A recent exhibition at The Sainsbury Centre in the UK, Visions of Ancient Egypt, explores the continuing appeal and influence of ancient Egypt in art and design from ancient times to the present day, and the exhibition explores how the iconic motifs and visual styles of ancient Egypt have been reimagined and reinvented over time. The exhibition features more than 150 works from around the world as an opportunity to explore ancient Egyptian graphic design anew.

Graphic design emerged with the development of printing, and the cultural heritage of ancient Egypt has inspired and informed modern graphic design. The world's first poster is also from Egypt, from the ancient Egyptian city of Thebes, is a 3000-year-old search text poster. The paper used for the poster is made of the famous Egyptian "papyrus" and measures 20 cm x 25 cm. The poster reads: Slave owners are willing to offer a reward of 1 gold coin for the capture of "runaway slaves".

Design for the masses

Modern Egyptian graphic design began to develop in the 1920s with the rise of Egyptian cinema. At that time, Egyptian cinema became the representative of Arab cinema. The Egyptian film industry attracted artists and talents from all over the Arab world and played an important role in spreading Egyptian culture. Many of these films explored various issues in society, including women, politics, and love, while having a great impact on visual culture around the Arab world. This was the period when Egyptian graphic design began to transform into a design for the masses. Initially, movie poster design and illustration styles followed the popular style of Hollywood movie posters at the time, but as Egyptian cinema developed it gradually took on a unique visual language of its own. For example, historical films used classical calligraphy, popular films used the informal Ruqaa style, and modern or comic films used expressive freestyle fonts. Artists like Gassour, in his 1957 poster for the film Millionaire's Love, use rich typography and illustration to combine chaos and order in an ineffable way. Similar is the design of the movie poster for the film Al-Sahira, Al-Sagara. This period saw the emergence of an interdisciplinary group of Egyptian designers and the creation of many classic works in film, newspapers, magazines, books, art education, and illustration.

Inspiring Political Propaganda

Writer Zbinek Zemen wrote in his book Trafficking in War: "Many war posters from a particular historical period are still unforgettable and their simplicity remains etched in people's minds." Propaganda posters had been one of the main ways of disseminating information in the 20th century. Egypt experienced many historical events in the 20th century, such as national independence, World War II, the United Arab Republic, the Industrial Revolution, and the Middle East War, all of which were written into Egyptian poster design. Egypt unilaterally declared independence from Britain in 1922 and established the Republic of Egypt in 1953. In this post-colonial era, the rise of nationalism in Egypt, the government and enterprises have shown a strong sense of national pride in the development of the country's industry, these nationalistic enthusiasm for the post-independence reinvention of Egypt to provide support and strength. A poster issued by the National Bank of Egypt in 1941, which reads "National Industry Builds the Nation," is a good example of this.

During World War II, Egypt joined forces with Britain against Nazi Germany, Italy and Japan when Egypt joined the war as an independent nation. Although Egypt was a British colonial power, the war created an unusual ally, as we see in the propaganda poster "Misr (Egypt) ...... a fully sovereign and independent nation, a sincere ally of Britain in peace and war".

In 1958, Egypt joined with Syria to form the United Arab Republic, ushering in a new era for Egypt. Egypt became a pan-Arab ideological state and wanted other Arab neighbors to join it, as seen in the poster "The United Arab Republic ...... Great Joy". In the 1960s, Egypt entered the era of industrial revolution and all industries were nationalized under the administration of Nasser, as seen its economy and land modernization are shown in the poster "Economic Achievements During Nasser's Reign", which also hints at the importance of the unification of Arab countries under the republic. 1967, after the defeat of the Third Middle East War, Israel occupied Egypt's Sinai Peninsula. To reinvigorate morale, Egypt launched a series of posters in support of Nasser.

Going Your Own Way

Entering the period of modern graphic design development, more and more Egyptian designers began to explore more possibilities in their own writing, typography, history and culture, to come out of a path belonging to Egyptian graphic design itself. During this period, Egyptian designers created works for newspapers, important brands and public spaces. Salan Abdal-Karim's logo for the Cairo Metro and Fathy Gouda's signage system for the Cairo Metro are examples of this. There is also the publication of the Nazar series of books compiled by Al Labbad, which focuses on different topics such as visual communication, Arabic writing, typography, branding, history and design criticism, and explores themes and case studies in the field of Egyptian graphic design. Particularly noteworthy is the fact that this series showcases the design and illustration abilities of different talented designers on the cover design of each book, providing an important historical documentation of the history of Egyptian graphic design.

At the same time, many design exhibitions have been held in Egypt as a way to promote the development of Egyptian graphic design. Such as the Alexandria Biennale and the Top 100 Arab Poster Exhibition, from which many new stars of graphic design emerged. For example, Maram Al Refaei, an Egyptian graphic designer, has incorporated the culture of her hometown Cairo into her designs. In her award-winning work for the Top 100 Arab Poster Exhibition, Refaei distills her visual experience of the city of Cairo and reinterprets its streets and vibrancy through Egyptian comics and illustrated books, whose copy, illustrations, layout and design are all linked through the Arabic script. The Arabic script is more than words in her designs, it is like a landscape. Her work gives us a glimpse of the new age power of Egyptian graphic design.

Graphic design is closely tied to the social, political, economic and cultural context in which it emerged. Although most of the time design is treated as an appendage of capital and corporations, it is actually taking center stage. People's daily food, clothing and shelter are included in design, and designers not only shape the collective memory of the country and nation, but also influence people's daily lives. For contemporary Egyptian designers, it is important to use the style and system of Egyptian graphic design, to fully explore the history, to enrich the design and creativity with the rich cultural heritage of Egypt, and to go out of the way of the Egyptian nation itself.

Article Source:艺术与设计

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