Hilal — Brand Identity & Website

Hilal (هلال) is a syndicate and community that connects Muslim founders and investors so they can build and back companies together. It's a venture I'm founding, and I led the brand and the website myself.

The brand comes from the tradition of sighting the hilal, the first crescent of the new moon, which only people who are looking for it will see. The primary tagline, "Sighted first." (أوّل من يرى الهلال), carries that idea: finding great founders before everyone else does. On the site it reads as "We see founders before the world does."

The positioning is rooted in values and community, but presented with the seriousness of an institution. The tone stays understated and a little mysterious instead of explaining everything.

Color: a palette named after the Islamic times of day: Layl, Maghrib (maroon, the primary color), Duha and Fajr.

Type: Cormorant Garamond and EB Garamond for English, Amiri and Reem Kufi for Arabic, and IBM Plex Mono for labels and indexes.

Visual language: an editorial layout with mono caps labels, thin rules, fine-line engraving and plenty of negative space.

Bilingual parity: Arabic gets the same weight as English everywhere, not just decorative use.

hilalhq.com is built around Hilal's three audiences:

Founders: submit a company for review, and every submission gets a real answer.

Investors: join the syndicate with no joining fees and no obligation to invest, and review each deal individually.

Community: gatherings, programs and introductions across cities, plus The Sighting, an upcoming founder competition and build program.

Designed in Figma and built with Framer and Claude Code.