Stylogeny combining Cairo–Beirut Arab Modernist Book × Iranian Modernist Graphic Design

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Style combination · Pairs well

Cairo–Beirut Arab Modernist Book × Iranian Modernist Graphic Design

Iran's Kanoon books and posters are the Persian counterpart; combine their stacked calligraphy with Arab folk borders for children's and cultural publishing.

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

Tehran's Kanoon and Beirut's Dar al-Fata al-Arabi were parallel 1970s children's-publishing cultures; combine Persian calligraphic covers with Arab picture-book drawing for a regional series.

From the research on Iranian Modernist Graphic Design

Mix them and make something Cairo–Beirut Arab Modernist Book Iranian Modernist Graphic Design

ActCairo–Beirut Arab × Iranian Modernist
A sample layout drawn from the recipe: shapes from Cairo–Beirut Arab Modernist Book, their arrangement from Iranian Modernist Graphic Design, 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 Iranian Modernist Graphic Design

Type from Iranian Modernist Graphic Design
Colour from Cairo–Beirut Arab Modernist Book
Form from Cairo–Beirut Arab Modernist Book
Composition from Iranian Modernist Graphic Design
Surface from Cairo–Beirut Arab Modernist Book

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The type

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

Display · Iranian Modernist Graphic Design

Act

Rakkas, standing in for Nastaʿlīq

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 Iranian Modernist Graphic Design. The ink reads on the ground at 4.5:1 or more.

Cairo–Beirut Arab Modernist Book & Periodical Design Iranian Modernist Graphic Design

  • #f0e6cf ground · 36%
  • #1c1a17 ink · 14%
  • #e1a930 accent · 18%
  • #c4362c accent · 14%
  • #2a8a8a accent · 10%
  • #6b7a3a accent · 8%

As CSS

:root {
  --ground: #f0e6cf;
  --ink: #1c1a17;
  --accent-1: #e1a930;
  --accent-2: #c4362c;
  --accent-3: #2a8a8a;
  --accent-4: #6b7a3a;
  --font-display: "Rakkas", cursive;
  --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. Large black Persian calligraphy fills a cream, lightly textured poster, with a golden three-leaf sprout rising in front of a red sun. A blue, rippling reflection tapers downward beneath the lettering. 1960–present · Middle East & North Africa Iranian Modernist Graphic Design Iranian graphic design came of age in the 1960s and 1970s. Morteza Momayez, Farshid Mesghali, Ghobad Shiva and Guity Novin worked for magazines, the Kanoon children's institute and film and arts festivals, and built a modern visual language from Persian calligraphy, miniature and folk imagery and the conceptual poster of the Polish school. From the 1990s Reza Abedini's generation made Persian letterforms themselves into dense, architectural poster compositions.

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