Maece Seirafi and Pouya Jahanshahi giving their Fast Forward lecture at the Levantine Cultural Center
Local/Not Local, an exhibition of Arabic and Iranian typography at the Levantine Cultural Center in Los Angeles, closed its doors on the 28th of August with a lecture by curators—and CalArts Graphic Design alumni—Maece Seirafi and Pouya Jahanshahi. The lecture, entitled Arabic and Iranian Typography: Fast Forward, gave a concise overview of the history and recent seismic shifts in Arabic and Iranian type design. Plans for the exhibition to travel to other venues across the US are in the works, firstly at the Arab American National Museum in Michigan. There’s more info and images about the exhibition in Mike Dooley’s excellent Print online article.
The Love of Arabic, Ottoman, and Persian Calligraphy by Sam Anvari, Pouya Jahanshahi and Peyman Hamed
In this event poster Typography recites Rumi’s poem “Sun’s beauty is the answer for it’s own existence”. This timeless quote forms the figure of a whirling Dervish, referring to dance and perfection and the beauty of existence. Usage of Metallic Orange contrasts with the matt gray background, intensifying the glow of this timeless message. Pattens are reminiscent of Arabic, Iranian and Ottoman forms creating a structural framework that dances from the past to the present day. SA/PJ
Shahram Nazeri poster by Kourosh Beigpour
This poster was made for Shahram Nazeri’s speech at UCLA. An icon of Iranian classical and Sufi music and a master of Iranian traditional music, one of Iran’s most respected vocalists. KB
Scientific Meeting of the Iranian Theatre Posters by Kourosh Beigpour
This poster was made for Scientific Meeting of Iranian Theater Posters designs in the Iranian Artist Forum. It was printed in Tehran and the client was the Iranian Theater Poster Designers Society (ITPS). They had a conference about history followed by a discussion about Iranian Theater Posters. KB
Pointillist Zoomorphic Peacock (“I Dream Daily”) by Maece Seirafi
This zoomorphic pointillist approach was something I cultivated at CalArts with hybrid methodologies in typography. This process includes illustrating letterforms and the zoomorphic integration of Arabic letterforms and their curvaceous nature. Instead of using traditional ink with a bamboo stick I decided to experiment with pointillism with areas of dark and light to emphasize depth within the form. MS
Bank Note design for Iran by Milka Broukhim
My intention is to create an Iranian currency system based on each of Iran’s major government eras. The lowest currency denominator starts with the Achaemenid Empire (6th Century BC) which is the first official Iranian government founded by Cyrus the Great. My design objective is to depict the country’s historical value versus its political configuration, hence reflecting and emphasizing on the richness of each era’s art, symbolisms, culture, architecture and typography to tell the story. The foreground and the middle ground typography engage with the name of the Bank in both a traditional and contemporary style. MB
Reality vs Fantasy poster by Yusef al-Ahmad
Experimental typography using the words “reality” and “fantasy” in Arabic. YA
Ramadan poster by Maece Seirafi
An Arabic typographic illustration of the word Ramadan in Arabic finished with a pointillist style. Incorporating the pointillism style is something seen with tattoo artists. An unorthodox approach to protraying Ramandan, however tattoos have a permanence on our bodies similar to the permanence that the process of Ramadan has on our bodies resulting in a feeling of beautiful pain. MS
Curators and CalArts faculty at Fast Forward lecture. L to R: Louise Sandhaus, Maece Seirafi, Lorraine Wild, Pouya Jahanshahi, Mr Keedy, Michael Worthington
