Music — zeena jarrar

Zeena Jarrar

Identity, Animation, Music, Decks, Art Direction, Etc

Cassettes served as the pioneering platform for crafting mixtapes. These compilations, whether taped from live recordings or ripped off the radio, were an important art form of the era.

The decision to incorporate cassette tape elements into the work is a nod to the historical importance of tapes within mixtape culture. It also reflects the revival of cassette culture in the niche music community, signifying the appeal of analog music in an increasingly digital world.

Mixtape for Spotify

(2023)

GRAPHIC DESIGN

Before it began breaking digital streaming records, Mahraganat finds its origins in the underground music scene. As a sound that spoke from and to the working class, it flourished in the streets of Cairo and beyond. Yet Mahraganat was banned from public promotion by the Egyptian government, stripping it away from its own physical provenance.

These social and environmental contexts led to a focus into the material reality of the genre’s existence, emulating the visual aesthetics and textures characteristic of DIY and street posters.

Mahraganat for Spotify

(2023)

GRAPHIC DESIGN

Arabic pop music and embroidery share a common thread: their ability to tell stories. Embroidery is a craft with which individuals throughout the MENA region and diaspora have interacted with to some degree. Connecting these two elements creates a new visual language that unites tradition and modernity to pave the way for the future.

Employing the grid composition alongside a pixelated rendering of the embroidery pattern digitizes a once tactile art form. Recognizing that history and customs are not static, this approach preserves tradition while adapting it to the contemporary world.

Yalla for Spotify

(2023)

GRAPHIC DESIGN