Slick, playful and graphically precise: Cairo-based studio Ntsal puts quality and communication first

Nardine Shenouda tells us how Ntsal’s design team went from herself and her “curly haired senior Maltese dog” to over 20 staff working on some of the most exciting projects we’ve seen.

Date
3 January 2023

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What do you get when you mix the acute design sensibilities of seasoned professionals, the scrappy “heart and soul of a small studio”, and the steady stream of vitamin D from the sun-washed island of Zamalek in Cairo? You get a Ntsal, specifically its chamber of design headed by design director Nardine Shenouda. “From the get-go,” Nardine details, “the design chamber was founded on two pillars: quality and open communication.” After 10 years of “advertising agency fatigue”, Nardine tells us she “went rogue” and partnered with multi-disciplinary agency Ntsal to found its design wing.

Since then, and with the help of her “curly-haired senior Maltese dog”, the team has exploded into 20 designers, working across visual identity, motion design, posters, 3D – you name it. “Firm believers that ‘branding’ is not a one size fits all,” Nardine tells us that the studio's client roster is as random as it gets. From “film and music festivals all the way to the public sector, heavy industries and bespoke dining experiences", the team have taken their slick, playful but graphically precise practice to just about everyone. And the studio is nowhere near finished.

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Ntsal: Fino (Copyright © Ntsal, 2022)

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Ntsal: Oops (Copyright © Ntsal, 2021)

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Ntsal: Shuffle Music Fesitval (Copyright © Ntsal, 2022)

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Ntsal: Shasha Mobile Film Festival (Copyright © Ntsal, 2022)

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Ntsal: Incosteel (Copyright © Ntsal, 2021)

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Ntsal: Privé Avec Karim (Copyright © Ntsal, 2022)

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Ntsal: Suez Canal Economic Zone (Copyright © Ntsal, 2020)

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Ntsal: Society of Play (Copyright © Ntsal, 2022)

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Ntsal: Rawi (Copyright © Ntsal, 2022)

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Ntsal: Marsa Baghush (Copyright © Ntsal, 2021)

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Ntsal: Gamed (Copyright © Ntsal, 2022)

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About the Author

Roz Jones

Roz (he/him) is a freelance writer for It’s Nice That. He graduated from Magazine Journalism and Publishing at London College of Communication in 2022. He’s particularly interested in publications, archives and multimedia design.

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