»Islamic design has always centered on spiritual life«

Ali Godil has four craftsmen working in his home and it’s just eight in the morning. But everything is in motion for the designer from Portland, Oregon, who, with House of Gül, stands for design which brings Western and Eastern traditions together like no other. With the Northern California sun shining through the window and his dog happily jumping around, Ali Godil tells us how his design language devel­oped and spirituality became increasingly important in his life and work – just as his social commitment.

The first thing blowing you away about House of Gül is its incredible style. You call it “psychedelic wabi-sabi” . . .
Ali Godil: (laughs) That’s how I want you to feel. I use a lot of inspiration from Western abstract art and the 70ies punk culture, but also from Islamic and South Asian art and design. These influences present two dif­ferent philosophies. One is more rational, more Bauhaus and gridded, the other one is much more expressive and free-flowing. But I absolutely don’t want the label “East meets West”. I want it to be a universal cohesion and that’s psychedelic wabi-sabi. It has this colorful euphoria and meditative rhythm, but also the simplicity, imperfection, and humility of wabi-sabi.

Would you say your design also draws power from the fact that styles meet which usually don’t belong together?
There’s this misconception that Western and Eastern philosophies are mutually exclusive and that you can pick only one. You can be a capitalist and super ratio­nal or a hippie artist with a spiritual approach. But I want to bring these two cultures together.

But didn’t you once complain that Western design makes everything look the same?
Yes, I think that’s true. If you take the rational mindset of the West to an extreme, it reduces everything to efficiency and everyone to a consumer. And all you see are white backgrounds with black text in Helvetica and an image in the grid. That’s “bland­ing” instead of branding. The colorful, expressive, and hand drawn style we’re seeing so often now is a rebellion against it.

In Islamic design, on the other hand, you’ve said that humans are not reduced to passive consumers but are participants.

Islamic design has always centered on spiritual life. The ornaments and golden and floral borders are there to awaken your spirit. To me, it’s a very pow­erful idea when design is used as a tool to liberate you from the physical world. I mean, the physical world won’t be gone, but the internal and spiritual world, the thoughts and feelings, become the prima­ry source of life. This also was part of my Pakistani up­bringing and has always been v­ery meaningful to me. Now, design is often reduced to serve capital­ism and the only thing you have to do is to design buttons which seduce you to click on them. I’m not against functionalism, but that feels very empty. I think it’s very beautiful when design speaks to universal truths instead and makes you feel the richness of life.

Is that also a reason why House of Gül is focusing much more on meaningful projects now?
Exactly. Saying yes to everything is a recipe for dis­as­­ter, because then you say no to yourself. It’s very important to me to have my own voice instead of becom­ing a tool for turbocapitalism and just run, run, run.

But isn’t it hard to turn down projects that could earn you a lot of money?
Sure (laughs). But I think if you have the right intentions, it’ll always work out the way it needs to. I’m not against working on big projects. We’re doing that often. But there has to be a certain sense of freedom and a shared and meaningful perspective on things.

This attitude is currently reflected in society as well.
I think that we’re in a new cultural era where people are disillusioned with Western ideas of capitalism. They have realized they don’t bring them the happiness and fulfillment they were looking for. That’s why so many people are turning to alternative ways of liv­ing and that also translates into art, film, music, and design. We just started the cultural space and art collective called Flower Factory. It’s a community hub with artist spaces, events, and the approach to merge creativity and consciousness to build a new future. On top of that, we host a meditation and yoga program and so many people are interested in it. That inspires me and my work a lot.

Flower Factory is a great name.
It really fits the whole model. As an artist and design­er, working in these modern mega structures can feel very isolating. That’s why we wanted to create a place where people can just be themselves, meet people, and get new ideas. We want to give them tools to express their highest truth. And we want them to be reminded that you don’t always have to be so stressed and obsessed with your work and with achieving ­something. Sometimes, things just evolve like a flower blooming when the time is ready.

House of Gül is a nice name too.
It means rose or flower in Farsi and Urdu.

And there’s even a garden on your website.
It’s my favorite thing, we call it the 3D meditation screen saver. And you know what? You’re the first one who asked me about it.

But it’s so awesome. Every time you look a little longer at one of your works, it brings you right back to the garden.
It visualizes my philosophy that whatever you do, you should not forget this garden inside you where the inspiration, spirituality, and love come from and where you can rest. Every year, I go to a silent meditation retreat in Washington and one day, when we were walking back to our rooms, a doe and her three babies just walked by. It was so beautiful and pure, so you see them in the garden.

Spirituality doesn’t mean that your work isn’t political. Just the opposite. You’ve created a gorgeous campaign for Kismat Tea and emphasized that this brand brings authenticity to a world of cultural appropriation.
Tons of industries are becoming devoid of character and intention. Not long ago, I met this guy who owns a big business designing and making yoga mats. He’s white, doesn’t do yoga at all, and has no intention to bring the yoga philosophy to the world. He just had the money and saw a market opportunity. Coming from an Indian-Pakistani household it really rubbed me the wrong way. That’s also why House of Gül likes to partner with organizations or brands that are owned by people of color and are trying to bring their truth and authenticity back to the industry.

Like Kismat Tea?
Instead of all that instant chai made by white people with little flavor and too much sugar, two friends ­with South Asian roots started Kismat Tea to bring authentic chai to the West. I love chai and wanted to bring its philosophy to life using colors and patterns, but in a more simple and modern way.

In other projects like the design for the San Francisco Public Defenders or Four Barrel Coffee, it seems that typography plays a significant role.
Everything starts with typography for me. I use it to set the foundation for a project. I love Islamic cal­lig­­raphy and the space and rhythm hand drawn ornaments create. Other elements follow on top of it. It’s almost like painting lay­ers on top of each other.

You have also worked for Facebook, Adobe, and Netflix. What’s been the most interesting project so far?
We just recently launched the Mojo Ramadan Report, the first ever Muslim research study for young American Muslims. It’s a really cool Ramadan report that is based on a survey of Gen Z and millennial Muslims. We created an interactive website with a timer for iftar and a moving sun that changes the color of the gradients (  www.mojoramadanreport.com  ). We also developed hand drawn Arabic callig­raphy to signify different prayers and hand drew all the borders. The design is functional and clean, but also colorful and ornamented and captures the spir­it of Ramadan, the celebration and joy.

Where will your journey take you next?
Honestly, my greatest joy is sitting in the sun and drink­ing coffee, the dog next to me, surrounded by nature (laughs).

Sounds perfect to me.
But of course, I have a lot of plans. I want to turn my house into a sanctuary where you can get away from society and pursue your spiritual and artistic devo­tion. Then I have House of Gül as a studio and Flower Factory as a cultural space. All three of them should be in harmony, because balance is the most important thing – in work and life.

This interview has been published in PAGE 07.2023. Download the whole issue here.

PAGE 07.2023

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