{"id":4245,"date":"2022-05-31T09:35:03","date_gmt":"2022-05-31T09:35:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/designrepository.design\/?p=4245"},"modified":"2023-01-16T09:35:59","modified_gmt":"2023-01-16T09:35:59","slug":"the-desk-engy-hashem-4-12","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/designrepository.design\/the-desk-engy-hashem-4-12\/","title":{"rendered":"THE DESK: Engy Hashem – 4\/12"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Desk is an in-depth interview series with Arab Designers and Makers taking their desks as a focal point to view their practice. “The Desk’s” name is borrowed from Mark Gardner’s film<\/a> of the same name. Mark’s short documentary sought to explore the relationship between a worker and their desk and how that reflects their personality. Design Repository is curious to explore the same while adding an intention of scribing these interviews in the Now and therefore attempts to record a moment in time for future generations so that they can find something about now when they look back.<\/p>\n

The interviews will run around the year, with a new designer\/maker and a new desk each month. Our next interviewee is the Egyptian designer: Engy Hashem.<\/p>\n

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Q: Please introduce yourself (Name, age, nationality, and title) and what do you do?<\/span><\/h4>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Name<\/strong><\/span><\/td>\nEngy Hashem<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Age<\/strong><\/span><\/td>\n36<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Nationality<\/strong><\/span><\/td>\nEgyptian<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Title<\/strong><\/span><\/td>\nGraphic Designer \/ Visual Artist \/ Corporate Art Consultant<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n
<\/div>\n
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By profession, I go by the former titles, by identity I go by \u201cCreative Practitioner\u201d, a term I came across recently that I felt embodied the nature of my \u2018being and doing\u2019 – practicing creativity in a multitude of ways; presenting it; propagating it; making it. I have also found that conceiving myself within this definition helps relieve the pressure of the \u2018career path\u2019 concept. It allows me freedom to try new things, whether personally or professionally.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Engy Hashem, Cairo Home\/Studio, 2022<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Q: You are a single mother of two beautiful girls and a designer, how do you juggle between those two?<\/span><\/h4>\n
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Engy Hashem and Farida, 2022<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A: Barely. On some days, \u2018barely\u2019 seems to be the term closest to the situation. On others, there is flow and I am able to balance both simultaneously. Farida and Nelly are of different ages and have different interests and needs, but Nelly who is four is pure havoc so most of the focus-driven work needs to be done after she is put to bed, before she rises, or while she\u2019s swallowed in the metaverse playing Roblox.<\/p>\n

They do, however, fuel a very primal creative side of me. My children generally prefer the messier, less disciplined side of things so they appreciate it when I endorse painting on tables or drawing on walls; impulsive paper pulp making, or impromptu acting theatrics.<\/p>\n

Farida, my eldest, presents her creativity not only through palpable creations but also through wit and sharp tongue, constantly sharing reflections and stories about how she sees the world. I feel very privileged to be able to see matters through her and her sister\u2019s perspectives alike.<\/p>\n

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Left: Nelly Right: Farida, Sketches, 2022.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Q: You work across calligraphy, typography, illustrations, and sometimes moving images. What do you think are the benefits of having more than one skill in your arsenal as a designer?<\/span><\/h4>\n

\u2704<\/p>\n

I think it speaks to the nature of the field and how it\u2019s moving forward. I remain quite reserved when it comes to new technologies and techniques as developing a new skill requires time and resources that I can\u2019t afford in the way that I could in my early career.<\/p>\n

However, \u201cdabbling\u201d in different creative expressions comes naturally to me. It’s a desire, and an instinct to explore ideas through the lens of different mediums, regardless of whether it will end up being part of the final outcome.<\/p>\n

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Various poster styles, 2016 – 2019<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The way I see it is that everything is a story. Every person, object, piece of art, or design (architecture, furniture, a vase or otherwise) is telling a story, realized or not, intentionally or unintentionally. Various creative methods and skills are vital for me to be able to narrate these stories, be it for myself or my clients in both the fields of design and art.<\/p>\n

Studying Graphic Design is one thing; it may hone your initial skills in composition and typography. However, with the constantly evolving nature of the field, from static to dynamic to interactive, eventually, what you want the project to achieve will dictate its best suited tools.<\/p>\n

Q: Can you take us through your design process? Choose your favorite project and please walk us through its process from start to finish, challenges, and learnings?<\/span><\/h4>\n

\u2704<\/p>\n

One of my favorite projects to date is the Khatt book. \u2018Khatt: Egypt\u2019s Calligraphic Landscape<\/a>\u2019 (Published 2018).<\/p>\n

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Khatt book, designed by Engy Hashem, 2018<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In 2016, Basma Hamdy, design professor at Virginia Commonwealth University – School of the Arts in Qatar, contacted me with the proposition to design Khatt: a book that would feature collected photographs by Noha Zayed of found typographic and calligraphic written expressions. A longtime admirer of Noha Zayed\u2019s photographic journalling on Instagram through both her personal and ArabicTypography<\/a> accounts, I said \u2018I do\u2019 before she could finish her sentence.<\/p>\n

This project coincided with me moving back to settle in Cairo after a lifetime in my former home, Qatar. In retrospect, the process of this project proved to be a unique homecoming practice that cultivated both my cultural and geographical understanding of my new home through a simmering process that spanned approximately three years.<\/p>\n

What is unique about this project specifically is the dynamic that flows between the different agents in the process (designer and author\/s). This dynamic requires an open-mind for a different process; resisting the urge to cannonade the process with \u2018design fundamentals\u2019.<\/p>\n

Although the book is essentially a documentation of visual instances and findings in public spaces, the journey of the photographs themselves remains quite personal to the documentor, as stated in an excerpt from Noha\u2019s essay titled \u201cTrucks: A moving canvas<\/a>\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018…the truck itself is a medium for self- expression\u2026 In a way, it becomes his public voice. For myself, I imagine a further function, unconnected to the driver, one that I can\u2019t quite put my finger on. From personal experience, it seems that just at the moment I need to know it, be reminded of it, be told of it\u2014I look up and there it is, the message I was missing: a verse of scripture, a line of poetry, a quotation or a time-worn piece of advice.\u2018<\/p>\n

The process of \u201cDesigning\u201d in the context of the book became synonymous with \u2018sorting, analyzing, deciphering, classifying, arranging, clustering, grouping, regrouping, and mapping.\u2019 This usually happened through intimate and regular tete-a-tete conversations, which gave rise to important questions about the book\u2019s overarching narrative: how do we structure the book, which taxonomy should we use – geographical, scenic, thematic or poetic?<\/p>\n

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Photography analysis process, Noha Zayed and Engy Hashem, 2018<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In parallel, I commenced experimenting with various page layouts while working on a simple format for the invitation document to be sent to the contributing essay writers. This document included highlighted referential images that vaguely signaled the various chapters of the book to inspire and initiate the conversation.<\/p>\n

The (still existing) shared Dropbox folder between Noha, Basma and I is indicative of the rigorous image compartmentalization process that took place. Working with this level of organization allowed us to be precise with the various \u2018found calligraphy\u2019, from tuk-tuks to food-carts to advertisements. We micro-organised to eventually macro-synthesize the overarching narrative which would encapsulate both the photography and the written pieces.<\/p>\n

After a few iterations, we decided to loosely work with these categories;<\/p>\n