Project–1

Others say they have named their studio after the province of their birth, but they neither accept nor reject this hypothesis! Before deciding to set up Studio Markazi in 2011, Saeed and Mohsen Foroutan had worked together for a long time. These cousins were aware of the quirks and peculiarities of their collaboration and had common interests and teachers.

Their characters, styles, and even their behavior with clients are different. One of them is full of acute creative ideas and follows the latest technological advancements, and the other likes to assume visual identity in a more serious framework. They think that their contradictory synthesis increases their abilities.
The common point of their service is the ability, talent, and interest they have in gathering experts from totally different work fields. Thanks to this unique characteristic, they have gradually added type designers, illustrators, programmers, photographers, architects, and copywriters to Studio Markazi’s core group.
I hope that others will follow the path that has made Studio Markazi more desirable, at least for me: a small, fast, and dynamic team that is able to increase or decrease its members in a hybrid manner (based on the project’s nature) in order to boost its sensitivity to client needs. According to Seonjo of Joseon, the ancient Chinese philosopher, who is considered by many as the greatest ancient strategist, the first principle for victory in a battle is the forces’ mobility and their ability to relocate. It can be said that the ideal goal for a small, creative studio such as Studio Markazi is preferably a “decentralized” strategy for increasing the projects’ efficiency. 

Mahallat Stone Expo
Rich with important quarries and numerous stone manufacturers, Mahallat is a perfect town for hosting stone exhibitions. Currently, the most important specialized stone exhibition in Iran is held there annually.
The concept of using the “number eight” (it was the eighth year of the exhibition) and combining it with the visual forms of decorative stones created diverse motifs — in the form of recurrent illustrative patterns — that were used for the exhibition’s identity.
The exhibition’s functional/emotional identity is visible in an attractive, coherent form as every contact point, from posters and invitation cards to the website and provides the space user with a lasting experience.
Studio Markazi has managed to simplify the lengthy and high-flown lexicon which is common in such exhibitions held in Tehran and the provinces: “the eighth Iranian building stone exhibition.”
This clarity and smoothness is present in the development of all the graphical elements of the exhibition from color and texture to typeface. One of the significant features of this project is its Persian typeface; “Roya Simin” was designed and developed in five weights by Reza Salarifar — one of the Studio’s members — with cooperation of Saeed Foroutan and Peyman Pourhossein (Studio Kargah).
 

History and Poetry and Photography series uniform designs for Cheshmeh Publications
Founded in 1984, Cheshmeh is one of the most credible Iranian general publishers and currently plays a major role in the evolution of reading culture through the annual publication of 400 new books.
The design of uniform covers for the History series contains original simple forms, which are inspired by the content of the books and maintain a conceptual relationship with the book theme. For instance, in We People the red rectangle on the cover refers to the US flag, and the brown triangle on the cover of Tabaristan History is inspired by the sloping roof of houses in Mazandaran. In addition to the harmony of form and image, incorporation of the “Amir” typeface gives an ancient character to the books, in line with their subject. The coordinated, symmetrical composition of the back cover text with the main form on the cover create a new form that corresponds to the text on the other side of the book.
The visual content of the Poetry and Photography series contains a combination of text and image in accordance with the series’ nature. One of the book’s photos is chosen and a colored form based on the characters of the book title is placed on it. The book title appears within this colored form. In correspondence with the design process, the first and third pages include traced photos and a composition similar to the cover’s colored form, which underlines the main concept of design.