Art direction and brand identity for businesses with something real to say.
I’m Yahia Zaian, a brand designer and art director based in Cairo, working across MENA and beyond. I turn unclear ideas into brands and campaigns that teams can actually use.
For founders, agencies, and teams building brands meant to last.
I’m Yahia Zaian, a brand designer and art director in Cairo, twelve years into this. I studied film with a focus on animation directing, so I think in story, rhythm and frame, not only in layouts. I’ve built and led a multidisciplinary creative team, and worked with startups, agencies and companies old enough to have opinions, across branding, campaigns, packaging and digital.
Most briefs arrive with too much in them. Somebody has already decided the brand should feel premium and approachable and disruptive and established, and my job isn’t to draw all four. It’s to find which one is actually true, and let the rest go.
The tools change. The ability to make clear decisions, build useful systems, and turn an idea into something people can recognise does not.
The right process depends on the brief. Not every project needs every capability.
Setting the visual direction for brands and campaigns, guiding the people who make the work, and making sure every piece points the same way.
Finding the central idea, defining the visual direction, and building identity systems teams can use every day. AI helps produce assets and grow the system without breaking its rules.
Shaping concepts from the first creative decision through shoots, content production and image direction, drawing on a background in film.
Typography, layout, print, packaging, and the everyday details that make a brand feel considered.
A few people who know what the work looks like from the other side.
A focused selection of identities, campaigns, key visuals, and art direction built across MENA, Europe, and the US.
If you are building a new brand, evolving an existing one, or need a sharper creative direction for what comes next, let’s talk. Book a short fit call and tell me what you are trying to solve.
We’ll talk through the brief, timing, and whether I’m the right person for it.
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Prefer email? Write to hi@zaian.me