Artist

RUH AL-ALAM

Ruh is a multi-award winning British artist and designer who has been continuously evolving his work across multiple disciplines for almost two decades. Although from a fine art background, the London-born artist studied Graphic Design at the prestigious Central St. Martins College of Art & Design, with a focus on illustration and film. His work has ranged from traditional painting to digital interactive animations and videos. He recently received an award from the Crown Prince of Dubai for his contributions to art.

In 2003 he pursued a lifelong dream of learning the traditional art of penmanship, Arabic calligraphy, in Egypt for several years. His study placed him with some of the leading teachers of this age and added a new dimension to his work. He is known for developing his own calligraphic script styles (see Spirit, Jude and LatinArabi) and innovating with Arabic typography (see Kufica, Arabic Didot and Moda). While not all of his work is calligraphic, it plays a significant role in the message he portrays. His passion for calligraphy stems from his love of typography and visual communication.

In early 2000 he founded his own creative agency Make Me Believe, now called Archetype. It has had a successful track record in becoming one of the leading specialist creative studios dealing with Arabic, Middle Eastern and Global Halal markets in the West. Ruh has worked on large and high profile commissions from both local and international projects for Sony, Channel 4, BBC, National Portrait Gallery and luxury brands in the Middle East.

He has exhibited in local galleries in the UK and abroad. His most recent exhibition was in Sharjah, UAE. Recent TV appearance has been for the BBC’s documentary on ‘The Hidden Art of Islam’ and BBC Radio’s Asia Network. Ruh also runs branding and design workshops and is actively involved in caused-based collaborative projects with other artists and designers.

VISUAL DHIKR®

Visual Dhikr® is a brand concept that introduces unique products and services initiated by Ruh. It all began as a spiritual and personal art project in 2000, developing into a public website in 2003 with the same title/concept. Eventually the project transformed into products as Ruh began to introduce Visual Dhikr® art prints, t-shirts, hoodies, tote-bags, scarves and home decor items. When Visual Dhikr® t-shirts were introduced into Egypt and the Middle East they were the first of their kind in the region.

The term ‘Visual Dhikr’ is a concept coined by Ruh to describe his work. The Arabic word ‘dhikr’ means to remember, reflect or invoke- combined with the English word ‘Visual’ the intended meaning is to “visually remember” or ponder upon the subject.

Ruh is dedicated to creating new products that infuse the spiritual Visual Dhikr® concept and introduce new and innovative approaches and design. More products are to be announced in the coming year which can be explored further on the official Visual Dhikr® website.