Exhibitions:

- Ars Electronica
- Design Doha Biennial

Branding:

- Brand Manual
- Packaging
- Social Media

Webdesign:

- VOICE

Craft:

- Crochet
- Plaster
- Data Visualization

Drawing:

- Perspective
- Still Life
- Light and Shadow

Information

Email: lanaselo@gmail.com
Instagram: lanaselo_art

Amjadi

Reclaiming Syria’s Glory Through Contemporary Typographic Patterns

In my thesis, I examine Syrian patterns in the historical context of present-day Syria, tracing their evolution from the Seljuk period to the modern era. Through this investigation, I developed a font called "Amjadi," meaning "Glories of My Country," inspired by Arabic Kufi style. The font was crafted using elements extracted from these patterns, which serve as storytellers of Syria's rich cultural history. Showcasing this font through crochet, a tradition in Syria, highlights the spiritual and temporal significance of the process, with each stitch symbolizing the passage of days and years, reflecting the land and its people's glories and
tribulations. Despite never having lived there, my Syrian identity fuels a longing to witness my country reclaiming its former glory. Ultimately, my thesis aims to weave together the threads of heritage and hope, illustrating how collective efforts, regardless of their scale, can mend the fabric of a nation and restore
its days of magnificence.

For my second outcome, I showcased the “Amjadi” typeface through
mimicking an old famous tradition in Damascus, which is pearl in-lay.

Type Specimen

Process:

I started by researching patterns found in the region we currenly call Syria. I collected images of patterns found in tiles and architecture in four time periods.

Seljuk Period (1037 - 1194 c.)

Ayyubid Period (1171 - 1250 c.)

Mamluk Period (1250 - 1517 c.)

Ottoman Period (1299 - 1922c.)

I made a publication of my findings and added inserts on how to draw each of the patterns from scratch.

Based on the findings in my research, I selected one pattern from each time period and extracted the elements that I desired to incorporate into my letterforms.

Initially, I tried to expirament with the extracted elements to form letters.

Then I used a font inspired by the fatimid kufic script to define the overall shape of my letters.

These were my initial letterforms.

After I got critique from my professors, I made 3 different variations to test which looked the best and was the most unique, because the last thing I want is for the typeface to look exactly like the fatimid kufi script. Making the horizontal lines thin, the vertical lines thick, and the spacing minimal gave the letters a distinctive and majestic appearance.

The image with the black background has the main letterforms and the image with the white background has the variations.

I used the program Glyphs to design my typeface.

For my crochet piece, I experimented with various methods to convert the word into a pixel grid to observe how the letters would be affected. Increasing the number of pixels enhanced clarity and brought out the intricate details in the typeface.

Crochet process

Blocks Process

Home

2024 Thesis: