Dubai resident makes a word speak a thousand words

Dubai - Now working as a graphic designer in Dubai, Thomas regularly pursues his passion of expressive typography as a side hobby.

They say a picture speaks a thousand words, but for graphic designer Rubin Thomas, his passion for expressive typography turns the tables on this famous saying.
"I make one word speak a thousand words. That one word has a narrative," the 28-year-old tells Khaleej Times.
India-born Thomas has always had a flair for all things creative. Though he prefers to be called a "designer, not an artist", his way with the written word could definitely be described as artistic.
"Ever since I was a child I always loved design, but my interest in expressive typography peaked after I graduated from university in 2008. I was 20 at that time."
In laymen's terms, expressive typography tells a story using only one word.
It is a simplistic art form where the text is highly visual. In some ways it is a play on the written word, where within it sits an image. This clever typography means the letters are not just abstract notions or carriers of meaning; they are also real, physical shapes.
For Thomas, he says his work is simple, but complex.
"You see one word written but I turn it into a story and make people think."
With a keen interest in turning current news stories into expressive typography, he says it helps people understand the news by bringing another dimension to the subject.
Take for instance the recent leaking of the Panama Papers. The documents show how wealthy individuals, including public officials and much-loved figures, hide their money from public scrutiny.
One name to appear on the list which shocked Thomas was "hardcore legend in the Bollywood film industry", Amitabh Bachchan.
Much more than just read the news in dismay, Thomas's automatic reaction was to turn it into expressive typography - and the star of the show was Bachchan himself, as the baddie.
"In this design, the basic wording in 'black money'. But the 'B' represents Bachchan's spectacles and the 'O' is his bulgan beard."
And another story where he cleverly played on the newsworthy content was the visit of Pope Francis to a refugee centre where he washed and kissed the feet of Muslim, Orthodox, Hindu and Catholic refugees.
"That was a powerful news story. It connected all religions, so what I did was turn the word Pope into Hope by overlapping the first letters." Thomas says it is about looking beyond the obvious story and searching for the deeper meaning.
One of his favourite works centres on the controversial word: 'Corruption'.
In this particular piece, he has rotated one of the 'r' letters within the text and joined the two as if they are shaking hands.
"The text is in black because this is quite a dark colour like the word itself. The shaking of the hands represents two people acting amicably before carrying out their act of corruption. Everyone seems to like this piece because they think it is different, they can appreciate the meaning behind it."
Now working as a graphic designer in Dubai, Thomas regularly pursues his passion of expressive typography as a side hobby. He says there is so much that can be interpreted from such a simple design.
After moving to Dubai two-and-a-half years ago, he became more involved in the clever design technique as he said Dubai gave him a lot of inspiration.
"Here, we often see rare or happy things happen in the news so I like to translate this in my designs. Just a few weeks back when it was rainy heavy here, I came up with a design which read 'rainy'. I replaced the 'I' with the iconic Burj Khalifa and put a rainy cloud above it. Rain and Dubai is not usually related but this connected the two together."
Thomas says expressive typography can be greatly utilised for social awareness campaigns here and he hopes his art can continue to bring a new dimensions to everyday news, words and messages.
"There are so many observance days, awareness days in the UAE, why not scrap wordy posters and instead use these simple designs to catch the attention of people and make them think beyond the norm."
- kelly@khaleejtimes.com

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