HABIBIS

Anagrama is an international branding, architecture, and software development firm with offices in Monterrey, Mexico, and Mexico City. Their clients include companies from varied industries in countries all around the world. Besides their history and experience with brand development, they are also experts in the design and development of objects, spaces, software, and multimedia projects. Since their creation, Anagrama has decided to break the traditional creative agency scheme, integrating multidisciplinary teams of creative and business experts.

PROJECT DESCRIPTION: Habibis is an Arabic-Mexican fusion taquería located in San Pedro Garza García, Mexico, a city enriched by the culinary treats of its third-generation Arab immigrants. Previously a humble taco stand, Habibis approached Anagrama with the task of creating a brand that communicated the food’s mixed background and exceptional quality without losing its street-friendly and casual demeanor.

Their proposal was a brand that adapts stylized Arabic calligraphy to a typical Mexican street setting, complete with neon colors and inexpensive materials, like kraft paper bags.

Deep research and careful understanding of the Arabic alphabet was needed to design the various words and signage in both Arabic and Latin, using calligraphic pens and special brushes. The custom type is accompanied by Gotham, a gentle and neutral typeface that allows the bespoke logotypes to stand out above everything else. The pattern is based on traditional keffiyeh (a Middle Eastern headdress fashioned from a square scarf) and gorgeously intricate mosaic patterns.

Evoking an Arabic calligraphic style to render Latin letterforms is a delicate task; it could very easily be perceived as satire or as a condescending cartoon. How did you manage to avoid that?

anagrama: We avoided cliché by observing the strokes and gestures of Arabic calligraphy very carefully. We managed to create the type by paying close attention to those details and having respect and good taste for the task at hand.

Did you have a familiarity with Arabic calligraphy, or did you do it strictly by practicing the typical strokes and forms?

We’d never worked with Arabic type before; this was completely new for us. Since then we have had several more projects that use Arabic letterforms.

How has the Arabic community reacted?

Positively. The project was successful on Behance and on many online blogs.

Mexico has a wonderful tradition of hand-lettered signs. Do you feel inspired or connected to this tradition?

Sure. Years ago we worked on a project, la Fábrica del Taco, a Mexican restaurant in Buenos Aires, Argentina, that revolves around the hand-lettered concept. It was a very gratifying project mainly because we consider our gastronomic tradition as one of the greatest Mexican cultural legacies, and it has become the calling card for our identity in other countries.

product: Habibis
client: Fuad Zetuna
design firm: Anagrama
art director/designer/hand letterer: Anagrama
photographer: Caroga Foto
medium: Hand drawn and digital
country: Mexico

“Simulating a style of writing that was unfamiliar was a learning experience that was quite entertaining,” says Anagrama. “We used a different approach that started out as being very manual. We had to explore a lot with different materials, such as black ink and paper.”

Anagrama designers watched a lot of YouTube videos about Arabic calligraphy—how to hold the brush, what direction to paint in, the position of the hands—in order to give it the proper feel. “We had to learn a few Arabic words to understand the language and how it behaves graphically,” says Anagrama.