Mophradat
Logo and website for an arts organization based in Athens. Mophradat (meaning ‘vocabulary’ in Arabic) works with artists and curators from the Arabic world and internationally, thus the identity needed to be read equally in Arabic as well as English. We focused on the Arabic word first, working with the Egyptian collective Heheh to design the mark. We then paired that with complimentary Latin letterforms to create the combined logo. The identity package includes a series of graphic marks to be used in lieu of images on social postings and announcements. The marks were made by combining silhouette line drawings of everyday objects—coffee pots, chairs, scissors, cooking pans—reflecting the organization’s emphasis on collective conversation and art in daily life.
The website also needed to be viewed equally in English and Arabic. To do this, we set up a bifurcated site with a vertical line that can be pulled to either side to reveal the chosen language. The alternate language is always visible on the side as a reminder of the duality. As an institution supporting artists and curators, it made sense for the site to be primarily typographic, this highlights the texture of the languages and provides direct access to the important calls to action. We worked with the very talented Arthur Haegeman, who programmed the site.
The organization had been running for over ten years when we undertook the project and a major goal for the site was to categorize and display the vast number of artists, curators, residencies, convenings, and events Mophradat had sponsored. We set up an “Index of everything” page that can be sorted and viewed multiple ways. Each listing can be selected for more information. We also created an infographic of the first ten years of their work that visually connected all the artists, programs, locations, and sponsors in one giant map.
