ANTI-TYPE, THE FIRST EDITION OF THE TASMEEM ANNUAL GRAPHIC DESIGN COMPETION AND EXHIBITON NOW OPEN AT ICD BROOKFIELD PLACE
ICD Brookfield Place has announced the winners of the first edition of Tasmeem, an annual graphic design and poster exhibition and competition. The works of the selected 12 regional designers were unveiled on Monday 25 July and will be on show until Thursday August 26.
Anti-Type, the first edition of Tasmeem, was inspired by last year’s successful poster exhibition This is the Message: Four Voices in Contemporary Graphic Art. The annual design competition and exhibition Tasmeem was conceptualized by ICD Brookfield Place Arts program with the aim of encouraging creativity in the region and expanding the discourse on graphic design by highlighting emerging and established regional talent.
The winners of the first edition of the competition were selected following an open call for original works of graphic art and typography by a committee of experts including Graphic Designer and Type Designer Wael Morcos; Type Designer and Multidisciplinary Artist Ali Almasri; and Curator & Public Programmes Designer Daniel H. Rey.
Curated by Graphic Designer and Art Director, Jenan Saleh, this year’s exhibition takes the notion of ‘anti-type design’ as a starting point. The poster designs on display use letterforms as a tool to tell stories in new and exciting ways, exploring new horizons in type design. The 12 winning designers, each a recipient of an AED 1,000 cash prize, are: Ana Escobar Saavedra, Erin Collins, Ibraheem Zaki Khamayseh, Kinda Ghannoum, Maryam Belhoul, Mohammed Khalil, Nouran Abed, Rana Wassef, Reina Hasbini, Saba Sayfaiee, Sarah Shebl, and Zeid Jaouni.
Commenting on the exhibition, Rob Devereux, CEO of ICD Brookfield said, “We are proud to be providing emerging creatives in the graphic design sphere a platform here at ICD Brookfield Place to showcase a unique portrayal of language that resonates with any viewer. We are excited for Tasmeem to continue to support young regional talent in its annual showcase.”
Selection Committee member Daniel. H. Rey said: “The inaugural edition of Tasmeem is a testimony of the robust design practices present in Dubai, the UAE, and West Asia at large. This year’s selected designers are presenting their ideas in a multidisciplinary way, intersecting their non-conformist design practices with the fields of biology, data science, urban planning, civil engineering, and social sciences.
He added, “The exhibited posters are access points to the works of 12 creative powerhouses who are negotiating their individual uses of the Arabic and English languages, as well as their treatment of materials, textures, digital, and analog tools. After a tough selection process, it is rewarding to know that regional audiences will be interacting with posters capable of expanding an existing regional legacy of visual experimentation, design research, and restless artistic expression.”
Anti-Type aims to foster a deeper understanding of how letters are designed and facilitate a discourse related to the history, present, and future of type design, as type design is an omnipresent aspect in today’s world that is often looked over. Throughout the long history of type design (the art and process of designing typefaces), people have used every tool at their disposal to make type legible and beautiful – from brushes to woodblocks to metal plates to digital software. The exhibition sheds light on how the field of type design is ever-evolving, especially in this digital age, where access to a variety of typefaces has encouraged experimentation.
