Light and Shadow. Calligraphy on a wall.

Since the beginning of this site, it was meant to be a showcase for my portfolio. I was not planning on starting a blog or write anything.

I chose a strange name for the studio, a little bit difficult to pronounce for a non-Arab. There was a very valid reason for the name. I didn’t want a foreign name, I am an Arab and I am proud to be one, I am also a Muslim and more proud to be one; I wanted that to reflect on the name chose to operate under.

Zukhruff, an Arabic name, translates to: adornments or ornaments. It is what makes things graceful, beautiful and attractive. Anything that is used in design; accents, elements, embellishes, calligraphy, etc. is considered a zukhruff, an adornment, and it’s meant to make us fall in love with the object that is the focus of our attention at any given time.

I have been working in the field of design for the last 15 years and I know that the Arab world is not really known for its creativity, although it dominated the scene of the arts for hundreds of years. Now it’s known mostly for its oil.

I think it’s time to reintroduce the Islamic and Arab arts to the western world, so instead of this being just a website for a portfolio, I will regularly introduce different designers and artists from different disciplines; from calligraphers and architects to graphic designers and illustrators and lots more.

Our history is rich with beauty, and we are now seeing a renaissance in the arts and that is a good thing.

Cheers.

The studio specializes mainly in design related to publishing, branding and related material to both of them. We are not a full fledged advertising agency, and we don’t really aim to be one. However, we do have the large agency experience that qualifies us to work on a varied range of projects, be it just a flyer, a catalogue, or a full corporate identity project.

Cheers.