You can buy the book at these Amsterdam bookstores:
Selexyz Scheltema (near Leidseplein)
Koningsplein 20
1017 BB Amsterdam
www.sexyz.nl
Boekhandel Fotografia
2e Laurierdwaarstraat 64
1016 RC Amsterdam
www.fotografia.nl
Athenaeum Boekhandel
Spui 14-16
1012 XA Amsterdam
Hoogstins
Kinkerstraat 117
1053 DL Amsterdam
www.hoogstins.nl
Plantage Books & More
Overtoom 8-8A
1054 HH Amsterdam
www.plantagebooksandmore.nl
To order a book, click here.
We have set up an online store at CafePress with some of our Norooz gifts. Please give it a visit.
Click here for a flash preview of the book.
Iran: A View from Here features photographs taken over three years of living in Iran. It is a personal account that features images of Iran that not only include the snow-covered mountains and desert expanses that surround the county but also images that define the culture of Iran: images of mourning and celebration, of day-to-day life, and of special events. We’ve captured an Iran that eludes the casual visitor and often escapes the notice of professional photographers. To order an advance copy of the book, click on one of the “buy now” buttons on the right side of the page.
The cost of the book is $22.00 or €17.00 plus shipping and taxes. Shipping is $2.50 per book in the US and about $7.50 per book outside the US.
“The most elaborate method to try to understand Iran is captured in the pages of this book. To live in Iran like Tori and Kamran have done, means riding a constant rollercoaster of impressions. Every time you think you have it all figured out, Iranians surprise you.”
–Thomas Erdbrink
Thomas Erdbrink is the Iran-based Middle East correspondent for the Dutch daily newspaper NRC. He has worked and lived in Iran since 2001.
To order by check, money transfer, or Dutch Postbank, click here.
To order by Paypal or Credit Card, click on one of the “buy now” buttons to your right. Make sure to select your own country on the Paypal form!
For press information click here or download a pdf file of the press release with text and images (509 kb)
The best way to reach us is by email. You can email us at info AT ashtarydesign.com.
For those of you who would like to telephone us. We can be reached at +31 (20) 77 120 99.
Visual design & marketing materials
Ashtary Design designs. We design logos, identities, websites, presentations, and exhibits.
We design for small-budgets (we’d love to do some big-budget projects of course, who wouldn’t?) which makes us resourceful at finding the creative solutions to customer’s needs.
Take a look at some of our recent work for the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands:
Ashtary Design was asked by the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to design an exhibit of Rembrandt’s etchings for display at the new National Library and Archives in Tehran.
We had less than one month, a limited budget, and a number of design constraints including a prohibition against hanging anything on the walls.
Click on the image to see a slideshow presenting our design along with some images of the construction of the exhibit. Enjoy.
Take a look at some of our design work
A flash slideshow of some of our work is now available for your viewing pleasure.
First impressions are often based on the way you look. Is your shirt ironed? Do your socks match? Are you wearing jeans or slacks? Are you stylish or trendy?
Your organization also makes an impression based on the way it looks.
Is it a billboard, a business card, a letter, or a website? Do all of these send the same message about your organization? If you do not know, then take a look yourself. Imagine that you know nothing about your organization. Imagine that you are seeing your business materials for the first time. What do you see?
If you want your organization to send a professional image, then you need to have a consistent look to all of your business materials. A presentation given by one member of your organization should have the same look as a presentation given by another member of your organization. This is true even though the content will be different.
We can help you present yourself better whether it is through your website or through your presentation. We can help you make sure that you get your message across.
…Involve research and audits. An effective plan means understanding your audience and understanding how they see your product or service.
How do you get to know your audience? Well, you can start with a communication audit.
How do you get to know your audience? Well, you can start with a communication audit.
What is your message and how is it being communicated to external and internal customers? Do you know? Ashtary Design can undertake a communication audit of your organization. This means that we do the following:
Spending some time to get to know your industry, the specific niche for a given product or service, and the people who will use it/buy it is absolutely necessary for developing an effective brand. This research provides insight that can be used to communicate more precisely and persuasively with the target audience. The research also provides guidelines for the types of services that will need to be offered in order to satisfy your customers.
Market investigations can involve several methods including interviews, surveys, and literature reviews.
Knowing precisely who the audience is makes it possible to communicate a product or service’s strengths in a compelling way. In the research phase, Ashtary Design will help you identify your core customer. We will provide detailed profiles of your target customer. These profiles are designed to provide insights into their needs.
A common problem encountered by companies is that the customer is not well-defined. Often, everyone on a project team has a different idea of who they are selling to and that idea may even change from day-to-day. Ashtary Design uses personas as a way to get agreement and understanding among the project team.
Ashtary Design uses personas –fictional characters that represent segments of the target audience–to better communicate an understanding of the audience for a specific product. These personas are not averages, but archetypes. There is just enough detail in the persona descriptions to make them seem like real people and to provide key information for the brand design phase.
A well-defined and well-understood persona set is the key to honing a brand message and solving the problem of the undefined customer. This is the problem that we described in the previous section.
Understanding the target audience well and specific people who make up that audience produces surprisingly effective results. This is repeated time and again in the real world. For instance, roll-away suitcases were designed specifically for flight crews, but it turns out that we all can use them. Denim jeans were designed for gold prospectors, but that does not stop us from wearing them. Knowing one target audience well is the key to success.
This understanding tells you what your customer cannot live without.
You need to know enough about the current situation in order to determine what needs to be changed in order to meet future needs. This includes getting to know your competitors; understanding why they are successful (or not); and having a firm grasp of you limitations.
This needs to be answered with some ideas for how to market the tower using innovative means. It is important to identify a variety of opportunities. Some may be feasible, some may not.
This question examines the limitations and opportunities for ideas that can actually be carried out.
Kamran Ashtary left Iran as a teenager and was gone for over twenty years before returning to his home country. He became a citizen of the Netherlands where he graduated in art from the Rietveld Academy in Amsterdam. Kamran is a graphic designer and photographer and has had work published and exhibited all over the world.
One of Kamran’s first projects after graduating from the Rietveld was the Children’s Photography Project. In conjunction with the New York Transit Museum, Kamran led and organized the photography workshops for children from the nearby Gowanus housing projects. The project was featured on CNN and the Japanese news network NHK and was covered by several New York City newspapers. The children’s work was publicly exhibited to more than 100,000 people.
Currently Kamran is an art director with more than 14 years of experience working with clients and companies to develop and design their visual communication styles. He has worked as a designer and art director of corporate communications at numerous technology companies, including Siemens and Siebel Systems.
In 1993, Kamran graduated from the Rietveld Academy in Amsterdam and completed exchange work at The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art in New York City.
Tori Egherman is an American who lived in Iran for more than three years. She has authored a number of articles on a wide variety of topics from the Weimar Republic to the Islamic Republic of Iran. Tori is currently working on a book about living in Iran. She met her husband, Kamran, when they were both studying at New York City’s Cooper Union.
Ashtary Design is a group of designers, project managers, writers, and researchers that offers marketing and branding services.
We have experience working with clients from all over the world: from big, multinationals like Siemens, to small non-profit organizations like the Palo Alto Junior Museum. Our commitment to them is the same: deliver quality services that help them communicate their own particular message.
Click here to see a flash slideshow of some of our work.
Unicef Iran
Tapesh Heart Clinic
The Royal Dutch Embassy
Tina Fine Desserts
The Canadian Embassy
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