Substrate

A working library of design, type, and visual culture.

177 works match

Eman Ali calmly guides us through the streets of Oman in a touching hometown revisit

Tracy Chahwan on making the visuals for all the best “strictly-vinyl” parties in Beirut

Cengiz Yar documents the de-mining efforts in the city of Mosul

Photography: Giles Duley profiles Syrian refugees in a simple, heartbreaking way

Dripping in “Arab nostalgia”, 3asal mag platforms MENA creatives who are abandoning conformity and thrashing outdated stereotypes

The classical and the crude combine to represent the multiple facets of The Arab City

Join Cachetejack and Dropbox for a collaborative workshop at OFFF Barcelona

The latest series by Israeli art collective Broken Fingaz showcases a contemporary twist on traditional oil painting

Barcelona-based illustrator Nicolás Valencia’s intimate depictions of voluptuous forms

Smart, cute GIFs from Barcelona-based illustrator Luis Mazón

Tasty record sleeves from Barcelona's own Arnau Pi

In a new book, photo duo Valentina Piccinni and Jean-Marc Caimi capture the hidden realities of Istanbul

Bee-themed shoot Bal arose from a Turkish film and a stomach ache

There's a great line-up for the Internet Age Media Weekend in Barcelona

Etnia Barcelona's new eyewear range inspired by the floral world

Giles Duley's unseen photos of the vulnerable victims of the war in Syria

Bokja's crafty Arab Spring inspired textiles are oddly compelling

Arab pop music meets 80s video game aesthetics in Moath Bin Hafez’s pixel art creations

Beirut-born Yasmina Hilal organically creates mixed media collages – cutting, gluing and sewing away from digital manipulation

Celebrating the riders who keep their small Peruvian island on the map and on the move

Farah Al Qasimi photographs Dubai’s decaying entertainment architecture

Spark 2026 puts creative production front and centre at ISE Barcelona

Samar Maakaroun’s identity for Together for Palestine applies the visual language of petitions

The personal is political: Haitham Haddad’s journey to bring Arabic back to public spaces in Palestine

Gaza-based painter Malak Mattar on making art as a feminist in Palestine

The brilliant Barcelona studio Forma & Co in our first ABSOLUT Network showcase

A neat, malleable identity by Barcelona-based designer Gerard Marin

Taschen’s monograph features Sebastião Salgado’s powerful photographs of the Kuwaiti oil fires

Studio 40Mustaqel challenges the discourse of design in the Arab Swana region

Magnificent retelling of Arabian Nights from the brilliant Noa Snir

Watermelon Pictures is the film company putting Palestinian cinema where it belongs – on the big screen

Folch and Bráulio Amado's identity for Barcelona Design Week sheds light on issues of consumption

Photographer Ina Niehoff's beautiful analogue Istanbul travelogue

Barcelona studio Nice Shit animates Interpol’s Daniel Kessler’s music memories in this short

Ana Flores on growing a photographic practice from her Peruvian roots

Offshore Studio on its identity concept for the Istanbul Design Biennial

What's On: Hajj - Journey to the Heart of Islam

What Myriam Boulos’ shots of the Lebanese revolution tell us about photojournalistic ethics

Introducing: Barcelona-based studio Querida tell us about their working day

Lyon Arabic is the new counterpart of a Commercial Type favourite, informed by Naskh and Nastaliq scripts

Ryan Debolski spotlights the effects of immigration and globalisation in Oman

Super colourful new furniture set from Barcelona's lagranja design

Vintage Arab cassette tapes inspired Sometimes Always’ fiery identity for Fouta Harissa

Aline Deschamps documents the “beauty, creativity and strength” of migrant domestic workers in Lebanon

Exhibition: New photography show offers an alternative side of Israel and Palestine

Te Mata: a studio visually adjusting “the still diluted Peruvian identity”

Mohamad Abdouni on documenting an “important time in Arab queer culture”

“I like to slap my audience or shock them”: Iranian documentary photographer Shayan Sajadian

Istanbul-based design studio's identity to accompany the Architecture Biennale

Marc Morro swaps Barcelona for London as part of Timberland campaign

Mohamad Abdouni records the untold stories of trans women living in Beirut

Matteo Berton's considered illustrations of a Nazi raid on a Jewish community

“When you live in a place like Lebanon, you have a mission”: Meet the fearless director Jessy Moussallem

Alexandra Rose Howland discusses her impactful new book compiling images shot and collected in Iraq over four years

Hala Al-Ani documents Dubai's pick and mix architecture with real flair

Nicolas Boyer documents an often overlooked side to Iran

Why minimalist aesthetics (smuggled in as the language of progress) are stifling truly Arab design

Istanbul’s impossibly colourful minimalist architecture, shot by Yener Torun

Grégory Michenaud’s ongoing project sees him explore identity in a Hasidic Jewish community

Glorianna Ximendaz uses archive photography, digital imagery and text messages to immortalise Palestine

Photographer Alex Nazari explores Armenian history through its ubiquitous Soviet-era car, the Lada

Union is a new magazine spotlighting artists from Palestine and the diaspora

Inside the Palestinian Sound Archive: preserving the audiovisual legacy of Palestine, one record at a time

Hanna Karraby’s narrative-driven designs delve into her experience as part of the Iranian American diaspora

Graphic Design: Peruvian Gabriela Maskrey delights us again with art show catalogue

Turbo’s identity for the Lesser Amman Library is a masterclass in the potential of Arabic type

We dive into a new archive of over 1,000 book covers from the Arab world

A city of contradictions: meet the people shaping Beirut's creative future

Type foundry Boharat Cairo on the vast possibilities of Arabic type design

Impressive Iraq speeches project from new German publishers Cake

Peter Schlesinger documents the architecture and culture of Yemen during the 1970s

Graphic designer Nawal Arafat on creating space for Palestinian voices within art and design

Arghavan Khosravi on her fruitful yet uncertain journey as an Iranian painter

“Effort, hard work and perseverance”: N-E on its new identity for Design Market Barcelona

Amazing typographic posters in Hebrew from students in Israel

Photographer Grey Hutton gives us a joyful glimpse into the Jewish festival of Purim

Palestine Underground shines a light on the West Bank’s underground music scene

Polish born, Barcelona-based photographer Asia Chmielewska is a real talent

Andy Sweet captures the forgotten Jewish tribe of Miami’s South Beach

Ceramic artist Nehal Aamir decorates her work with the visuals of Pakistani trucks and Islamic art