Portfolio
:format(webp)/99designs-contests-attachments/94/94099/attachment_94099183 "A simple geometric line arrangement that takes the form of a V, echoing the business name, and has a resemblance to a laurel wreath, to echo victory, and a burst of light on a horizon, to echo the positive impact of the consultancy business.")
:format(webp)/99designs-contests-attachments/82/82790/attachment_82790708 "The client was seeking a firmly masculine, Viking-based brand mark. I wanted to get far away from anything literal. So I made an angular, non-geometrical mark. I wanted to convey characteristics, not facial or sartorial features. And in the most simple way possible. It is intended that the lower half be the bridge of a nose. Angled, in negative space, the eyes. Overall, a V for Valhalla. The expressiveness is borne only of angles, and concerns what is quintessentially Viking. Irregular. Forceful. Ominous. Battle-hardened.")
:format(webp)/99designs-contests-attachments/82/82134/attachment_82134075 "\"Abandon all hope ye who enter here.\" Hellfire clubs were the name for a number of exclusive establishments for high society rakes — rumoured to be meeting places for \"persons of quality\" who wished to take part in socially perceived immoral acts — in Britain in the 18th century. Neither the activities nor membership of the club were easy to ascertain, but the clubs were rumoured to have ties to the elite Order of the Second Circle. This new bar and restaurant is adopting this theme. I create a wordmark in the style of celestial writing, associated with the esoteric and occult. This is complemented by a strong animalistic icon, somewhere between a mask and a persona. I wanted the mark to have a feeling of foreboding, and reflect liberty, power and anonymity.")
:format(webp)/99designs-contests-attachments/92/92933/attachment_92933061 "A different take on recurring \"jumping fox\" designs. On the one hand, the goal is to write the essential shape of the fox in as few lines as possible, while on the other it is to give character to the fox: an expressiveness, and strength, while oblique and esoteric, in what would be the face of the fox. The effect is rounded out by careful use of gradients to give a sense of dimensionality to the front part of the fox as it jumps.
The Cubist echo is most pronounced if you turn your head to the right and focus on the front curve of the face. Is it a fox, or some strange otherworld creature?
Regarding the company it was created for ... my thought was, 'break it up, get creative, get energetic! Jump!'")
:format(webp)/http://s3.amazonaws.com/projects-files/39/3908/390840/c07598a0-01e2-48a5-88f9-cc2ca32035bb.jpg "This project was to develop a live and working site for Chrome, a Cairo-based project and construction management company. The design is mostly developed in-browser. I also worked with the client to develop the textual content, and in the capacity of art direction for images and overall UI/UX. The site is built under the Wordpress framework with firm eye to ease of client use and scalability. It is fully responsive. As to the design, the goal was to retain a clean and minimalist feel, while adding edge and distinctiveness in the imagery.
Live site: http://managedbychrome.com
Logomark design: Sarah Mossallam")
:format(webp)/99designs-contests-attachments/91/91009/attachment_91009119 "Typical to many contemporary community churches, this church wants to depart from traditional iconography while nonetheless remaining recognisable to a wide public. I focus on the idea of gathering and represent in the mark a set of pews with a central aisle running down the middle. Leaving a horizontal break allows a cross to be present in negative space, while the meaning of the marked is linked to the church name visually, in a space of gathering.")
:format(webp)/99designs-contests-attachments/90/90698/attachment_90698588 "10,000 Legends is a business mastermind group focused on consultancy and guidance for male entrepreneurs. The mark here is not a conventional crest. The wings overlap and form a kind of threshold. I imagined someone stepping up and into the scene. The sword echoes legend and the male focus of the group. Meanwhile, I add cross swords to echo the Roman numeral for 10. While elaborate, I wanted the mark to also be simple, so the negative space is given room to breathe, suggesting a landscape beyond, and perhaps a fresh beginning.")
:format(webp)/99designs-contests-attachments/87/87662/attachment_87662905 "Mantis is software for a cryptocurrency/blockchain (bitcoin) project. I created a mantis in line art style with a dimensional shadow, that secondarily takes the shape of an abstracted M. Clean, contemporary and memorable.")
:format(webp)/99designs-contests-attachments/87/87286/attachment_87286408 "WOLFE is an artist and electronic music producer from Los Angeles. While the assignment was for a clean and modern mark, and most designers focused on various iterations of wolves to different degrees of abstraction, I wanted to depart almost entirely from a physical representation and give the design over to an emotional representation of perhaps the mindset or mental landscape of a wolf. Frenetic, visceral and mysterious, I imagined the appearance of the wolf as a lightning strike: sudden, powerful and ominous.")
:format(webp)/http://s3.amazonaws.com/projects-files/34/3452/345212/50d3b81c-e760-4b49-b000-118e19265ca3.jpg "The Benedictine Sisters of Elizabeth, NJ, sought a logo derived from a carving found in the premises they inhabit. On first sight, it seemed a very straightforward project. But beauty is not straightforward, and unique isn't either. It took considerable time to carefully arrive to this mark. The craft is in the detail of the lines and the curves and the balance and harmony achieved through subtle differences in weighting across the mark. The mark also uses negative space to create dimension and uniqueness.")
:format(webp)/99designs-contests-attachments/84/84946/attachment_84946499 "The client is a leading investment realtor focused on sales and marketing of international residential developments to Asian high net-worth individuals for investment purposes. I created a dual-meaning icon: the top layer of a fort, isometrically constructed, that doubles as a crown, to represent and reinforce Estate and King respectively. The mark is paired with an elegant serif, and can also be deployed as a pattern for use in brand collaterals.")
:format(webp)/99designs-contests-attachments/79/79409/attachment_79409044 "The Cedar Gate is an ongoing conference and retreat aiming to foster leadership. I play on the concept of leadership by making reference to the pyramid, with a rich red sky that could also be an abstracted cedar tree.")
About
Senior Cairo-based designer, influenced by Rothko, VOMIR and Bill Viola. Great design is closer to sculpture than painting. I'm always trying to take something away — to reduce things down to their essence.
1-to-1 project invites only.
Here’s the truth: Contests are a terrible way to source design. Why? Designers don’t have time to invest when they work for free. You'll get 5% of their mental energy at best. ⭢ Read more
Member since:
July 23, 2011
Reviews
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"Absolutely incredible to work with. Brings the true meaning and purpose of your business to life in one masterful visual. Thank you Ian for an awesome experience. Looking forward to working with you again!"
aotfm
reviewed about 2 months ago
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"I am very happy with Ian's design. He gave me lots of logo suggestions and hit the mark straight away."
berndplitt
reviewed about 2 months ago
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"When you hire Ian, you're hiring more than a graphic designer—you're hiring a brand architect. Ian expertly shaped how people see, think, and feel about engine.fm, showcasing his exceptional talent."
rezy.io
reviewed 3 months ago
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