Stylogeny combining Cairo–Beirut Arab Modernist Book × Corporate Identity Modernism

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Style combination · Contrasts

Cairo–Beirut Arab Modernist Book × Corporate Identity Modernism

The ornament-free corporate page is what el-Touni argued against; set a folk-bordered Arabic cover beside a strict grid to stage that debate.

From the research on Cairo–Beirut Arab Modernist Book & Periodical Design

Mix them and make something Cairo–Beirut Arab Modernist Book Corporate Identity Modernism

CivicCairo–Beirut Arab × Corporate Identity
A sample layout drawn from the recipe: shapes from Cairo–Beirut Arab Modernist Book, their arrangement from Corporate Identity Modernism, the finish from Cairo–Beirut Arab Modernist Book. Not a real work, and not an image of either style.

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What each style brings

Each part of the design comes from the style with the stronger say in it, and each style gives at least two.

Cairo–Beirut Arab Modernist Book & Periodical Design Corporate Identity Modernism

Type from Corporate Identity Modernism

Cairo–Beirut Arab Modernist Book avoids grotesque & neo-grotesque: this is where the two pull against each other, which is the point of the contrast.

Colour from Cairo–Beirut Arab Modernist Book
Form from Cairo–Beirut Arab Modernist Book
Composition from Corporate Identity Modernism
Surface from Cairo–Beirut Arab Modernist Book

02

The type

Open fonts standing in for each style’s own type, which is often hand-drawn or commercial.

Display · Corporate Identity Modernism

Civic

Inter Tight, standing in for Helvetica

Text · Cairo–Beirut Arab Modernist Book

The illustrated book, magazine and children's-book culture that ran from Cairo's post-1952 publishing houses to the Arab nationalist and leftist presses of Beirut. Hand-drawn Arabic titles reworked from Kufic and everyday scripts, rough, expressive pen-and-brush drawing and flat offset colour gave mass readers and children a modern, decolonised Arabic page. Helmi el-Touni and Mohieddin Ellabbad also brought folk ornament and borders back to it.

Reem Kufi; Cairo–Beirut Arab Modernist Book used Hand-drawn Kufic-derived Arabic display lettering and Hand-lettered titles based on Ruqʿa and Naskh

03

The colours

The ground and leading colours come from Cairo–Beirut Arab Modernist Book, with a counter-accent from Corporate Identity Modernism. The ink reads on the ground at 4.5:1 or more.

Cairo–Beirut Arab Modernist Book & Periodical Design Corporate Identity Modernism

  • #f0e6cf ground · 36%
  • #1c1a17 ink · 14%
  • #e1a930 accent · 18%
  • #d7261e accent · 14%
  • #0a4fa0 accent · 10%
  • #2a8a8a accent · 8%

As CSS

:root {
  --ground: #f0e6cf;
  --ink: #1c1a17;
  --accent-1: #e1a930;
  --accent-2: #d7261e;
  --accent-3: #0a4fa0;
  --accent-4: #2a8a8a;
  --font-display: "Inter Tight", sans-serif;
  --font-text: "Reem Kufi", cursive;
}

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The two styles

A vintage-style illustration shows a woman in a patterned headscarf and red embroidered dress holding a large key, with olive branches in the foreground. Behind her are sailboats, a waterfront town with a dome and minaret, birds, and a large golden sun; red Arabic lettering spans the top. 1952–1990 · Middle East & North Africa Cairo–Beirut Arab Modernist Book & Periodical Design The illustrated book, magazine and children's-book culture that ran from Cairo's post-1952 publishing houses to the Arab nationalist and leftist presses of Beirut. Hand-drawn Arabic titles reworked from Kufic and everyday scripts, rough, expressive pen-and-brush drawing and flat offset colour gave mass readers and children a modern, decolonised Arabic page. Helmi el-Touni and Mohieddin Ellabbad also brought folk ornament and borders back to it. A blue circle sits above two mirrored red tapered shapes separated by a widening white gap. Large, bold black lettering reading “Apex” appears underneath on a white background. 1955–1990 · North America, Western Europe, Global / networked Corporate Identity Modernism Modernist reduction applied to corporate communication. A company's whole public face (trademark, logotype, stationery, packaging, vehicles and signage) was unified by an abstract symbol, a single typeface and one colour, all policed by a graphic standards manual. Pioneered by Paul Rand, Chermayeff & Geismar, Unimark and Lippincott & Margulies, it made the reductive mark and the grid the visual language of multinational business and government.

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