Design Space AlUla is an innovative facility located in the AlJadidah Arts District, which serves as a hub for exhibitions, workshops, and archives. It aims to foster collaboration among design professionals, students, and enthusiasts, and also seeks to promote and preserve AlUla’s rich cultural legacy as a source of creative inspiration and design.
The logo for Design Space AlUla was designed by Pascal Zoghbi as part of a comprehensive visual identity created by Clara Sancho Studio. The logo and typeface were informed by Sancho’s photographic research in AlUla. The logo incorporates a variety of design elements from across AlUla, including ancient inscriptions at Jabal Ikmah, as well as more recent architectural features such as breeze blocks.
The traditional crafts of Arabic geometry and calligraphy informed Zoghbi’s interpretation of the Arabic word AlUla, whose simplified motif was adjusted to form a square. This new interpretation offers scope for a playful symmetry.
Looking into the construction of the logo, the 5 Arabic letters of the word AlUla العلا were drawn in a mono-linear pen stroke fitted into a half-square triangle. The first and the last two letters mirror each other. The Alef was tilted and joined with the Lam at the ascender height, while the LamAlef ligature was drawn in a reflecting manner. The triangular Arabic letter Ain sits in between balancing the vertical and diagonal stems around it.
The resulting symbol was then duplicated and rotated to form a full square geometric pattern, which reflects Arabesque patterns and the facade of the Design Space AlUla building itself. The logo might be also seen as a collection of several triangles built together, and this is also inspired by the triangular structural forms found in traditional Saudi houses.
Several sketches and geometric word shapes were created before the final form was selected.
Besides the symbol, a customized version of 29LT Okaso was created for the wordmark in the logo and the visual identity as a whole.
Afikra, Balenciaga, Balmain, Lavin, and Majarra are among other Arabic logotypes Pascal created. Read about them in the 29LT Blog.