Reza Abedini ( fa, رضا عابدینی , born 1967 in

Tehran Tehran (; fa, تهران ) is the largest city in Tehran Province and the Capital city, capital of Iran. With a population of around 9 million in the city and around 16 million in the larger metropolitan area of Greater Tehran, Tehran is th ...

) is an Iranian

graphic designer A graphic designer is a professional within the graphic design and graphic arts industry who assembles together images, typography, or motion graphics to create a piece of design. A graphic designer creates the graphics primarily for publishe ...

and a professor. His works keep a modern theme as he blends traditional Islamic patterns, calligraphy and culture. He combines simple illustrations with poetic typography and elegant layouts, exploring the beauty of the Persian language. He is also an

art critic An art critic is a person who is specialized in analyzing, interpreting, and evaluating art. Their written critiques or reviews contribute to art criticism and they are published in newspapers, magazines, books, exhibition brochures, and catalogu ...

, independent art director with ''Reza Abedini Studio'' and the editor-in-chief of Manzar magazine in Iran.

Early life

He graduated in 1985 from the School of Fine Arts in Tehran, majoring in graphic design. He went on to get a second degree and majored in painting from the

Tehran University of Art University of Art ( fa, دانشگاه هنر, ''Danushgah-e Henr-e Tehran'') is the largest art university in Iran, consisting of seven faculties and an international campus in Tehran and its suburb Karaj Karaj ( fa, کرج, ) is the capital o ...

and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1992. Upon graduating until 1993 he was the Editor of the visual section of Sureh Monthly Magazine. In 1993, he founded Reza Abedini Studio an independent design consultancy and art direction studio.

Design

His design influences include Aleksander Rodchenko, Ikko Tanaka, Sani'ol Molk Ghafari,

Roman Cieslewicz Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

and Mirza Gholam-Reza Esfahani. Abedini has won dozens of national and international design awards. In 2006, he received the Principal ''Prince Claus Award'' in recognition of his personal creativity in the production of special graphic designs, as well as for the personal manner in which he applies and redefines the knowledge and accomplishments of Iran's artistic heritage, thus making them highly interesting. The award also focuses attention on the diversity of both the historical and the modern Iranian culture, recognizing the impact of graphic design as an influential international means of communication. Abedini is a member of the Iranian Graphic Designers Society since 1997, he was a member of jury at several biennials throughout the world. His name is listed in '' Meggs'' History of Graphic Design, as one of the world's outstanding post digital graphic designers.

Academic career

Since 1996, he has been a professor at the

University of Tehran The University of Tehran (Tehran University or UT, fa, دانشگاه تهران) is the most prominent university located in Tehran, Iran. Based on its historical, socio-cultural, and political pedigree, as well as its research and teaching pro ...

in graphic design and visual culture. He previously was a visiting assistant professor of graphic design and visual culture at the American University of Beirut.

Honors and awards

*1993, 1994, 1996 – First Prize: best film poster of

Fajr International Film Festival Iran's annual Fajr International Film Festival ( fa, جشنواره بین‌المللی فیلم فجر), or Fajr Film Festival (little: FIFF; fa, جشنواره فیلم فجر), has been held every February and April in Tehran since 1982. T ...

Iran *1994 – Film Critics Special Award for the Best film poster,

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkm ...

*1996 –

IRIB The Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB; fa, صدا و سيمای جمهوری اسلامی ايران, ''Sedā va Sīmā-ye Jomhūri-ye Eslāmi-ye Īrān'', , formerly called National Iranian Radio and Television until the Iranian Rev ...

’S Special Award: The Best film poster,

*1999 – 3rd Award: poster, The 6th Biennial of Iranian Graphic Designers,

*1999 – Special Award: Creativity from Iranian Graphic Designers Society,

*2003 – Special Prize: China International Poster Biennale China *2004 – The Union of Visual Artists of the Czech Republic Award, Brno, Czech *2004 – Second prize: 15th Festival d'affiches de Chaumont

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...

*2004 – Gold Prize: Hong Kong International Poster Triennial

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...

*2004 – First prize and gold medal: 8th International Biennial of the Poster in

Mexico Mexico ( Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guate ...

*2004 – Silver prize: Second International Poster Biennale Korea *2004 – First prize: The First international Biennale of the Islamic world Poster,

*2005 – Bronze Medal: The 2nd China International Poster Biennial CIPB, China *2005 – First prize: 9th Press Festival of Children & Young Adults, Iran * 2006 – Principal award,

Prince Claus Award The Prince Claus Fund was established in 1996, named in honor of Prince Claus of the Netherlands. It receives an annual subsidy from the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Fund has presented the international Prince Claus Awards annually si ...

, Netherlands

Bibliography

* ''Reza Abedini (Vision of Design)'' by Jianping He () * ''Reza Abedini (design & designer)'' by Alain le Quernec () * ''New Visual Culture of Modern Iran'' by Reza Abedini and Hans Wolbers () * ''Iran. Gnomi e giganti, paradossi e malintesi'' by Reza Abedini and Ebrahim Nabavi ()

Notes

External links

Reza Abedini's Official Website

Reza Abedini won Prince Claus Award
{{DEFAULTSORT:Abedini, Reza Iranian graphic designers Iranian typographers and type designers Iranian expatriate academics Academic staff of the University of Tehran Art educators Writers from Tehran 1967 births Living people Iranian poster artists