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Kat-Rahmani is an Iranian graphic designer and lecturer currently based in Berlin, Germany. She studied Graphic Design at the University of Tehran, and then completed a Masters at the Berlin-Weißensee School of Arts. She runs Studio Katrahmani, specializing in typography and editorial design. She has lectured and led typography workshops on 'Type and Politics' around Germany, where she aims to detach Arabic and Persian letters from their ideologically and politically negative associations. Through this project, Studio Katrahmani aims to increase cultural acceptance and add the aesthetics and joy of Arabic type in the Western setting.
At the Un/Seen Symposium in Mainz, a reoccuring topic was the idea of role models in Graphic Design, as well as the issue of a predominantly Americanized/ Euro-centric approach to teaching Graphic Design. Kat-Rahmani talked about her experiences while studying Graphic Design in Tehran, talking about how they were not taught about Arab and Persian designers or typography. She recalled that, despite most of her classmates being female, all of her professors were men who often belittled them, telling them they wouldn’t amount to much beyond becoming wives and mothers. Rather than discouraging her, this difficult enviornment empowered her to work harder.
When asked about her favourite project, she stated that the multilingual workshops she had been conducting around the 'Type and Politics' theme was her favourite recent work. Kat-Rahmani emphasized the need to build bridges between language, culture, and people. These workshops served as her way of creating a positive demonstration of Arabic and Persian typography, against the nehative images being portrayed on the media surrounding the politics of the Middle East.
A really interesting question was posed to Kat-Rahmani when a member of the audience asked her about the role of typography and design in the context of activism (referring to a comment Kat-Rahmani made about her work in designing posters and stickers for the Iranian protests). Kat-Rahmani went on to state that at the end of the day, the people are always the most important factor. However she also said something which really stuck with me: 'Everything is political'. The use of Arabic-Persian typography and designs allowed people to associate with the slogans and posters, making it easier for them to support and spread awareness.
I'm really interested in ideas surrounding a person's individual identity— what characteristics define them and make them who they are? Are there certain features that are more seen than others? Are we able to paint a picture of a whole indiviudal while only looking at their individual components? My project will look at deconstructing a person by looking at their personal objects, surroundings, and even life statistics through the means of a mix and match flipbook (something like this). The flipbook serves as an interactive means for people to explore a persona's subparts and even try to put them together in a way to reconstruct a person based on their individual components.
During a two day workshop (28th and 29th of April) we worked with Javier Abarca on designing pasetups (with animations!) and going around the city to paste them in different seen and unseen locations. The concept of my pasteup was to create something that would cause passersby to have another look no matter who you are. Once the pasetup is scanned, it plays a short animation where it flashes between different variations of the illustration with different features, hopefully capturing a wide audience in the process and making them think—is this me?
This was my first experience with animations and illustrations of this style, and I really enjoyed the process!
Current to-dos: exploring my own 'mood board' of sorts.
Pinterest board for visualizations
Interview Style Approach:
Algorithms are invisible forces that curate our experiences, influence our choices, and often reflect unseen biases without us realizing it. There is no such thing as a neutral internet: you are seeing what Tiktok/Instagram/Twitter thinks you want to see. Every feed is tailored and filtered. And then the bigger question becomes:
We like to think we’re in control of what we see, what we wear, and what we like online. But often, it’s the algorithm that's shaping us, not the other way around. Think about fashion and microtrends online: You may think you 'discovered' something, but you were shown it again and again until it became familiar or desirable to you. This idea is very interesting to me and I always find myself thinking about this where I'm scrolling on social media. Its important to be aware of the persuasive power of technology so we don't find ourselves getting lost or brainwashed in the depths of the internet.
