Global Studio Sessions with Ignace Cami, Jürg Lehni, and Lana Soufeh

We continue our series of presentations featuring boundary-breaking designers from around the world.

Ignace Cami will introduce his cookieboard project, its history, the craft, and the playful artistic possibilities. The session will focus on the material as a co-worker. In the case of Cami’s practice, it will be about wood and dough specifically. But the idea can be applied to anything.

Artist and designer Jürg Lehni speaks about his growing family of mark-making machines, the custom-made software that runs them, and the quest of discovering the character of each device and giving it an identity and a voice. Whether it is a drawing machine that uses spray-paint (Hektor) or chalk (Viktor) on large walls, or a piece of software that extends and opens up Adobe Illustrator in order to allow users to build their own tools (Scriptographer), the underlying concern is always the same: To treat technology as a language and an open structure rather than a means for large corporations to lock down consumers in a cozy, standardized environment. Any component to a given work, whether purely digital or physical, has an inherent character and vocabulary that holds hidden potential. Once aware of this potential, the components become ingredients, and the process of creating works starts resembling cooking.

Lana Soufeh will be introducing Toujan, an Arabic display typeface motivated to preserve the dynamic nature of Arabic in different contexts. It explores the intersection of the historic Tawqii’ calligraphic style and a digital typeface. Drawing inspiration from Tawqii’Script that is a hybrid of Thulth and Naskh Arabic calligraphic styles, Toujan captures the boldness and strength of these influential styles. Toujan hopes to serve as an exciting resource for users of the Arabic script, while also aims to inspire Arabic typeface designers and students to explore and expand the horizons of our diverse calligraphic models.