Nour Shourbagy

posted by Emily Gosling January 25, 2021

Egyptian-born designer Nour Shourbagy has been on our radar for a little while now, having come to our attention with a project that launched in December 2019. Shourbagy had worked with Nada Kassem to create a mini guidebook for the hijab shopping area Ain Shams in Cairo, aimed at making hijab shopping more accessible to women visiting the space.

The booklet sought to help those who are both familiar and unfamiliar with the area, and was inspired by the street art style of Cairo. “The randomness of the layout, illustration, and collage style is in a way reflecting Ain Sham’s visual language—what you actually get to see in Cairo’s streets,” said Shourbagy. Divided into three sections, the first part of the booklet uses two maps, one that assists users in bus transportation, parking, or finding a toktok, and another that guides them from the El Arab bus stop to the main shopping area. The second section details the stores in the area (covering price, product, fitting room conditions, payments accepted, opening hours etc.), while the third and final section showcases illustrations offering tips on the material used to make hijab scarves, how they can be styled, and ideas about wearing them with various outfits.

Shourbagy studied her BA in graphic design at the German university in Cairo, before moving to Berlin for six months to finish her pre-masters project in 2018. She’s now based in

Saudi Arabia, where she feels the design scene has been picking up pace over the last couple of years: “Many art galleries are actively hosting exhibitions for local and international artists,” she says, adding that design-related events such as Saudi Design week are being introduced every year in Saudi capital Riyadh (pandemic notwithstanding, of course), where designers, design studios and artists showcase their work. “These kind of events help in building a Saudi design community as well as it helps designers have a good source of connection, to connect with new people and new ideas,” says Shourbagy.

While her portfolio is hugely varied—projects include the aforementioned hijab shopping guide, An Educational Floor Game about Gluten Intolerance, Limited edition Christmas packages designed for House of Cocoa and some gorgeous self-initiated poster experimentation—Shourbagy says her favourite things to work on are branding projects. “I enjoy developing brand identities and strategies,” she says. “It’s like choosing your child’s name and helping him develop and share with the world his personality.”

When it comes to clients, however, a collaborative outlook is key. The best clients, according to Shourbagy, are those who are “passionate about the project and keep sharing ideas, visuals, frequent clear feedback throughout our design thinking process.” She adds that a great collaboration is about “Sharing and learning. I believe that everyone you meet knows something you don’t. A great collaboration comes when you accept this idea when you are hungry to learn, listen to people’s thoughts and share what you’ve learned as well.”

As with pretty much anyone that works as a freelancer, or in a creative role, or both, she’s found her biggest challenge over the years has been navigating that tricky balancing act between thinking and doing. “Sometimes I used to overload myself with work and tight deadlines so it was very challenging to stay productive and start experimenting during the research and brainstorming phase as well,” she says. “Once I start a project It’s like I go through a loop where experimentations, research and new ideas always pop throughout the design process.”