Oasis Magazine spoke to one of the most recognized designers in the Arab World, Tarek Atrissi, and discussed his passion for letters, words and their design in our 9th issue (Autumn 2009 - click on the pages above to zoom in for full interview).
What has been, in your opinion, your greatest accomplishment and why?
I have always tried to be a multi-disciplinary designer and try to step beyond the sphere of just graphic design practice; to be involved on an academic and research level as well as on a level of promoting the field and working towards setting platforms for Arab designers to make their work more visible. The variety of type of work and the different levels I am active in, make my career as a designer more exciting and always creatively challenging and inspiring.
It is hard however to point out what I would consider my greatest accomplishment because, as you say, several things happened on several levels and each of these has had a special success to it.
On a branding level, it was exciting to be able to complete the design of a complete visual identity for a country (Qatar in 2004). This was a unique project in scale and nature. Nation branding is just too rare to occur for any designer to experience it. As a judge I was honored to be part of this year’s jury panel of the Adobe Design Achievement Awards in San Jose, California, which is the biggest international student competition around the world. As a curator, bringing the first exhibition of Arabic posters to Europe was a special step in creating international awareness and appreciation for the Arabic visual culture. As a type designer, seeing my very own Arabic fonts become very visible and popular across the Arab world made the long process of font design and production process completely worth it.
I think maybe a combination of all these create a unique and satisfying sense of accomplishment, but more importantly, they motivate me as a designer to create further work and keep up with the creative challenges.
You’ve specialized in Arabic typography since the beginning of your career. What is the reason behind your fascination with Arabic typography?
Any graphic designer is fascinated with typography, and being an Arab graphic designer, it is natural that Arabic typography becomes an important part of your focus. I think the interest and specialization comes from the fact that the challenge was bigger. There was relatively less done in the world of Arabic typography, and it was frustrating to see, for no specific reason, less exciting typographic work occurring in our side of the world. The Arabic written letter holds a lot of value as well in our Arab World. After all, the written script is the only common aspect across all the countries in the Arab World. The spoken language differs, the cultural values differ, and even politics and religion are different. Only the written language is common and holds a lot of history in it from our heritage of visual language in the Arab World. It is a fascinating challenge to work with Arabic typography, calligraphy and lettering, particularly with the constant struggle to mix the traditional with the contemporary, as well as to combine the historic artistic practice with a new digital era that is constantly and rapidly developing.
Arabic calligraphy is rooted in our culture and is, in a sense, timeless. How does Arabic typography parallel that and how does it re-invent itself in a modern age?
Our digital times are significantly different than the context and environment in which Arabic calligraphy developed. Arabic typography serves a different purpose on many levels and has to keep up with a rapidly changing technological surrounding. It is a very delicate task for typography to re-invent itself and stay, on one hand, loyal to the calligraphic values and, on the other hand, be innovative and functional in today’s requirements. How this is done seems to be different between different designers and different type design trends. Some are more inclined towards preserving the traditional aspects, while others are keener on focusing on the modern side. The in-between attempt seems to vary a lot as well between different approaches. I think it is hard to have a clear answer here to what is the best way for typography to reinvent itself. Time will be the best test to look back at this area and judge it more objectively.
You’ve created several websites including your blog, Arabic posters, and Arabic typography. What is the idea behind arabictypography.com and what is the significance of having a platform for discussion between Arabic typographers?
Arabictypography.com, introduced in 2000, originally aimed to create an exciting Arabic typographic presence on the web. It coincided well with a time where interactive flash websites were rising all over the internet and it was impossible to find even one single decently designed Arabic website, let alone one that took full advantage of the beauty of the Arabic script in new media context. The site changed all that. It achieved its goals in creating a solid typographic online example and bringing the emerging Arabic typography from the Arab World to a wider international audience. Most importantly, it encouraged the further development of many similar initiatives on the web, such as blogs and informative and social platforms dedicated to Arabic typography.
The website aims to create an educational, inspirational and experimental online communication platform for designers in the Arab World. Despite being typographically driven at its core, it also covers a vast range of creative disciplines: graphic design, calligraphy and lettering; branding and visual identities; new media and TV graphics; popular and vernacular Arabic design; visual communication; fashion and product design; and architecture and urban planning. The site offers an in-depth look at modern design that reflects trends, innovation and aesthetics in the Arab World today.
Arabictypography.com will re-launch at the end of September 2009 to be a manifestation of more contemporary areas such as design and social change, moving beyond the traditional disciplines to design between the lines and its implication and resonance in society. The website has continuously served the needs of a rapidly growing global Arab design community by creating a portal that supports advocating better awareness for design in the Arab World and the first real platform for design criticism in the region.
You have recently ventured off to Jeddah for the design conference Tawasol. Did you expect it to be a hit? How did you find the graphic design scene in Saudi Arabia?
I did not know what to expect but I was certainly very impressed by the conference as well as with the level of design students and the general interest in graphic design and typography. It showcased the growing graphic design scene in Saudi Arabia and I was very pleased to see this positive development.
Do you think that enough inspiration can be derived from an Arabic heritage and background, that graphic designers will be able to build from that on its own without having to address what the West is up to? Absolutely. There is a lot of inspiration and visual culture in the Arab World to focus on and build on so that designers can create their own local graphic design language. Something the West needs, as globalization is imposing a less exciting international design style. Local design inspired by a specific local culture is a powerful strength that needs to be developed all the way, particularly in our world.
What advice would you give up and coming graphic designers from the Arab World?
It all starts with hard work. A graphic designer needs to be fully dedicated to his profession to make the best out of it. Always nourish your creative soul by actively researching various aspects of design and keeping an eye on all the work happening regionally around you as well as internationally. Also, seek as much education in design as possible, since a solid design academic background is key towards having a more solid design career.
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