DOT. Illustrations: It All Starts With a Dot

Normal: a picture of a bunch of 19th century people chilling at a park. Unique: a picture of a bunch of 19th century people chilling at a park painted entirely using dots. True story - it's called A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte by George Seurat and is actually pretty famous. Look it up.

Adapting this painting technique where people paint entirely in dots – called pointillism, by the way – Egypt-born DOT Illustrations turns this concept on its head in the most aesthetically thrilling way possible.

Abiding by their slogan, ‘it all starts with a simple DOT’, DOT Illustrations creates wonderful geometric designs, calligraphy, and figures using nothing but dots. The assembly of simple colourful dots into light-looking and pleasant designs reflects a more authentic way of employing this artistic technique, framed and hung on our walls.

However, not only does DOT specialise in drawing on canvases, but also custom makes designs using pointillism on posters, coasters, and even shoes.

Upon acquiring a master’s degree in Branding and Marketing Communications from Milan, DOT founder May Hasebou returned to Egypt and was “keen to do something different than what is already in the market and deviates from the commercial design approaches towards more customised and handmade designs.”

The artist’s use of geometric shapes – such as lines, squares, circles, and triangles – to draw and illustrate everything stems from her belief that each person has “their own identity that should be represented in everything that they own.”

Drawn to those unique handmade designs, Hasebou tells us that her customers’ (who she calls 'DOT’s family') favourites are hand and tailor-made posters with their choice of design and colour. If you’re into new modern art but are sick of the classic geometric shapes or traditional calligraphy, then DOT provides a bright-coloured, fresh-looking artistic alternative.

Check out their Facebook page and Instagram account.