Stylogeny combining Cairo–Beirut Arab Modernist Book × Push Pin Style

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Style combination · Pairs well

Cairo–Beirut Arab Modernist Book × Push Pin Style

Push Pin's revival of historic ornament and bold-contour drawing parallels el-Touni's 'ornament is no crime'; mix the two for eclectic, ornamented covers.

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

Mix them and make something Cairo–Beirut Arab Modernist Book Push Pin Style

PopCairo–Beirut Arab × Push Pin Style1952 · 1954
A sample layout drawn from the recipe: shapes from Cairo–Beirut Arab Modernist Book, their arrangement from Push Pin Style, 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 Push Pin Style

Type from Push Pin Style
Colour from Cairo–Beirut Arab Modernist Book
Form from Cairo–Beirut Arab Modernist Book
Composition from Push Pin Style
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 · Push Pin Style

Pop

Righteous; Push Pin Style used Baby Teeth and Glaser Stencil

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

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The colours

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

Cairo–Beirut Arab Modernist Book & Periodical Design Push Pin Style

  • #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: "Righteous", 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 red-haired woman in a flowing purple dress rides a giant flying black-and-white cat beneath a smiling golden sun. Large orange lettering reading “SUNRIDER” crowns the scene, with a coastal village below and flowers decorating the border. 1954–1980 · North America Push Pin Style The eclectic illustrative style of New York's Push Pin Studios, founded by Seymour Chwast, Milton Glaser and Edward Sorel. Against the neutrality of the Swiss style it raided Victorian wood type, Art Nouveau, Art Deco, comics and folk art, drawing everything with bold contours, flat colour and invented display lettering, and made illustration and personal wit central to graphic design again.

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