Homa Delvaray: A Contemporary Iranian Graphic Designer and Her Mission

In November 2007, a group of young graphic designers from various parts of Iran who grew up after Iran's Islamic Revolution of 1979 put together a poster exhibition called Rokhsat. As they explained in the exhibition statement, in Iran's traditional sports, a young wrestler asks for rokhsat (permission) from the elders when he presents in the ring." The group demanded rokhsat from the generations before them (and their viewers) to present their design innovations and artistic visions. This was an open invitation for a glimpse at contemporary design practices in Iran and specially a venue for identifying the new generation of Iranian women designersⁱ.

In contemporary Iran vigorous engagement by a large group of women graphic designers in all aspects of design practice and pedagogy has been an undeniably powerful force, and their presence in the national and international art and design arenas is making the new face of Iranian graphic design visible. Among this group one designer stands out for her unique style and extraordinary personal visual language: Homa Delvaray.

Poster designs by Homa Delvaray (from left): VitrinRooz.com virtual exhibition, 2009; Hope for the future, 2008.

Delvaray is not only active in designing posters, books, CD covers, logos and creating Persian and Roman fonts, but also teaches college-level drawing and illustration, serves as an editorial board member of Dabirehⁱⁱ design collective and Rang Magazine (a graphic design magazine online). She regularly exhibits her work inside and outside Iran, and her designs have been featured in several national and international publications related to design and typography.

Book cover designs by Homa Delvaray (from top): Iranian Drama: Passion Play, 2009; Islamic Art and Architecture, 2009.

In an introduction to her recent virtual exhibitionⁱⁱⁱ, Delvaray declares that "the essence of art is creativity and confrontation." She explains: "I do not believe that transmitting the client's message to the viewer in the easiest possible way is the only mission of the graphic designer… If a graphic designer is supposed to have a commitment, it would be finding a new way of communication for what he/she has to say in order to relate to the viewer. There are no pre-assigned general rules to help achieve this goal sooner. The designer has to choose and try new approaches to challenge himself/herself." Delvaray believes that by simplifying design and making it obvious to the viewer a designer would insult the intelligence of the viewer and assumes that they are not able to "solve a simple riddle" or "comprehend complicated relationships."

Delvaray's works can be described as complex, enigmatic, dynamic, challenging, packed (conceptually and formally), and of course confrontational. Her wayfinding and experiments may start with basic typographic practices but end up with highly sophisticated design methods and approaches. Learning from visual traditions of Iran, from miniature painting and lithography to metal work and carpet designs, Delvaray layers, twists, turns, stretches, stitches, weaves and gives dimension to elements of her designs and paints them with vibrant colors associated with Iranian arts and crafts.

Poster designs by Homa Delvaray (from left): Dialogue, 2007; International Day of Graphic Design, 2005.

What makes Delvaray works challenging and confrontational is the way she mixes and matches local and global cultural codes and signs and simultaneously conceals and reveals the intentions of her designs. She actively involves her viewers by presenting them with fascinating formal and conceptual visual conundrums. For example, at first glance Delvaray's 2007 poster design for the Contemporary Iranian Graphic Design 9th Biennale titled Goftegoo ("Dialogue") resembles a primary sketch for a carpet design with a symmetrical composition and highly decorative and ornamental nature. Flowers and paisleys dominate the visual space yet when looking closer an array of icons, symbols and mechanical objects such as emoticons, punctuations, letters, numbers and cellphones come to surface. The monochromatic treatment of motifs and visual elements gives them the same importance yet touches of yellow are subtle points of emphasis in the entire poster.

Delvaray explains the idea behind this design^iv: "Chatting or sending SMS [Short Message Service] are tools of communication which have the most usage in today's world. [An] increasing number of digital services has contributed to this mode of communication which has entered our culture and created a new culture with limited and incorrect syntax and has forced us to unintentionally use abbreviated and meaningless words and has created Penglish [Persian English]. Yellow is the sign for danger. There is a danger in choosing to have dialogues of this kind. Using Iranian motifs and combining them with the elements of the virtual world is an attempt to show how Iranian culture is changing and confronted with the increasing spread of tools of communication and the way it is adopting them."

Posters by Homa Delvaray (from left): Painting exhibition of Ali Mohammadi, 2008; Ashoura, 2006.

In the field of graphic design and visual communication, aesthetic and artistic practices can invent and introduce imaginative spaces for revealing and challenging cultural and political obstacles and limitations. Ellen Lupton and Abbott Miller^v state: "Design can critically engage the mechanics of representation, exposing and revising its ideological biases; design can also remake the grammar of communication by discovering structures and patterns within the material media of the visual and verbal writing." John Bowers^vi argues that the engagement of designers and their active role in the production of culture has significant social and political meaning. "Designers are more than makers, observers, or controllers of information and ideas. At their best, designers are participants in the creation, critique and dissemination of culture."

What distinguishes Delvaray's work is her sensitivity and meticulous way of putting together complex ideas and elements with diverse visual histories and components, and assigning new meanings to their new identities. She looks at the "old" and "traditional" visual elements as "raw materials " to work with and rejuvenates them by using them in contemporary contexts. "I am not interested in pleasing the viewer but I am aiming to excite them with my new works and ideas," Delvaray says. "I would like to work on the viewers' taste and perception." She believes that designers can change the "collective taste" of a society and culture by respecting their viewers' intelligence and educating them via thought-provoking and powerful designs.

Drive Slowly, the Sea Is Slippery!, 2009, book cover design by Homa Delvaray.

End Notes