The identity manual consisted of 130 pages of information and brand usage with Arie J. Geurts heading up the project as design director, (who later headed up his own design studio in Los Angeles). The identity uses minimal colour and focuses on a consistent brand blue in all communications.
The graphic designer had to create a series of ads whose new publicity effects were to confirm or accentuate the already existing • image • of the paper. In this case, the planning was not based on a would-be psychological analysis of the reading public.
Beyond being mere artefacts of design, these examples encapsulate the dynamic changes Japan was undergoing during this period. The design output of this era not only served commercial purposes but also became a powerful medium for expressing these societal shifts.
Both educators have a keen interest in multiscriptual design, Arabic type design, and graphic design and recently released A History of Arab Graphic Design. I contacted Bahia and Haythem to find out more.
