Omid Nemalhabib on Design within Limitations

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I met Omid Nemaldhabib quite coincidentally in Rotterdam in 2022. I remember that day very well, when we sat in a small café in Rotterdam and talked for several hours.

Omid comes from Tehran and ran a design studio there for many years, which made a name for itself primarily through artistic calligraphic posters and lovingly designed publications. He now lives in The Hague.

In recent years, he has discovered creative coding for himself and combines traditional Iranian calligraphy with ASCII aesthetics in some of his works. What I find remarkable about Omid is his joy in taking detours to make good work. Adobe software is not available in Iran, so he has to resort to alternative software and find workarounds. He told me that this makes his work better, more exciting and more expressive. I would even say that this way of working brings out an aura of the subversive, of elegant renunciation.

In this conversation, recorded in February 2025, we discussed many of these topics and I am delighted to be able to share the recording of this conversation with you.

Here you can find an older interview with Omid with some of his work.

Additions by Omid

In fact, maybe Adobe serves as an example, and it might be better if we mentioned open-source software instead, right? Because of sanctions, most companies have blocked Iranian IPs, so when you travel to other countries with the common and unofficial versions you use in Iran, you may encounter problems during your projects due to the change in IP at school or during group activities in web or any kind of networks. As a result, you are forced to either purchase the original version at a very high cost or look for free alternatives. This issue is not limited to Adobe; it can occur in any field and with any software. It certainly happened to me, and this challenge began when I was doing a project at the same time study. So I ended up discovering new methods such as processing or any experimental publishing that we discussed.

If you agree, it could be more universal and cohesive to mention that, due to sanctions, many software programs, such as Adobe, are not officially or legally available in Iran. Additionally, for those studying and working in another country, this situation can pose economic challenges and negatively affect job prospects due to currency differences, as it represents a significant amount of money for most Iranians.

Related

• Omid Nemalhabib explores the intersection of Creative Coding and Perso-Arabic Typography
• Demo Festival 2025
• Studio Melli
• Omid’s website
• Studio Melli on Instagram