acques Derrida, the Algerian-French philosopher, best known for developing a form of semiotic analysis known as deconstruction, says: “It is to have a compulsive, repetitive and nostalgic desire for the archive, an irrepressible desire to return to the origin, a homesickness, a nostalgia for the return to the most archaic place of absolute commencement.”

As a design educator and practitioner, my first solemn encounter with the term ‘archives’ was when I got a commission to design/ develop a website/ portal for the public-funded programme, The Missing Chapter, by a London-based gallery, Autograph ABP, in 2015. Its mission is to bring together a body of photographic portraiture to highlight diverse African, Caribbean and South Asian presences before 1948, especially in Victorian and early Edwardian Britain. In addition to in-depth archival research, The Missing Chapter programme has produced a range of exhibitions and events, formal and informal learning, site-specific image projections and a series of publications for educational and scholarly resources in print and digital media. This project uses archives as a base to highlight questions of race, representation, human rights and social justice.

I also had an informal exchange of ideas session with an art/ design academic, Zeb Bilal, who has researched extensively on an important textile archive, The Textile Manufactures of India, a part of commonly known The Watson’s Catalogues, an 18-volume set of fabric sample books put together in 1866 by John Forbes Watson and published by the India Office of the British government. Although the catalogue’s title mentions only India, the collection includes fabrics from several countries including Pakistan, Bangladesh, Uzbekistan and Nepal. She explains Watson’s enthusiasm in envisioning a South-Asian trade nexus more than a hundred and forty years ago that led to the creation of these catalogues. While this observation could probably still stand today, we see the world shrinking in pursuit of accessible markets for commodities. Limited-edition prints were produced, half of them were given to textile manufacturing towns in Britain, and few editions were given to chambers of commerce, town halls or art schools in South Asia. One of the copies is available at the Lahore Museum. The entire content was digitally converted and exhibited in 2012. It is available for anyone to visit to learn and teach from the Harris Museum, UK’s website.

A few months ago, Menahil Butt, one of my former students, shared an exciting project, a promising archival initiative. It is a collaborative effort with the UK based archivist/ curator Richard Baird who runs the first purpose-built online logo archive produced between 1901 and 1991. Menahil runs its Pakistan chapter primarily on Instagram, aware of the challenges of authentic research in Pakistan yet investigating the contemporary modernist logos and brand marks from Pakistan’s short but opulent visual history. As Butt explains, her interest was evoked by the spirits of the umbrella endeavour’s efforts to document this critical visual communication genre in under-represented nations researched by their peoples to inspire and educate. During this effort to dive into a pool of historical documents and bringing some facts and figures above the surface, she noticed a few notable names from the creative circles. These are people who either helped mature the core ideation or made a specific logo.

Logo Archive Pakistan consciously and emphatically runs on the sense of giving due credit to the creative thinkers/ practitioners wholly or partially unknown to the general public. Many wouldn’t know that painter Abdur Rahman Chughtai designed a logo for Radio Pakistan in 1947 and one for Pakistan Television Corporation (PTV) in 1964.

Another brilliant case study concerns the Aga Khan Foundation and Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture logos designed in 1978 and 1989, respectively, by Zahoor-ul-Akhlaq, a contemporary maestro who taught and inspired generations of successful visual artists/ designers at the National College of Arts.

A bite-sized story associated with the Aga Khan Foundation’s logo explains the visual grammar as “based on the right hand, a universal symbol of skill, achievement and care. In Islam, the right hand has several meanings: its shape reflects its comprehensive and positive character, while its constituents represent the five principles of Islam and the five senses of the human body. The stylised fingers logo represents ‘Allah’ in the Kufic script”.

Shezan’s logo was made by an enduring abstractionist artist/ writer Anwer Jalal Shemza, who according to one narrative sold his signature.

The Pakistan National Council of Arts (PNCA) logo was designed in 1976 by Farooq Qaisar, famous for creating the puppet character Uncle Sargam. LA suggests the foundational inspiration the emblem draws from a silver amulet found for the Lok Virsa Museum in a small village near Haripur. The logo for heritage menswear brand known as Shahnameh was conceived and calligraphed by Ustad Khurshid Gohar Qalam in 2013. Gohar Qalam was widely recognised as an authentic repository of the Arabic script and the sensitive art of calligraphy. Many other commercial designers/ design agencies mentioned who had created memorable logos, emblems, insignias and brand marks. Graphic designer/ advertiser Imran Mir has generated much work, including the unique visual identities of Dolmen Mall, Islamabad Stock Exchange (ISE), Muslim Commercial Bank (MCB) and Soneri Bank, to name a very few.

These brilliant projects unquestionably remind one that while a few things can be taught by good teachers; others can only be learnt by curious minds and eyes. Very few academics/ scholars in Pakistan have sincerely dedicated their time and energy to uplifting the scholarly discourse in and around this critical field of study.

The public sector also aims to digitise the physical declassified records like Punjab Archives at the Civil Secretariat, including some 400 years old testaments. A non-profit organisation dedicated to cultural and historic preservation, Citizen’s Archives of Pakistan (CAP), has also done a tremendous job in recent years.

The author is an art/ design critic. He heads the Visual Communication Department at Mariam Dawood School of Visual Arts & Design, Beaconhouse National University, Lahore.