With eyes opened to a future beyond limits, their dream has been launched to meet with a vision of a university that seeks to really serve the community; both the (dream and vision) were culminated by a strong will, turning into a concrete reality.
Yasmine Saleh, Sara Mansour, and Dina Darwish; three young girls presented their visual identity project to restore the glamour to Luxor-the city of a hundred gates- via a new identity, and distinguished logos and slogans. This scheme is supported by a comprehensive development to complete the picture.
The dream was born in the campus of German University in Cairo (GUC), and implemented in Luxor, and will be disseminated across all Egypt’s governorates, supported by a presidential promise to promote local and global awareness of Egypt and its governorates, history, and civilization.
Certainly, any change starts with a dream and any dream needs to be believed in and backed by a comprehensive vision and strong will... Without the dreams of young people, there will be no actions.
Both universities and students used to face constant criticism, as they do not interact with Egyptian society’s sufferings and problems, yet this view has been changed by a university of an Egyptian heart and German mind.
GUC always does its best to find more than just solutions to immediate challenges, yet thinking of projects of more comprehensive dimensions that have priceless human and civilization returns at home and abroad.
Someone might say Luxor city does not need an upgrading, but this is not true; the new promotion ensures more attraction and effectiveness.
In the courtyard of Luxor Temple, I stood in front of a new building designed by Dr. Sarah Mansour, a member of the visual identity team at GUC.
It is a modern checkpoint to secure the temple established according to the latest model contrary to the identity of the archaeological buildings... The difference here is intended to show the value of the temple itself.
It is as if the granddaughters are guarding a civilization that had been made by their grandmothers, who ruled Egypt, and were once given titles like; “The Lady of the land”, and “the Lady of Transfiguration”.
During, a one-day visit to follow up the progress of Luxor visual identity project, which owned intellectual property rights last year from GUC, I was surprised that about 80% of the project has been completed.
You can feel the change starting from the airport gate, which –without any bias- began to compete with the most luxurious international airports in terms of cleanliness, beauty, and treatment. In addition to, the logos and banners of the new visual identity, that bear the name of Luxor.
The logo signature is designed representing key aspects from Luxor governorate, inspired by the ancient Egyptian beliefs and iconic symbols.
Each letter in “LUXOR” has certain significance; the letter ‘L’ is a 90-degree right angle, forming most of Luxor’s architecture. The ‘U’ is inspired by the temple’s passway and metaphorical representation of the pharaonic beliefs of the afterlife. Moving to the third letter which is the ‘X’, it represents the city’s location of the east and west banks meeting at the Nile front. The letter ‘O’ is a mix of tow important factors in Luxor, which are the sun and Nile; the source of life. Last but not least, the letter ‘R’ which is a representation of Horus Eye, reflecting the ancient Egyptian natural instinct and vision.
The new slogan spread everywhere across the city from taxes to shops' banners and stagecoach driver, who wore a special custom, reflecting Luxor’s new identity.
Concerning the Nile, I was astonished by its greatness and unique beauty, as if I were seeing it for the first time.
The corniche, which is about 3 km long, has been developed in an impressive aesthetically and civilized way; even the sidewalks have been made of marble and granite, taking into account persons with disabilities.
It is worth mentioning that the visual identity project is not limited to slogans, logos, and banners, yet there is also a website for Luxor providing all information about it and its available services including (hospitals - hotels – tourist attractions - activities - restaurants).
Luxor website will be launched in three languages Arabic - English – Chinese, in addition to, an integrated travel guide to Egypt for a 48-hours transit visa.
At the end of my visit, I asked Luxor Governor Major General Moustafa Alham -who took over the position replacing Major General Mohamed Badr- whether this new beautiful image of Luxor would be maintained by the citizens themselves or need strict laws and rules?!
He responded quietly saying, “I bet on the Luxor citizens, their awareness; they are highly-disciplined people.”
Contributed by Nada Mustafa
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