birthday boots

birthday boots . 2012

today i turned 27! & what better way to celebrate then gift myself with a funky new pair of kicks! while recovering at home after an intense surgery involving wisdom teeth & gum infections, i took the time to customize a pair of basic h&m high-tops to my liking. i worked on the shoes as a submission to be featured in one of my favorite magazines out there, i like my style. i don't know if it will be selected (fingers crossed), but i hope to see it featured in their next issue...

to the loved ones who made my 27th special, no matter how big or small the gesture, this post is for you. love you all...

cry wolf

cry wolf 1 . 2012

cry wolf 2 . 2012

cry wolf 3 . 2012

cry wolf 4 . 2012

cry wolf 4 (version 2) . 2012

cry wolf 1 sketch . 2012

cry wolf 4 sketch . 2012

it's the new year and time for the first post of 2012 & new projects!

first up, we've got a series of illustrations for a children's publication soon to be released. i was approached to be part of a project honoring famous children's fables and stories, many of which i have grown up with reading as a child. the stories are from around the world, & each illustrator was assigned a story to interpret through illustration. i was assigned the famous story 'the boy who cried wolf'; about a farm boy who constantly lied that his herd of sheep were attacked by a pack of wolves, until one day it really happened, and no one believed him...

i was so excited to be a part of this project as children's book illustrations was something i definitely wanted to do for a very long time. and for a first attempt, i'm quite happy with the results.

my visual interpretation of the story relates to the heritage & culture of where i come from, giving a subtle arabic feel to it. it was quite challenging having to reinterpret a story in 3-4 different illustrations. but in the end, i figured out a solution that focuses on the characters, without being a literal interpretation of the written story. while growing up, i found the best illustrations were the one's that give you just enough for you to look at, leaving enough room to interpret the rest yourself.

i'm still not sure how many of the illustrations above will be selected for the final publication. ideally all four would be awesome. but i guess it will be a surprise for us all. stay tuned for updates...

emirati 2051

emirati 2051 . 2011

i was recently asked to contribute an illustration for a magazine article commemorating the uae's 40th anniversary. people were asked to answer the question 'how do you see the uae in another 40 years?'. my answer was a visual representation of how people might evolve in their appearance & fashion, with a krossbreed flair! 

in 2051, i think the uae will look like a page out of a sci-fi comic book! buildings will continue to rise with weird forms & people will evolve with their dress sense. traditional attire will become modernized, silhouettes will evolve and fashion will adapt to harsh desert climate change, making people go back to basics, wearing what their ancestors used to...

feast: shopopolis at abu dhabi art

feast: shopopolis postcard . 2011

i am really happy to announce that the project i worked on during my artist residency in london this summer is being exhibited over here in the uae! for details on the feast: shopopolis project click here.

the emirates foundation have an exhibition space at this years abu dhabi art fair & had the wonderful idea of bringing the designed products created in collaboration with public works to be displayed right here at the fair.

its quite surreal to see the project once again, this time in a different space. i am proud that the project has come to my hometown & i'm here representing it.

if anyone's planning on heading to the fair this week (last day is 19th Nov.), please make sure to pass by the emirates foundation booth in gallery 3 to check out the feast: shopopolis products. for those of you who didn't have the opportunity to see it in london, now's your chance!

eid mubarak

eid mubarak . 2011

wishing everyone (especially the krossbreed lovers!) a happy eid mubarak. may you & your loved ones be blessed by god's grace & all your prayers are answered.

new direction

new direction . 2011

new direction (detail) . 2011

they say the best works are produced when under pressure! & for the first time, i felt the same way.

i was asked to participate in tashkeel's latest exhibition titled 'crossing the line'. the exhibition is a contemporary & unconventional showcase of drawings by artists based in Australia, UK & the UAE. it was quite interesting to be a part of a show that was varied in styles, but still fall under the category of drawing.

i called my piece 'new direction' because i fell in love with the end result, even though the process of finishing this piece was the shortest i've worked on so far. i started off with a simple organic black & white line drawing of a figure drowned in a plethora of organic & geometric shapes. but the drawing needed something extra to push it to the next level as a finished piece. so the idea of screen printing an extra layer came to mind which worked perfectly. the screen printed pink geometric shapes made the final piece pop & stand out as a strong artwork.

i personally love the combination of hand drawing & screen printing to create a piece. it's definitely a technique i will start using for upcoming artworks, giving my works & practice a 'new direction'...

last minute mess...

khabsa exhibition poster . 2011

typeface process by workshop participants . 2011

typeface process by workshop participants . 2011

final selected typefaces . 2011

khatt foundation type design workshop poster exhibiton . 2011

khatt foundation type design workshop poster exhibiton . 2011

final workshop typeface . 2011

'last minute mess' poster . 2011

after an unfortunate long hiatus from my blog, i'm back, and hopefully for awhile, with updates on all things krossbreed.

one of the recent things i participated in was the khatt foundation type design workshop. as many of you know, most of my works are illustrative & figurative based, generally lacking any form of typographic elements. in addition, my arabic is not as good as it should be! so taking this workshop allowed to challenge myself by developing both my type design skills & arabic!

each participant was assigned 1-2 letters from the arabic alphabet, and to create a typeface with the city of dubai as their inspiration. i decided to be inspired by the silhouettes of traditional objects found here; from coffee pots to arches in traditional houses. during the 5-day workshop, there was a lot of sketching, critiquing & developing each person's typeface. in the end, each designed letter (which was unique and varied from each other) was combined to create a new font/typeface called 'khabsa' (which translates to 'mess'!)

after creating the typeface, each participant was then asked to create a poster to represent their designed letter & the khabsa font. in my poster, i decided to use the phrase 'last minute mess', as it relates to the aesthetic of the typeface, and also my rushed attempt at making a cool poster in a limited time-frame! i think i did pretty well if i say so myself!

i entered the workshop thinking that this was not for me, but to my surprise, came through unscathed! i'm really glad i took the workshop, & know that this will definitely nurture my design work from here on out.

i definitely need to say a few thank you's: to the tashkeel team for asking me to be a part of it all, the workshop leaders, including the khatt foundation's Huda S. AbiFares for offering a great workshop, & also Pascal Zoghbi & Lara Assouad Khoury for truly being inspirational...