide range of Arabic fonts and type-
faces, it presents graphic design, modern
calligraphy, logos and illustration by ar-
tists from Egypt, Iran, Saudi Arabia, the
United Arab Emirates and Lebanon. Des-
pite their rich tradition of calligraphy, the
Arab World and Persia are not known for
their contemporary graphic design, illus-
tration and typography. Especially now,
it’s worth taking a look at the region’s
creativity. Young designers are just begin-
ning to chart their own compelling course
between local visual convention and a
modern, international style. Arabesque in-
vestigates the creative potential of the
Arab World and Iran. This book features
examples of recent innovative and
groundbreaking design work that is ins-
pired by the richness of the region’s visual
culture. Given the important role of calli-
graphy in the Middle East, Arabesque fo-
cuses on typography. The book presents
a wide range of modern Arabic fonts and
typefaces; these are accompanied by a
rich selection of applications. Further
examples of design and graffiti serve as
powerful demonstrations of how text can
be used illustratively. This work is particu-
larly relevant to those now creating street
art and poster design. Regardless of the
location and ancestry of their creators, all
of the examples included in Arabesque
combine modern design with the traditio-
nal, letter-based canon of Arab forms in
striking ways. Supplemental texts des-
cribe the environments in which the fea-
tured designers and artists work.The
Arabic inspired Latin type.
64 Books

66. Books
Visual narratives from Arabia by Tarek Atrissi
Tarek Atrissi’s will present a research on
aesthetic trends and design conventions
in the Arab world, through the analysis of
selected current practices in Arabic type
design, corporate identities, and contem-
porary graphic design.The perception of
the Arab visual culture, within the Arab
world itself , in the western world, will be
discussed in relation to the challenges
faced by designers nowadays. Some
case studies will be used to show the ty-
pographic landscape across the Arab
world though presenting various design
projects such as the book entitled "Visual
Narratives from Arabia" and compiled by
Huda AbiFarèsi, as well as the latest pro-
jects developed by Tarek Atrissi Design,
which hold significant cross cultural chal-
lenges.
Images from book 'Visual Narratives from
Arabia'. Collage by Tarek Atrissi.
each other in the context of the cultural
wealth in the Arab world. The graphically
rich book - designed by Tarek Atrissi Des-
ign- contains a selection of some of the
most inspiring projects developed by the
students in the three online courses: Intro-
duction to Art and New Media in the
Arab States (by Ricardo Mbarkho); Ara-
bic typography and design culture (by
Huda Abifares) and Typographic Land-
scape in the Arab World (by Tarek
Atrissi).A digital version of the book is
available for download at Tarek Atrissi
Design’s website on the following link.
Design educators can contact us directly
to request a copy of the book.
66 Books

67. ublished by Unesco and co-authored by each other in the context of the cultural
Tarek Atrissi and Huda Abifares, “Visual wealth in the Arab world. The graphically
Preview from the inside spreads of the
Narratives from Arabia” is a publication rich book - designed by Tarek Atrissi Des-
book “Visual Narratives from Arabia” by
that documents the first Online master ign- contains a selection of some of the
Tarek Atrissi and Huda AbiFares, Publi-
module in Design and technology orga- most inspiring projects developed by the
shed by Unesco in 2008.
nized by Unesco, in which a selected students in the three online courses: Intro-
group of design students from across the duction to Art and New Media in the each other in the context of the cultural
Arab world participated. Long after the Arab States (by Ricardo Mbarkho); Ara- wealth in the Arab world. The graphically
course finished, the work on the book that bic typography and design culture (by rich book - designed by Tarek Atrissi Des-
summarizes the experience of the pilot Huda Abifares) and Typographic Land- ign- contains a selection of some of the
program and showcases the work deve- scape in the Arab World (by Tarek most inspiring projects developed by the
loped by the students was completed, Atrissi).A digital version of the book is students in the three online courses: Intro-
and the publication was printed and it is available for download at Tarek Atrissi duction to Art and New Media in the
available of arabic design and communi- Design’s website on the following link. Arab States (by Ricardo Mbarkho); Ara-
cation.The master module on Arts, Design Design educators can contact us directly bic typography and design culture (by
and Technology for the Arab states was to request a copy of the book.each other Huda Abifares) and Typographic Land-
an experimental educational program in the context of the cultural wealth in the scape in the Arab World (by Tarek
with the objective to explore possibilities Arab world. The graphically rich book - Atrissi).A digital version of the book is
of having a new kind of multi-disciplinary designed by Tarek Atrissi Design- available for download at Tarek Atrissi
educational The aim was to bring toge- contains a selection of some of the most Design’s website on the following link.
ther students with different kind of exper- inspiring projects developed by the stu- Design educators can contact us directly
tise to study together and to learn from dents in the three online courses: Introduc to request a copy of the book.
Books 67