As part of SYNTAX/Interface,  Hussein Alazaat and Ali Almasri present Wajha.

Wajha is an independent initiative that uses design and branding knowledge gained from the business world for a better-designed social space. Interventions are created on the city’s façade; on shop-fronts to be exact. Experimenting in typography, illustration and graphic design, the Wajha duo will share their projects, which aim to stimulate the local community into talking about design through their engagement with these creative interventions.

Ali Almasri is a type and graphic designer who holds multiple degrees in graphic and industrial design. His portfolio is very diverse across branding, corporate identities, interactive media design, print, and type design. At the same time, he is interested in exploring new visual languages relating to Arabic visual culture, with a specific focus on the Arabic letter.

As a child, Hussein loved calligraphy. By the age of 10, he began to enjoy practicing his own handwriting and started to develop an individual Cubic Kufi style. Since then, Hussein has explored many artistic schools in calligraphy and typography – from classical and traditional methods to contemporary and experimental forms. He appreciates that the originality of Arabic calligraphy is an important element the Arabic culture.