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F/I/M²/P: awesomeness on matt paper

By N. & Admin HY: Lately, we’ve been called names and we’ve been questioned, they have threatened us and will continue to do so. People have called us haters who know nothing, but In the land of the DesignMafia™ and DesignWannabes™, we do know an eye-candy when we see one. Yesterday, An up and coming design magazine celebrated its annual anniversary and we were pleased to be there.

F/I/M²/P stands for Fashion/ Illustration/ Music/ Movies/ Photography but all in all, we like to define it with awesomeness. A Lebanese magazine founded by our new friends (we are so excited, like omaygad), Mohamad Abdouni and Rudy Shaheen (and co.) managed to standout with a high affinity to design and aesthetics. But enough with the emotions, let’s set aside the fact that we are as cheap as a glass of vodka (Admin I killing himself before publishing), and let’s get down to business.

The first time we got F/I/M²/P between our hands, we had a hard time believing that the Lebanese market could produce such a thing. A mat cover (a pet peeve of ours), beautiful typography and very neat layout, the magazine is basically a mix of sans-serif and serif classical typefaces, with a display slab-serif type custom-made by the team (Kudos to that). The main focus is exposing the local designers, whether photographers, illustrators, musicians or fashion designers; the team wanted a little escape where they could be free to do whatever and let the little genies inside of them run free. And so, F/I/M²/P was born. A platform for exchanging thoughts, opinions, and collaborations. This baby is a teaser, meeting its reader every two months with lots of visual treasures. The thing we liked most about F/I/M²/P is that each issue has a theme; starting off with the first one, an issue dedicated to the nineties that our ‘N.’ oh so gladly baptised as her bible (that 90s freak!). And it continues to tackle different subjects such a death and legacies, superheroes etc…

But in the end, we are Brofessionals and we have a reputation of spraying venom all over. See, the thing about F/I/M²/P is that it’s too westernised for a magazine that showcases Lebanese design. We would have loved to see a splash of Local identity added to it. But, that’s just our own opinion, we won’t really expect an audience of Posh rich kids to identify with it.

To wrap up this party, we will not sing but we will cheer for F/I/M²/P and their 50+ contributors for the great job they’re doing!

For Online viewing: http://www.issuu.com/fimp-mag

Gradients are back!

By Admin I: It’s the ultimate nightmare for any conservative swiss-orthodox design teacher and practitioner: the gradient tool! Well guess what, all of you out there: gradients are back! Back to invade your book covers, event posters, your wardrobe and even your furniture. It’s the latest shocking design trend that scared so many of you out there!

You might be the type that’s too arrogant to experiment, to give gradients a shot after more than a decade of hate and misuse. They’re back in analogous or monochrome tonalities and soft pastel usages, but let me tell you, those guys are tricky! The trick behind using the ‘hip’ gradients is to make it look anything but natural!! No small nuances, no bits and pieces, but the whole nine yards!

A final note before ending this design statement is a spotlight on a local super well done gradient usage by who other than ‘maajoun’ for the ‘Minassa Theater Festival’, a poster that mixed experimental  expressive lettering with a blue-green-yellow gradient, an eye candy!

In the end, it’s a matter of having ‘the balls’ to go and try, once, twice and more, simply because minimalism is too easy, too blah! Today’s design practices require much much more than type on white space, unless you are Micheal Bierut, who himself admitted having a case of ‘Chromatophobia’, the fear of using color: (…) I hope one day to begin to conquer mine (the fear). Until then, it’s back to the comfort of my nice dry towel, well away from the water’s edge — suitably striped, of course, in my two favorite colors: black and white.

Be a challenging design freak, or stay away from the water’s edge, you’re probably too boring to swim!

Pulse: Gradated colour application often gets a hard time. Perhaps it is due to two decades of bad clip art and super corporate PowerPoint presentations. But this year has seen the triumphant return of the gradient, as designers start to explore colours pale, dark, and everything between.”

Thank you HF for the research!  

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Pictures showcase a selection from different Elie Saab couture shows, between 2004 and 2012 (every picture is labeled accordingly to show how similar 10 years of ‘design’ have been).

Identity Crisis 02: Elie Saab

By Admin I: It’s not like we’re bashing the ‘Jesus’ of the Lebanese fashion design, even if we already know that many of you are going to totally disagree with us, but it’s high time someone bursts that fragile bubble protecting a rare talent; Elie Saab is by fact one of the all-time most talented designers: he knows very well how to accentuate a woman’s silhouette and can easily charge any garment with mere aesthetic beauty, the way that no one can really argue with, but on the other hand, Saab faced lots of ups and downs in his career, even if the Lebanese bourgeoisie was too distracted by his red carpet style and couldn’t notice flaws. It only takes a quick flashback to his latest 10 years of runway shows to notice that so little has changed, an identity is there yet very shy and too passive; An identity in crisis!

Where Saab went wrong was in contravening an unwritten code that distinguishes couturiers from merely serviceable dressmakers. That is, every single outfit should be special in its own right. (Sarah Mower/ Style.com)

Hundreds and hundreds of beautiful garments have been designed by Elie Saab and worn by the most famous international and local celebrities, but when a designer fails to improve, to develop and to reinvent himself, a “designer” title becomes somehow a sign of overrating, more of a privilege than a truly deserved position. Redundancy is what his collections have been struggling with, despite all the influences he tried to enrich the garments with, from cultural to historical eras; silhouettes remained very similar, embellished, heavily beaded and too harmonious! It’s somehow reflecting this Lebanese urge to add too much sugar to the tea.

Saab’s talents don’t lie as much in patternmaking (the cuts are quite simple and repetitive) as they do in his way with embellishments:

He opened with a caftan shape in embroidered black tulle. The silhouette looked novel for him, but he mostly stuck to his Oscar-winning formula of red-carpet frocks. By Nicole Phelps / Style.com

One of the most interesting thoughts on Saab’s identity crisis was Mower’s take on his development:

If that makes Saab a designer who understands the popular appeal of all-out glamour more than the high-minded conceptualism of traditional haute couture, it certainly hurts his business not one jot.

Saab still likes to be absolutely sure no one misses the point of his dresses, and since there were essentially four shapes in a 44-look show, quite a lot of surreptitious Blackberry twiddling had broken out in the audience a quarter of the way in. (Sarah Mower/ Style.com)

So guys, let me reformulate this argument: as much as we hate when Lebanese bash their successful peers, we do care to spread design awareness for the sake of triggering an active chain of thoughts. Whoever tells you Elie Saab is a great designer, nudge, agree and totally get excited but try to complement your supportive attitude with an insight: Elie Saab is a great couturier, but still has a lot of room to grow as a designer, as an innovator and that’s quite promising.

Creative Space Beirut exhibits : Seascape / F12

By Admin I (Exhibition photos by Admin N): It was last Thursday that Beirut suddenly got reshuffled by a New York-ish vibe hitting the concept store 6:05 Depechemode! Creative Space Beirut – A free non profit Fashion design educational program – launched their Fall 2012 collection “Seascape”, inspired by the sea’s color palette, shapes and textures.

What was super interesting about this particular Creative Space exhibition is the audience: this time, everyone was there: hipsters, fashion enthusiasts, designers and high end clientele. This time, it wasn’t only about how genius the program is, but about potential talents truly finding a spot, where handmade couture is finally getting some credits and students/designers starting to reach a level of signature looks, even if it’s still somehow naive and primitive.

It is truly immense, how an experience founded by Sarah Hermez and Rania Dalloul and guided by Caroline Simonelli From Parson’s New School of Design (New York) , can reshape design minds that even lack the basic tools; No ESMOD involved, no Starch and no marketing! A true challenge is taking place everyday to sustain the program and make this design guild a reality.

‘Seascape’ focuses on different design inspirations, from patchwork to dyeing and direct printing techniques reaching a very exotic use of prints and volume, using expensive fabrics donated by international designers such as Donna Karan, Diane Von Furstenberg, and Derek Lam.

It’s all happening following this expected pattern: earning international exposure while local media and designers keep disregarding this project’s urge for support and recognition. Typical Lebanon, no?!

Dresses are still available for sale by silent auction (link)

Credits:

Creative Space Video: Roody Khalil

Creative Space  Poster: Imad Gebrayel

nadine mneimneh en minuscule

By Admin I: It’s such a weird field in Lebanon: fashion design… While some totally rely on marketing and emerge from a commercial background, others still struggle to fully depend on their design principles trying to reach a defined audience and sustain their own brands in what is hardly balanced between design and entrepreneurship.

‘nadine mneimneh’ is our latest fashion crush, with a defined line that somehow finds a very unique spot in the local scene: clean cut silhouettes, meticulously hand sewn garments and a minimal choice of menswear fabrics cut to form basic urban looking shapes and forms.

And yes, the outrageously curious us, went and actually visited nadine’s atelier (We’re touchy people) and were astonished by the fact that nadine is one of the very few designers actually producing their whole collection by hand from pattern making to sewing to all other details; a one woman show that proved successful from the very first beginning back when nadine was a ‘Starch’ designer’; she is certainly no ‘Starch’ dependent though; thankful for what the experience has offered to her career, but totally flying away from the previous ‘Starchers’ and what characterizes their couture, nadine keeps digging in her multicultural background to keep producing reasonably priced ready to wear collections, that only lack good marketing to reach a wider audience.

With her timeless silhouettes that somehow bring to mind the loose geometry of Yohji Yamamoto’s creations as well as his dark color schemes, nadine can totally make a difference in the land of glitters, feathers and you know, umm Galliano wannabes!

When fashion is NOT for all!

By Admin I : We have introduced you earlier to this great initiative called “The Creative Space Beirut” in a series of posts, and an exclusive coverage for their second collection exhibition at Beirut Art Center.

Proudly being a part of this space, we’d like to take you on a ride visiting the struggles one can face while trying to establish an NGO in Lebanon, especially when it’s related to the field of the “riches et nouveau-riches”, when sometimes raw talent is not enough to break through.

In the new term of this free fashion program, 2 new students were added to the group, and their only fault was being veiled; at least for some of the fashion boutiques in town. We’re sadly reporting what happened during the trend reports, when students were having a look at the new collections released in Beirut, which is supposedly labeled a diverse city for everyone. It is somehow ironic how rich faux-hipsters can enter international brands stores, while a veiled group of students can’t, or let’s pretend being nice and say “they’re not very welcomed to”. It is more ironic when brands like ‘Chloe’ and ‘Stella McCartney’ allow the group to go check the collection, while a shop owned by a Lebanese like ‘Sophie’s Choice’ showed an almighty form of discrimination and kicked the group out, minutes after they came in (after taking the permission), followed by the owner herself asking employees to wipe the floor seconds after leaving. It’s almost like Cinderella or some other sort of bloggers drama; this time the cause wasn’t a parking spot at a restaurant, no foreign workers, just fashion students checking brands and designers; it’s a whole issue of discrimination based on appearance.

Creative Space has been through more than one obstacle, from the lack of resources to logistics to the recent discriminative issue, just because they chose to let go stereotypes and look for people in need, creating opportunities through education.

We’re not here accusing anyone of anything, we’re just portraying an incident that can happen even in NY, when black celebs used to be kicked out of elite brands shops just because they were black and had no star dust on, which doesn’t by any chance justify our pretentious shop owners/managers interaction with a group doing trend reports, a very basic step of the fashion design process; hmm, would that happen if ESMOD was the school behind those students? me doubt it, me don’t even care!

The space is now in the process of making their third collection with a marine inspiration preparing a launching event on the 23rd of August at one of the city’s most interesting fashion spots, 6:05 Depeche Mode, Downtown Beirut; on another note, the space located in Jeitawi-Ashrafieh is now available for everyone planning events and workshops, still in cooperation with NY’s Parson’s New School, and international designers like Donna Karen, Diane von Furstenberg and others.

Daniel A: Our culture never had an authentic visual identity / In order for our culture to evolve in the visual world it has to accept and encourage its individuals and their beliefs / Taboos, principles and religion have somehow shadowed the right to creation, which should be given to all.

Hassan-Kamel Sabbah: Contributing with Lebanese minds and talents allows us to stand as “different” from other production houses / Some creatives submit to stereotypes and draw by the line.

Brofessional Talks 001: Daniel A. a Lebanese emerging talent

Admin I : So we’re finally having a fresh breeze of creativity, advertising-free, with a Lebanese talent working hard to redefine “Art Direction” as a solid ground for every creative practice. Daniel A and Hassan-Kamel Sabbah joined forces to establish a new creative house, based on their different yet complementary experiences in the visual field.

What intrigued to me to feature Daniel A as a photographer/art director is that i’ve been silently observing this talent, watching its evolution and growth, simply because I’m done going to the extremes defending Lebanese creatives that disappoint me in a very short amount of time. Work becomes redundant, repetitive and “la creme de la creme” sadly become sour. Daniel proved a growing path, a distinctive visual style that play on the fine line between identity and repetition.

We had the chance to interview Daniel and Hassan for our first “Brofessional talk”; enjoy: 

Daniel A.:

  • How can you reformulate the concept of “Art direction” in general and associated with photography in particular, since it’s becoming somehow misused and abused by art director wannabes?

  • It’s simple: communicating an idea or any desired message through visuals. However, it is misused by wannabes because their focus is purely visual, without a solid conceptual base. I believe that design in all its fields is about finding solutions for the society’s needs. Our culture never had an authentic visual identity that represents the variety and the interesting cultural mix forming our Lebanese scene. Beauty is sometimes wrongly perceived in preconceived images that almost no one questioned nor tried to change for the better.
  • Your style stands out as “minimal glamour, the “less is more” of photography” with a dramatic European influence, (correct me if I’m wrong) how did it evolve to reach that stage?

  • I certainly agree with the concept of “less is more” that I apply in my work. Whereas for my style, I believe that photography is a subjective matter and rarely an objective one; you can feel drama, passion or luxury, it depends on what I was experiencing during that shoot. What is fun about my job is how each one perceives it; many see my style as dreamy while others see it as romantic. Every person perceives a same photo differently; Art has no boundaries in the end.
    I can’t really talk about an evolvement since my journey in photography is still short. When I was in Paris I was doing my masters degree in art direction and then an internship at McCann Erickson for the L’Oreal account where I found my true passion for fashion and luxury. I was extremely influenced by their perception of beauty, how they treated it with simplicity.
    One day I decided to practice some of what I gained in Paris, I did the “Goût du vent” and the rest is history.
  •  Being Lebanese, how can we invest in our culture, taking visual arts, and photography in particular, and what in general intrigues you to shoot or get inspired from, in the Lebanese society?
  • In order for our culture to evolve in the visual world it has to accept and encourage its individuals and their beliefs. It has to give them the freedom of being whoever they want to be and experiencing life as is. I believe that every one of us has a great potential with remarkable differences and that we only need to be encouraged. We should always be in harmony with our own convictions and values; this is how true artists are made. Taboos, principles and religion have somehow shadowed the right to creation, which should be given to all. This is why we should embrace our own style while learning from many great influences such as the European ones and creating a unique blend that will be known as “Lebanese”, which will reflect our own personal touch and a piece of our identity. Lebanese photographers can’t find Lebanese references to be inspired from, so why don’t we for instance, start being our own references by doing our own thing, believing in our own capacities then spreading them throughout the world celebrating differences and honoring our common ground.
  • I can’t really name one thing that intrigues me to shoot in our society; it’s more like experiencing certain feelings in a certain place at a certain moment that inspires me the most. People I meet can inspire me, their character or their way of being and behaving.
Hassan-Kamel Sabbah:
  • Being known for your work for Plastik magazine ( BEYOND PRODUCTION ), how are you willing to establish a new production house that stands out as “different” but still can earn the same success that Plastik had?
  • After 4 years of experience in Beyond Production, I have learned a lot of things that will allow me to establish a new and unique production house. Opening a new company gives you the chance to create your own vision by showing your creative side and exploring the potential that makes each one of us so special. We are a very ambitious team, with a very promising future perspective, and have a lot of potential that will allow us to implement our creativity in all our work while maintaining high professional standards.
  • I believe that everyone has his own identity and in order to succeed one has to stand out from the crowd using all of the tools at hand. I will thus rely on my past experience adding my own personal touch, in all of the jobs that the new production house will be handling, which will allow me to be more free in my choices and decisions in order to successfully deliver the job requested.
  • Although the work of Plastik magazine is a totally respected and admirable one, our sources of inspiration are totally different; we mainly get inspired from the place we live in, while working on international standards, adding an exotic touch to our Lebanese projects.  We therefore focus on working with great emerging local talents creating a mutual supportive network and that is what makes all of the difference in our company’s work. Contributing with Lebanese minds and talents is thus another thought that portrays our differences, and allows us to stand as “different” from other production houses.
  • How do you evaluate the creative scene in Lebanon, talking stereotypes, creativity and cultural interactivity with the mass?
  • There is definitely a notable change in the creative scene in Lebanon, although it is subject to scrutiny by the government on some levels. Some creatives submit to stereotypes and draw by the line, in a subtle way when it comes to interacting with the mass. However, I do believe that several individuals are getting out of their comfort zone, creating a change that can be both shocking but effective when it comes to cultural interactivity.
  • influence/motto/favorite figures/a crazy thing you say, you do or you feel like doing.
  • I’m very influenced by characters I see in the movies (French movies / anime from the 80’s) , furniture , paintings.
  • I don’t really have a motto, I prefer life giving me lessons.
  • I really like Cyril Collard , Nathan Coley , Hayao Miyazaki , Henri Duparc , indie music also inspires me a lot.
  • Since I’m very spontaneous, everything I do is crazy.
Check Daniel and Hassan’s latest project: Blues of Red:
A CONTRIBUTION OF 10 EXQUISITE PIECES FROM 10 PROMINENT LEBANESE FASHION DESIGNERS ( Lara Khoury , Krikor Jabotian , Cera Barage , Pavoni , Moe K , Peach and Powder , Pastel Creations , Joanna Laura Constantine , Dina Khalife , U by Hala & Lea ) WITH MAKE UP ARTIST CHRISTIAN ABOU HAIDAR WORKING HIS MAGIC.

Video Directed, Shot & Edited : Ralph Arida
Art Director/Photographer : Daniel A
Production : Hassan-Kamel Sabbah

We’re  proud of you guys, and we sincerely hope to see you investing in the local scene, with local designers. Let us for once be ourselves and work on creating what you called the “Lebanese blend”, the single most important gap in our field… You’re a true inspiration for our readers!

Gout du vent – Daniel A.

Fyunka: Satirical Arabic Pop

By Admin N : ما عندك شنطة أل في؟ أو أم جي

Fyunka describes a “fyunka girl”as follows:

The fyunka girl enjoys a cupcake on a late afternoon

Takes pictures of colorful macaroons

Carries a million things in her bag

Doesn’t feel guilty after eating sweets

Keeps refreshing her twitter page

Can’t leave the house without earrings on

Has an Audrey Hepburn poster in her room

Loves the sound of a Polaroid camera

So what is Fyunka exactly?

Alaa Balkhy of Saudi Arabia simply did not want a 9 to 5 job so she created fyunka, a Jeddah based line of Fashion inspired designs with the influence of popular culture and Arabic type. A satirical approach to the increased materialization in the Arab world, fyunka launched a collection of fabric handbags with different famous designer’s bag printed on them, Birkins and Chanels along with other well known shapes and designs. Along with these bags, fyunka created the very cool shopping bags with famous pop culture quotes translated to Arabic, from Carrie Bradshaw’s I like my money right where I can see it… hanging in my closet to Coco Chanel’s Fashion fades, only style remains the same, and what kinda became their  trademark: daddy, I want a Birkin (بابا ابغى بيركن).

Fyunka managed to evolve from a fashion brand to a lifestyle that every genuine Arab trendy fashionista can relate to, A fresh breath of fun Arabic pop in a world suffocating in bling bling. Good luck you guys we love your bags! Still waiting for you to come to Lebanon though!

*notebooks.cupcakes.balloons*

 

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Beware of the vintage storm!

By Admin N :  Who is Lana? A question that baffles us all.

No one knows where Lana Del Rey exactly came from, she seems to have dropped from the sky and taken over our radios overnight. What we know is that Lana Del Rey was different; she had this certain flair about her that distinguished her from the rest of her peers. Lana was purely vintage and not wannabe tacky old Hollywood but your everyday average vintage that made everyone fall for her. Everything about her, from the style to the songs, voice, album art and music videos reminisce to the golden age of America, the mad men era and that was exactly what the world was looking for in the process of recovery from the current recession.

And the vintage trend seems to have Lebanon, with a bang!

And you cannot miss it! Starting with Rana Salam’s vintage pop artworks, Leila’s café and coming to full bloom this year with “vintage” restaurants on every corner. Everyone seems to be going retro and looking to distinguish himself, not knowing that in the end they all look the same. And most recently, the bug caught up to Roadster Diner when they released their new menu and food packages with full blow modern vintage! Truth is no matter how abused is the vintage/retro theme, this has always been Roadster’s image, so you kinda understand their decision to go that way!

But what baffles you is why the hell did almaza decide to go retro?

A total shift from almaza’s image, the folks over there decided to release retro posters that can be bought through their facebook page. Still consistent with the humoristic style of the personification of the almaza bottle, and a redo of their famous ads, I can honestly say that this modern/retro approach is not working, well at least not for me. There is no real consistency between the posters and some of them don’t even make sense with one Arabic typeface that already belongs the typography trashcan and is by no means vintage. The visuals show an experimental pre-final feel and don’t really work unless you think pop vintage is simply sticking movie posters, creating patterns with a psychedelic feel and in the end, lowering saturation!

It is that by the time they’ve decided to adopt this approach, the idea has become too cliché. Why go that way when you have a successful branding already!

In the end, remember people: MODERATION is the key!

Toufoula’s dream rooms, design for healing souls and bodies!

By Admin N : Because we as Brofessional review team are not just smartasses who seem to criticize anything, we decided to do a post about a cause close to our heart. The idea is super! What does one do when seeing children suffering in hospital rooms? He transports them into a magical world of course! (Very peter pan-ish I know). And that’s exactly what TOUFOULA is doing with its “dream rooms” projects.

TOUFOULA is a NGO dedicated to children suffering from cancer and other blood diseases. Trying to improve their lives, they create a unique and colorful environment, a safe heaven throughout their treatment. See, design is indeed the answer to everything! Now recently, TOUFOULA launched its “dream rooms” project aiming at adding life to the dull hospital rooms with colors and designs.  It managed to recruit some of the country’s top designers from all fields and some international designers too! The rooms range from adding an object to the room like what Bernard khoury did by adding an L-shaped object fixed to the ceiling, armed with a control system that allows the child to change the color according to his mood; to making the room interact with the child like Kamal Homsi and Lina Gothme did; or just transforming the whole room into another world like many did. My favorite rooms are the one that entice imagination like the ones designed by Gina Succar, Hazim Abdo,Michelle Standjovski, Seif el Hassani and Zuhair Murad (Man, don’t we all want to be there!!)

And recently PINKO, the Italian trendy women’s wear, and the symbol of glamour, seduction and fashion, launched a limited edition Tshirt, PINKO “Love” Beirut, from which 20% of the proceeds of the sale will go to TOUFOULA. Through this valuable and caring initiative, PINKO will definitely help the NGO reach its goal, and constantly create more Dream Rooms for the children with cancer, bringing happiness and heartwarming smiles to their faces. Isn’t it refreshing when fashion houses use their assets for a good cause?

The Tshirt was launched during a cocktail party, which took place at the PINKO store in Beirut DT, on Thursday March 29th, 2012.

Let’s all contribute in this process and thumbs up to TOUFOULA for this great initiative; design to heal the soul!

To all famous designers, you can design our rooms anytime. We’re brofessionals, we rock!

Check all rooms on behance: www.behance.net/gallery/Toufoulas-Dream-Rooms/632094

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