← Najib Etel

Contemporary luxury rooted in Persian heritage.

Independent Art Direction Project · 2026

A house built
from a garden.

BĀGH is a contemporary luxury house inspired by Persian gardens, craftsmanship and textile traditions. The project explores how cultural heritage can be reinterpreted through the visual language of contemporary luxury.

Discipline
Art Direction
Brand Identity
Campaign · Film
Type
Self-initiated
Year
2026
Role
Concept · Creative Direction
Art Direction · Identity
Campaign · Motion
A pale model in a cream dress holding a cream and burgundy bag as white and black horses run past

01 — The Idea

باغ
BĀGH

Persian · “Garden” — and, inside it, “BAG”

Heritage×Contemporary

Maximalism in the detail.
Minimalism in the world.

Persian motifs, taken apart and rebuilt with the restraint of contemporary luxury.

A single Persian carpet draped over white rock, seen through a natural stone arch against a clear sky

02 — Cultural Research

Not decoration.
A vocabulary.

i

Persian Gardens

ii

Persian Carpets

iii

Craftsmanship

iv

Architecture

v

Contemporary Luxury

Fin Garden, Kashan: a painted pavilion over turquoise water channels lined with cypress trees
Garden
Distressed antique-style carpet in red and pale grey
Carpet
A carpet weaver at a loom seen from above, working over an antique Persian carpet
Craft
A mirrored monolith set into an eroded stone cliff
Architecture
Sheer fabrics hanging in a desert, backlit by low sun
Luxury

Research references · not original work

Persian craftsmanship→became the foundation
Carpet motifs→became the visual vocabulary
Persian gardens→informed the geometry and spatial logic
Contemporary minimalism→became the counterbalance

03 — Visual Identity

The Emblem

An eye-like central form held inside geometric and botanical structures drawn from Persian ornament and garden architecture. Culturally informed, but not a literal historical motif.

01 · GridOne quadrant drawn on a circle, its axes and diagonals.

02 · MirrorReflected across both axes — the four-part symmetry of the chahar bagh.

03 · AnatomyEye Arches Sweeps Flora

BĀGH emblem

Emblem

BĀGH stacked lockup

Stacked

BĀGH horizontal lockup

Horizontal

Primary · Display

Kalnia

Headlines, wordmark, editorialLight — Regular

Secondary · Text

Axiforma

Body, labels, informationLight — Medium

Colour · by proportion

Cream#E9E6DD · 42%
Burgundy#461F1D · 30%
Terracotta#B55F3E · 19%
Deep blue#102059 · 6%
Aged gold#BE9E57 · 3%

Quiet neutrals carry the world. Heritage colours arrive as moments of intensity.Deep blue #102059 · Aged gold #BE9E57, used sparingly

04 — Brand Experience

Fewer objects.
Each one believable.

The same system tested across paper, card, fabric and wax: how the identity behaves when it becomes something you can hold.

BĀGH rigid box with embossed cream sleeve and burgundy pattern tissue sealed with an emblem sticker
Packaging · Rigid drawer boxEmbossed sleeve · pattern tissue · ribbon pull
Cream envelope with burgundy wax seal beside a burgundy card
CorrespondenceWax seal
Cream cotton dust bag printed with the BĀGH emblem
Dust bagCotton twill
BĀGH business card balanced between stones in raking light
CardsPattern border · cotton stock

05 — Campaign

A Garden
Beyond Time

“The environment should be quiet.
The heritage element should make the noise.”

Light warm sun, one directionSpace empty landscapesStyling neutral, one heritage objectPhotography wide shots paired with macro

A model in a burgundy dress lying on a Persian carpet inside a wooden boat in dry grass, holding a cream clutch
Hands resting on a cream clutch framed by a burgundy carpet border with a gold leaf clasp

I

The Field

A Persian carpet laid in a boat, stranded in dry grass. The garden is carried to a place where nothing grows.

A pale model in a cream dress holding a cream and burgundy bag as white and black horses run past
Close-up of the cream bag with a diagonal burgundy textile panel and a brass clasp engraved with the BĀGH emblem

II

The Steppe

Wild horses, a figure standing still. Heritage as the calm at the centre of movement.

A model in cream linen on a salt flat holding a burgundy trapezoid bag with a wooden handle
A hand with wooden and gold bangles carrying the burgundy bag with a cream floral textile panel over wet salt

III

The Salt

An empty salt flat under a storm sky. The textile panel is the only garden in sight.

The World Moves.

One steppe·a wild herd·one figure holding still

Creative Direction · Art Direction · Motion Direction

06 — The Brand World

The Field: model on a carpet in a boat in dry grass
Rigid drawer box with burgundy pattern tissue
BĀGH emblem
Bag with brass emblem clasp among horses
Envelope with burgundy wax seal
A Persian carpet draped over white rock, framed by a natural stone arch
The Salt: model on a salt flat with the burgundy bag
Cotton dust bag with the emblem

Heritage, reinterpreted.