2019
5 Years
of Zawya
EVENTS
Every year in March Zawya throws itself a big birthday party, headlined by an always-adventurous mix of DJs, to bring together everyone who works at or with or vaguely in connection to Zawya, and to celebrate another year of independent film in Cairo and all the effort that goes into making that possible.
In 2019, the cinema was turning 5 and it was especially meaningful for me to work on this birthday design, because I was working at MIF (Zawya’s mother company) between 2012 and 2014 when Zawya was still an ambitious idea brewing in the air. I created Zawya’s first logo back then and had the opportunity to revamp it and create an extended brand identity for it in 2020 (which you can see here). On a related note, I recently worked on Zawya’s 10th birthday design, which I will be adding on here soon. 🤲🏽
Having created the logo I have always felt very entitled to mess with it and curve it and stretch it and melt it and explore the limits of what I can get away with in that regard. I don’t think there was much of a concept here beyond that [passage of time = stretching?]. I kept the recognizable red and teal from the logo, and added a spring-inspired, happy shade of salmon. I had also just completed an animation workshop titled ‘The Moving Poster’organized by Sporadic Schooling and was very keen to test out my new animation skills.
In 2019, the cinema was turning 5 and it was especially meaningful for me to work on this birthday design, because I was working at MIF (Zawya’s mother company) between 2012 and 2014 when Zawya was still an ambitious idea brewing in the air. I created Zawya’s first logo back then and had the opportunity to revamp it and create an extended brand identity for it in 2020 (which you can see here). On a related note, I recently worked on Zawya’s 10th birthday design, which I will be adding on here soon. 🤲🏽
Having created the logo I have always felt very entitled to mess with it and curve it and stretch it and melt it and explore the limits of what I can get away with in that regard. I don’t think there was much of a concept here beyond that [passage of time = stretching?]. I kept the recognizable red and teal from the logo, and added a spring-inspired, happy shade of salmon. I had also just completed an animation workshop titled ‘The Moving Poster’organized by Sporadic Schooling and was very keen to test out my new animation skills.
EXHIBITIONS
︎︎︎ The poster was selected for the 3rd edition of 100 Best Arabic Posters in 2020 and exhibited along with the work of other artists and designers from the region at the AUC’s Tahrir Cultural Center in Cairo, Cultuurcentrum Ter Dilft in Bornem - Belgium, Warehouse421 in Abu Dhabi, the Saudi Design Festival in Diriyah, Birzeit University in Palestine, The Design Show in Cairo and at the Bibliotheca Alexandrina.
︎︎︎ It was also selected to be part of Cairopolitan’s Cairo Prints II in 2021 and showcased in a group exhibition at the Cairopolitan gallery, the Institut Français d’Égypte and the Institut Français d’Archéologie Orientale in Cairo that year.
PURCHASE
︎︎︎ It is available for purchase at the Cairopolitan store and through their website.
CREDITS
︎︎︎ Website & portfolio designed with Mariam Khattab
︎︎︎ Logo stretching animation by Osman Setto