2011 Winners & Shortlists

Brief Explanation

The logo uses the Pharaonic symbol of the Ankh, “The Key of Life”, in place of the letter “T”, which is a powerful, unique Pharaonic symbol representing eternity and fertility. Egyptian Gods and pharaohs were often portrayed with Ankh in Egyptian tomb paintings and other art, often at the fingertips of Gods in images that represent the deities of afterlife conferring the gift of life. It is handwritten in the way art of Egyptian calligraphy used to tell the tales to give a personal feeling of stories and storytelling. Egypt’s logo was created by merging the fluidity of Arabic calligraphy with the solidity of the papyrus manuscript texts.

The Brief

To design a distinctive brand logo that encapsulates what Egypt offers of Majestic history, culture, sun&sea

How the final design was conceived

Our vision for the logo for Egypt was to build an icon that stands for Egypt’s rich history, heritage, nature and diverse culture. We created the logotype within a higher form of art, the Arabic calligraphy. We worked with a traditional calligrapher to recreate Latin type using the traditional calligraphers’ instrument, the ‘qalam’, a pen made of bamboo. The blue color comes represents the lapis lazuli’ semi-precious stone used in much of the pharaoh’s jewelry. The letter t was substituted with the ankh, an Egyptian hieroglyphic character that signifies "eternal life".

Indication of how successful the outcome was in the market

Most of the design websites as well as world travel fairs have hailed the new logo and described it as creative and representative of Egypt’s majesty