Khatt Chronicles: Stories on Design from the Arab World – Details, episodes & analysis

Yara Khoury Nammour interviews Beirut-based Lebanese designer Nisrine Sarkis. They discuss her journey into the world of branding and lettering. Focusing initially on illustration and graphic design, Nisrine gradually realized the importance of Arabic typography to her practice after starting to work professionally as a graphic designer. Nisrine discusses her interest in display Arabic typefaces that she intends to develop out of her lettering projects. They also explore her teaching Arabic typography in Beirut, her design process, and her vision for design in the Arab world.

FOLLOW & RATE KHATT CHRONICLES:
» Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/khatt-chronicles-stories-on-design-from-the-arab-world/id1472975206
» Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3ATH0MwO1tIlBvQfahSLrB
» Anghami: https://play.anghami.com/podcast/1014374489

THIS SERIES IS PART OF THE AFIKRA PODCAST NETWORK 
Explore all episodes in this series: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLfYG40bwRKl5mMJ782dhW6yvfq0E0_HhA

ABOUT AFIKRA
afikra | عفكرة is a movement to convert passive interest in the Arab world to active intellectual curiosity. We aim to collectively reframe the dominant narrative of the region by exploring the histories and cultures of the region – past, present and future – through conversations driven by curiosity.
📍 Local events in 40+ locations worldwide http://afikra.com/chapters
🎧 New podcasts + videos weekly http://afikra.com/podcasts
⚡ Become a member: https://www.afikra.com/membership
🔗 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/afikra_
🔗 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/afikra.official
🔗 Twitter: https://twitter.com/afikra

***** About Khatt Chronicles *****

Khatt Chronicles podcast features remarkable designers, illustrators, and researchers from the Arab World. We host engaging conversations about their practice, vision, and aspirations. In line with the rest of the Khatt foundation projects, focuses on new developments with Arab typography and design. By Arab, we mean people working with the Arabic language, script, and audience, who are not necessarily Arabs. These initiatives are dedicated to the younger generation as an alternative medium. It also focuses on the younger generations of designers to fulfill three primary objectives:

1. Promote designers in the Arab World to the region and the rest of the world.
2. Continue the mission of Khatt foundation as a network between designers to support fostering and exploring new ideas.
3. Present these podcasts for inspiration and educational reasons.

The podcast is an ongoing platform covering design initiatives and developments around the world. Our aim is to identify and highlight designers from the Arab World that have made meaningful contributions in their fields or have demonstrated excellence in design.

Through storytelling, the Khatt Chronicles podcast will get you to know the designers on a personal level, and get to learn about how they think, and what makes them tick.

Khatt Chronicles podcast is in collaboration with afikra.

Follow

Instagram: @khatt_chronicles

Twitter: @khttnet

YouTube: Khatt Chronicles - YouTube

Khatt.net_Khatt Chronicles: https://www.khtt.net/en/page/28678/khatt-design-chronicles

HIS SERIES IS PART OF THE AFIKRA PODCAST NETWORK

Explore all episodes in this series: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLfYG40bwRKl40ZRFvo_VVYg6i56flEjSK&si=hSVcqPQlXdqq3sgT

ABOUT AFIKRA

afikra | عفكرة is a movement to convert passive interest in the Arab world to active intellectual curiosity. We aim to collectively reframe the dominant narrative of the region by exploring the histories and cultures of the region – past, present and future – through conversations driven by curiosity.

📍 Local events in 40+ locations worldwide http://afikra.com/chapters

🎧 New podcasts + videos weekly http://afikra.com/podcasts

⚡ Become a member: https://www.afikra.com/membership

🔗 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/afikra_

🔗 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/afikra.official

🔗 Twitter: https://twitter.com/afikra

FOLLOW & RATE KHATT CHRONICLES:
» Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/khatt-chronicles-stories-on-design-from-the-arab-world/id1472975206
» Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3ATH0MwO1tIlBvQfahSLrB
» Anghami: https://play.anghami.com/podcast/1014374489

THIS SERIES IS PART OF THE AFIKRA PODCAST NETWORK 
Explore all episodes in this series: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLfYG40bwRKl5mMJ782dhW6yvfq0E0_HhA

ABOUT AFIKRA
afikra | عفكرة is a movement to convert passive interest in the Arab world to active intellectual curiosity. We aim to collectively reframe the dominant narrative of the region by exploring the histories and cultures of the region – past, present and future – through conversations driven by curiosity.
📍 Local events in 40+ locations worldwide http://afikra.com/chapters
🎧 New podcasts + videos weekly http://afikra.com/podcasts
⚡ Become a member: https://www.afikra.com/membership
🔗 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/afikra_
🔗 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/afikra.official
🔗 Twitter: https://twitter.com/afikra

Huda Smitshuijzen AbiFarès interviews Lebanese type designer Kristyan Sarkis and founder of TPTQ Arabic font foundry in Amsterdam. Kristyan shares his education and journey into becoming a type designer. He states: "I learned how to connect with my own cultural design heritage at the Type and Media masters program, at the Royal Academy of art in The Hague." Kristyan discusses at length his typeface design approach and his research-based and culturally-immersive pedagogical practice. The talk also delves into his personal contemporary lettering work which affords him a break from the systematic discipline of type design.

The talk unpacks some Arabic type design notions: the difference between writing and calligraphy; the connection of handwriting to digital type design; and the differences between Arabic calligraphy, lettering and type design. Kristyan advocates for new style classifications for digital typefaces that are dissociated from the established calligraphic conventions. He stresses the importance of researching historical developments while creating fonts that are culturally relevant yet express their respective contemporary era.

https://tptq-arabic.com/

http://arabictypedesign.com/

FOLLOW & RATE KHATT CHRONICLES:
» Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/khatt-chronicles-stories-on-design-from-the-arab-world/id1472975206
» Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3ATH0MwO1tIlBvQfahSLrB
» Anghami: https://play.anghami.com/podcast/1014374489

THIS SERIES IS PART OF THE AFIKRA PODCAST NETWORK 
Explore all episodes in this series: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLfYG40bwRKl5mMJ782dhW6yvfq0E0_HhA

ABOUT AFIKRA
afikra | عفكرة is a movement to convert passive interest in the Arab world to active intellectual curiosity. We aim to collectively reframe the dominant narrative of the region by exploring the histories and cultures of the region – past, present and future – through conversations driven by curiosity.
📍 Local events in 40+ locations worldwide http://afikra.com/chapters
🎧 New podcasts + videos weekly http://afikra.com/podcasts
⚡ Become a member: https://www.afikra.com/membership
🔗 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/afikra_
🔗 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/afikra.official
🔗 Twitter: https://twitter.com/afikra

Yasmine Nachabe Taan interviews Lebanese-British researcher and designer Lina Hakim about her professional journey into research on material culture, technology, crafts and play. Lina discusses with Yasmine modes of teaching and how to empower students to define their practice as designers. They delve into Lina's book "Dia Al-Azzawi. Taking a Stand: Activism Through Graphic Design." Lina discusses how she put forward the local understanding of graphic design without imposing western definitions. She explored through the book how 'design histories' get recorded, how identity and memory are preserved through design practice. Hakim explains how she approached Al-Azzawi's archive, reflecting on it, and pulling themes that formed the chapters of the book. She discuss the important of research in graphic design education, and how to decenter and decolonize design history by engaging in collaborative course development, and by exposing students to design history from the periphery and from outside the western design canon.

FOLLOW & RATE KHATT CHRONICLES:
» Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/khatt-chronicles-stories-on-design-from-the-arab-world/id1472975206
» Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3ATH0MwO1tIlBvQfahSLrB
» Anghami: https://play.anghami.com/podcast/1014374489

THIS SERIES IS PART OF THE AFIKRA PODCAST NETWORK 
Explore all episodes in this series: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLfYG40bwRKl5mMJ782dhW6yvfq0E0_HhA

ABOUT AFIKRA
afikra | عفكرة is a movement to convert passive interest in the Arab world to active intellectual curiosity. We aim to collectively reframe the dominant narrative of the region by exploring the histories and cultures of the region – past, present and future – through conversations driven by curiosity.
📍 Local events in 40+ locations worldwide http://afikra.com/chapters
🎧 New podcasts + videos weekly http://afikra.com/podcasts
⚡ Become a member: https://www.afikra.com/membership
🔗 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/afikra_
🔗 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/afikra.official
🔗 Twitter: https://twitter.com/afikra

Huda Smitshuijzen AbiFarès interviews Jordanian Eyen graphic design studio’s founders and designers Omar Al-Zo’bi and Yousef Abedrabbo. 

In this conversation Omar and Yousef candidly speak about their journey to becoming Eyen Design and their motivations and attitude towards design practice and education, particularly in Jordan. They discuss the importance of being engaged with local culture, listening to one’s collaborator, and designing with the user in mind. They explain the different ways that they have endeavoured to provide an alternative educational and collaborative working space within Eyen, mentioning in particular their latest project, the Arabic Letter Lab.

For more information: https://www.eyen.design/

FOLLOW & RATE KHATT CHRONICLES:
» Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/khatt-chronicles-stories-on-design-from-the-arab-world/id1472975206
» Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3ATH0MwO1tIlBvQfahSLrB
» Anghami: https://play.anghami.com/podcast/1014374489

THIS SERIES IS PART OF THE AFIKRA PODCAST NETWORK 
Explore all episodes in this series: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLfYG40bwRKl5mMJ782dhW6yvfq0E0_HhA

ABOUT AFIKRA
afikra | عفكرة is a movement to convert passive interest in the Arab world to active intellectual curiosity. We aim to collectively reframe the dominant narrative of the region by exploring the histories and cultures of the region – past, present and future – through conversations driven by curiosity.
📍 Local events in 40+ locations worldwide http://afikra.com/chapters
🎧 New podcasts + videos weekly http://afikra.com/podcasts
⚡ Become a member: https://www.afikra.com/membership
🔗 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/afikra_
🔗 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/afikra.official
🔗 Twitter: https://twitter.com/afikra

Yara Khoury Nammour interviews Lebanese graphic designer and educator Maya Saikali about how she marries her interest in socially engaged practice and commercial design work. Maya explains since she was a design student, first in Beirut (Lebanon) and then in Eindhoven (The Netherlands), she was always interested in raising social awareness through design and believing that “design can be a tool for changing the world.” She discusses how later as practitioner she took advantage of the slow summer period to dedicate time and offer her services to non-profit organizations and causes. In this talk, Maya candidly recounts stories about specific projects and why they were important for her development as a designer and educator. She sates: “the challenge in design is to be in sync with the changes that are happening in the world and to create relevant work that is critical.”  

For more information: https://kitecreative.com/

Follow

Instagram: @khatt_chronicles

Twitter: @khttnet

YouTube: Khatt Chronicles - YouTube

Khatt.net_Khatt Chronicles: https://www.khtt.net/en/page/28678/khatt-design-chronicles

***** About afikra *****

afikra is a movement to convert passive interest in the Arab world to active intellectual curiosity. We aim to collectively reframe the dominant narrative of the region by exploring the histories and cultures of the region- past, present, and future - through conversations driven by curiosity. Read more about us on afikra.com

FOLLOW & RATE KHATT CHRONICLES:
» Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/khatt-chronicles-stories-on-design-from-the-arab-world/id1472975206
» Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3ATH0MwO1tIlBvQfahSLrB
» Anghami: https://play.anghami.com/podcast/1014374489

THIS SERIES IS PART OF THE AFIKRA PODCAST NETWORK 
Explore all episodes in this series: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLfYG40bwRKl5mMJ782dhW6yvfq0E0_HhA

ABOUT AFIKRA
afikra | عفكرة is a movement to convert passive interest in the Arab world to active intellectual curiosity. We aim to collectively reframe the dominant narrative of the region by exploring the histories and cultures of the region – past, present and future – through conversations driven by curiosity.
📍 Local events in 40+ locations worldwide http://afikra.com/chapters
🎧 New podcasts + videos weekly http://afikra.com/podcasts
⚡ Become a member: https://www.afikra.com/membership
🔗 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/afikra_
🔗 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/afikra.official
🔗 Twitter: https://twitter.com/afikra

Yasmine Nachabe Taan interviews Lebanese illustrator and animator Bahij Jaroudi about his professional journey and motivation. Bahij talks about the importance for him to draw everyday, to enjoy the process and to strive to create beautiful images. He uses his work to express his emotions and to respond to current or personal events, and finds ultimate satisfaction when his work is seen and enjoyed by others. He states: “you have to be brutally honest with your self if you want to be honest in your work.” The discussion further unpacks the difference between animation, comics and illustration, and Bahij articulates the importance for young illustrators (his students) to explore their own personal visual language and not get influenced by global visual trends.

For more information: @bahijjaroudi

Follow

Instagram: @khatt_chronicles

Twitter: @khttnet

YouTube: Khatt Chronicles - YouTube

Khatt.net_Khatt Chronicles: https://www.khtt.net/en/page/28678/khatt-design-chronicles

***** About afikra *****

afikra is a movement to convert passive interest in the Arab world to active intellectual curiosity. We aim to collectively reframe the dominant narrative of the region by exploring the histories and cultures of the region- past, present, and future - through conversations driven by curiosity. Read more about us on afikra.com

FOLLOW & RATE KHATT CHRONICLES:
» Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/khatt-chronicles-stories-on-design-from-the-arab-world/id1472975206
» Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3ATH0MwO1tIlBvQfahSLrB
» Anghami: https://play.anghami.com/podcast/1014374489

THIS SERIES IS PART OF THE AFIKRA PODCAST NETWORK 
Explore all episodes in this series: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLfYG40bwRKl5mMJ782dhW6yvfq0E0_HhA

ABOUT AFIKRA
afikra | عفكرة is a movement to convert passive interest in the Arab world to active intellectual curiosity. We aim to collectively reframe the dominant narrative of the region by exploring the histories and cultures of the region – past, present and future – through conversations driven by curiosity.
📍 Local events in 40+ locations worldwide http://afikra.com/chapters
🎧 New podcasts + videos weekly http://afikra.com/podcasts
⚡ Become a member: https://www.afikra.com/membership
🔗 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/afikra_
🔗 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/afikra.official
🔗 Twitter: https://twitter.com/afikra

Huda Smitshuijzen AbiFarès interviews Lebanese-French Graphic Designer Naji El Mir about his beginnings in graphic design and animation. The discussion addresses the journey from homeland to becoming a successful independent designer in diaspora. The talk explores ideas on self-teaching, exploration of different media or techniques or aesthetics, following one’s passions, and engagement with one’s community and issues of social justice. Naji’s candid and humble retelling of his visions on the way and what he designs can be summed by his curiosity to learn in order to serve the requirements of a creative project keeping freestyle and hand-drawn arabic lettering as core element. Naji elaborates on these ideas through anecdotes and talking about specific projects that have left a mark on his life and career such as Typographic Matchmaking in the City, a design research project initiated and curated by the Khatt Foundation.

For more information:https://najielmir.com/

Follow

Instagram: @khatt_chronicles

Twitter: @khttnet

YouTube: Khatt Chronicles - YouTube

Khatt.net_Khatt Chronicles: https://www.khtt.net/en/page/28678/khatt-design-chronicles

***** About afikra *****

afikra is a movement to convert passive interest in the Arab world to active intellectual curiosity. We aim to collectively reframe the dominant narrative of the region by exploring the histories and cultures of the region- past, present, and future - through conversations driven by curiosity. Read more about us on afikra.com

FOLLOW & RATE KHATT CHRONICLES:
» Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/khatt-chronicles-stories-on-design-from-the-arab-world/id1472975206
» Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3ATH0MwO1tIlBvQfahSLrB
» Anghami: https://play.anghami.com/podcast/1014374489

THIS SERIES IS PART OF THE AFIKRA PODCAST NETWORK 
Explore all episodes in this series: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLfYG40bwRKl5mMJ782dhW6yvfq0E0_HhA

ABOUT AFIKRA
afikra | عفكرة is a movement to convert passive interest in the Arab world to active intellectual curiosity. We aim to collectively reframe the dominant narrative of the region by exploring the histories and cultures of the region – past, present and future – through conversations driven by curiosity.
📍 Local events in 40+ locations worldwide http://afikra.com/chapters
🎧 New podcasts + videos weekly http://afikra.com/podcasts
⚡ Become a member: https://www.afikra.com/membership
🔗 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/afikra_
🔗 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/afikra.official
🔗 Twitter: https://twitter.com/afikra

This episode is the official launch of Season 2 of the Khatt Chronicles podcast. In this episode  

Afikra host, Mikey Mhanna, introduces the Khatt Chronicles hosts, Huda Smitshuijzen AbiFarès (Founding director of the Khatt Foundation), Yasmine Nachabe Taan (professor at the Lebanese American University and Director of The Institute of Art in the Arab World), Yara Khoury Nammour )Graphic design Professor at the American University of Beirut), and Fawzi Rahal (Director of Flat6 Lab). He discuses with them the upcoming season's topics as well as the importance of publishing on design from the Arab World, and the impact podcasts on design education in the region.

Follow

Instagram: @khatt_chronicles

Twitter: @khttnet

YouTube: Khatt Chronicles - YouTube

Khatt.net_Khatt Chronicles: https://www.khtt.net/en/page/28678/khatt-design-chronicles

***** About afikra *****

afikra is a movement to convert passive interest in the Arab world to active intellectual curiosity. We aim to collectively reframe the dominant narrative of the region by exploring the histories and cultures of the region- past, present, and future - through conversations driven by curiosity. Read more about us on afikra.com

FOLLOW & RATE KHATT CHRONICLES:
» Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/khatt-chronicles-stories-on-design-from-the-arab-world/id1472975206
» Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3ATH0MwO1tIlBvQfahSLrB
» Anghami: https://play.anghami.com/podcast/1014374489

THIS SERIES IS PART OF THE AFIKRA PODCAST NETWORK 
Explore all episodes in this series: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLfYG40bwRKl5mMJ782dhW6yvfq0E0_HhA

ABOUT AFIKRA
afikra | عفكرة is a movement to convert passive interest in the Arab world to active intellectual curiosity. We aim to collectively reframe the dominant narrative of the region by exploring the histories and cultures of the region – past, present and future – through conversations driven by curiosity.
📍 Local events in 40+ locations worldwide http://afikra.com/chapters
🎧 New podcasts + videos weekly http://afikra.com/podcasts
⚡ Become a member: https://www.afikra.com/membership
🔗 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/afikra_
🔗 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/afikra.official
🔗 Twitter: https://twitter.com/afikra

Huda AbiFarès interviews Hussein Alazaat about his passion since childhood for Arabic letters, Arab comics, and Arab graphic design. Alazaat discusses his influences: his education through his professional experiences in both Doha and Amman, prior to establishing his multi-functional studio space ElHarf House (elharf.com) where he hosts calligraphy and design workshops, and where his personal archive of rare printed Arabic books, magazines and ephemera are kept, that he named Khazanet El-Kutub el-Jamila / The Beautiful Books Trove (khazanet.org). Alazaat discusses his project Wajha (Wajha.org), a social design initiative he founded with his friend Ali Masri, that offers local shops in Jordan and other Arab countries, free visual identity and hand-painted shopfront signs as means to bring pride and beauty to less well to do neighborhoods. He also discusses his project related to old Jordanian/Arabian scripts and coins, and the importance of connecting old cultural heritage and visual culture of the 70s and 80s to contemporary graphic design.

***** About Khatt Chronicles *****

Khatt Chronicles podcast features remarkable designers, illustrators, and researchers from the Arab World. We host engaging conversations about their practice, vision, and aspirations. In line with the rest of the Khatt foundation projects, focuses on new developments with Arab typography and design. By Arab, we mean people working with the Arabic language, script, and audience, who are not necessarily Arabs. These initiatives are dedicated to the younger generation as an alternative medium. It also focuses on the younger generations of designers to fulfill three primary objectives:

1. Promote designers in the Arab World to the region and the rest of the world.
2. Continue the mission of Khatt foundation as a network between designers to support fostering and exploring new ideas.
3. Present these podcasts for inspiration and educational reasons.

The podcast is an ongoing platform covering design initiatives and developments around the world. Our aim is to identify and highlight designers from the Arab World that have made meaningful contributions in their fields or have demonstrated excellence in design.

Through storytelling, the Khatt Chronicles podcast will get you to know the designers on a personal level, and get to learn about how they think, and what makes them tick.

Khatt Chronicles podcast is in collaboration with afikra.

Follow

Instagram: @khatt_chronicles

Twitter: @khttnet

YouTube: Khatt Chronicles - YouTube

Khatt.net_Khatt Chronicles: https://www.khtt.net/en/page/28678/khatt-design-chronicles

***** About afikra *****

afikra is a movement to convert passive interest in the Arab world to active intellectual curiosity. We aim to collectively reframe the dominant narrative of the region by exploring the histories and cultures of the region- past, present, and future - through conversations driven by curiosity. Read more about us on afikra.com

FOLLOW & RATE KHATT CHRONICLES:
» Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/khatt-chronicles-stories-on-design-from-the-arab-world/id1472975206
» Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3ATH0MwO1tIlBvQfahSLrB
» Anghami: https://play.anghami.com/podcast/1014374489

THIS SERIES IS PART OF THE AFIKRA PODCAST NETWORK 
Explore all episodes in this series: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLfYG40bwRKl5mMJ782dhW6yvfq0E0_HhA

ABOUT AFIKRA
afikra | عفكرة is a movement to convert passive interest in the Arab world to active intellectual curiosity. We aim to collectively reframe the dominant narrative of the region by exploring the histories and cultures of the region – past, present and future – through conversations driven by curiosity.
📍 Local events in 40+ locations worldwide http://afikra.com/chapters
🎧 New podcasts + videos weekly http://afikra.com/podcasts
⚡ Become a member: https://www.afikra.com/membership
🔗 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/afikra_
🔗 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/afikra.official
🔗 Twitter: https://twitter.com/afikra