About
Hello.
I'm Yashar.
I find out what your brand is costing you, then build the identity system that fixes it.
Brand strategy and identity systems, in Kurdish, Persian, Arabic and English.
Background
Six years of design across publishing, research institutions, media and civil society. I set type natively right to left in Sorani, Persian and Arabic, and the same systems in English.
I studied English language and literature, then sociology: an MA at the University of Kurdistan on platform governance, digital power and the emotional economy of attention. The research habit stayed. Client work starts with interviews and a survey before anything is drawn.
I founded Zin Studios in 2023 and ran it for two years, led design at the Kurdistan Studies Institute, and was Creative Director at Holistic Resilience, where I built the Raaznet brand. Alongside client work I design and build my own products: Zaviye, Hired Creative, Girfan, and this site.
One boundary: I do not work for organisations that use design to suppress, surveil, or control people.
6
years in practice
4
languages: EN, Sorani Kurdish, FA, AR
18
selected projects
What I do
The market doesn't know you, or can't tell your brands apart
Research before design: staff interviews, a buyer survey, and the local context read properly. Then the brand strategy and the architecture, so a group and its projects stop giving buyers different answers.
You need it designed properly, in four languages
The identity system and everything it has to hold up in: publications, reports, catalogues, poster series and key visuals. Set correctly in Kurdish, Persian, Arabic and English, with files your team can edit after I leave.
Your team is slow, and everything waits on approval
A week watching how the team actually works, then the fix: one place for files and versions, an approval chain that stops collapsing onto one person, and repeat work handed to tools instead of people. Your team is trained to run it.
A self-built AI creative department runs underneath all of it: a hundred-plus skills, agents for research and production, a full brand pipeline. Open source. Every install leaves it behind as equipment your team owns. The department itself →
Tools: Figma, Illustrator, InDesign, Photoshop, After Effects, Premiere, Penpot, Astro, Node.js, Three.js, Remotion, Claude Code.
The journey
Work
- 2025-2026
Creative Director
Holistic Resilience, US
- 2025
Conference identity, freelance
Zrebar Environmental Conference
- 2023-2025
Founder & Creative Director
Zin Studios
- 2024
Editorial and identity design, freelance
University of Kurdistan
- 2023-2024
Head of Design & Advertisement
Kurdistan Studies Institute
Education
- 2023-2026
MA, Sociology
University of Kurdistan, Sanandaj
Digital power, platform governance, the emotional economy of attention.
- 2019-2023
BA, English Language and Literature
University of Kurdistan, Sanandaj
Recognition
- 2025
Honored, Graphic Design Poster Competition
Naxsh u Nigar national exhibition, Nishtman Strategy Institute
Memorial poster on the 1988 Anfal campaign.
Courses
- 2025
Understanding Research Methods
SOAS University of London
- 2025
Big Data, AI, and Ethics
UC Davis
- 2025
Computational Social Science Methods
UC Davis
- 2025
Quantitative Methods
Universiteit van Amsterdam
- 2024
Classical Sociological Theory
Universiteit van Amsterdam
Who I've worked with
Tech and digital products · Universities, research institutes and publications · Conferences and events · NGOs and civil-society media · FMCG brands · Construction companies
What they say
He did not approach design as only a visual exercise. He understood how the brand connects with audience, platform, message, and meaning.
Executive Director, Holistic Resilience
Over time, he earned a level of trust that allowed major creative decisions to move forward with little need for oversight.
Executive Director, Holistic Resilience
Creative, adaptable, and always open to breaking the mold, he tackled every project—especially the culturally and politically sensitive ones—with both insight and intensity.
Director, Kurdistan Studies Institute, University of Kurdistan
From formal reference letters, sent in full on request. References →