Zooba is an Egyptian street food restaurant based in Cairo. Their food is a modern twist on traditional classics. With the opening of their first store in NYC, they came to us for a new brand identity. We went to Cairo and were inspired by the beauty of the layered visuals we saw on the streets: the hand-painted typography on foul carts, geometric patterned tapes, mix & matched colored tiles, posters, and painted illustrations on walls.
We worked with a Cairo-based calligraphy artist to paint the Arabic type for the branding. We layered this with modern versions of patterns and illustrations inspired by the streets of Cairo. Just like their food is a modern twist on traditional classics, we aimed to do this with the visual language.
&Walsh, 2019
Sagmeister & Walsh, 2018
Sagmeister & Walsh, 2018
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Client: Zooba. Agency: &Walsh. Creative Direction: Jessica Walsh. Strategy: Jessica Walsh. Production: Stephanie Halovanic. Lead Design: Gabriela Namie. Design: Soomin Jung, Elinor O'Brien, Zak Tebbal, Farah Kafei. Copywriting: Stephanie Halovanic, Farah Kafei. Illustration: Zak Tebbal, Aleksandra Apaza. Arabic Calligraphy: Mohamed Mohamed (Zizo). Type Design: Gabriela Namie and Junki Hong. Animation: Jonah Nigro, Danaé Gosset. Photography: Sarah Hopp. Prop Design: Arielle Casale. Zooba Founder: Chris Khalifa. Zooba Creative Director: Adam Mourad. Zooba Art Director: Omar Mobarek. Food Photographer: Joe Lingeman. Food Photo Producer: Amelia Katz. Prop & Food Stylist: Beatrice Chastka, Pearl Jones. Mural Painters: Kelly Li, Elizabeth Levy, Timothy
