About

Illustrations based on passages from the novel "Heart of Darkness" by Joseph Conrad.

Figure i - “I avoided a vast artificial hole somebody had been digging on the slope, the purpose of which I found it impossible to divine.”

Figure ii - “The moon had spread over everything a thin layer of silver dash over the rank grass, over the mud, upon the wall of matted vegetation.”

Figure iii - "The word ‘ivory’ rang in the air, was whispered, was sighed. You would think they were praying to it. A taint of imbecile rapacity blew through it all, like a whiff from some corpse."

Method

Hand-Drawn and rendered with Ink.

About

The poster was a winning entry to the Nasser Bin Hamad Award, an international competition based in Bahrain, receiving First Place in the Graphic Design category.

Accepting award from Nasser Bin Hamad,organizer of the competition and member of the Bahraini Royal Family.

Competition Brief

To design an anti-war poster.

Concept

Cake has taken on a symbolic meaning in the modern world. People from all demographics commemorate joyous occasions with its consumption. The norm of celebrating birthdays around the globe is to blow out lit candles that are placed on top of a cake, symbolising a ‘wish’ that will come true for the newly aged individual.

A birthday embodies the idea of peace since people from different backgrounds and beliefs unite for one cause.

Symbolism

The illustration depicts a slice of cake with buildings on top that mimic lit birthday candles. The incorporated text of “Wish for Peace” is the intended message with the concept being a metaphor insisting that a single wish would extinguish the flames of war that ravage cities.

Black and white was used to portray the dullness of war, whilst colour was used for a single flame representing the wish.

Style

The goal behind the design was to be as minimalistic as possible while providing a clear message to the viewer within the first few seconds.

Furthermore, the universal symbolism of birthday cake and its traditions allows the illustration to reach a wide audience. The poster should make the viewer feel that they could make a difference.

Method

Hand-drawn and later vectorised on Adobe Illustrator.

Concept

The illustration portrays a person playing billiards with the solar system. It was inspired from the quote, "Pick a flower on Earth and you move the farthest star," by theoretical physicist Paul Dirac.

The composition is a metaphorical out-take on Dirac's statement, with the entire illustration being composed of dots (pointillism) in order to emphasise how each element is vital to the final outcome of the other.

Method

The original black and white version (on the left) was hand-drawn with a Rotring fineliner pen on Fabriano paper.

The colourised version was achieved by scanning the original drawing and modifying it with Photoshop.

Concept

The illustration depicts an empty space where a series of Fibonacci spirals (golden ratios) are being formed. This can be related to the universe and the creation of galaxies. The spiral in the foreground represents humanity’s galaxy and the conscious world that is being created. The base of this spiral portrays a natural and organic environment that evolves into a machine-like technological world.

Humans used to be dependent on nature however as time progressed we disconnected ourselves from that dependency. Humans are no longer in tune with their surroundings and have become reliant on technology and machines. Hidden in the piece are two hands, one representing the hand of nature and the other the hand of technology.

Hand of Mother Nature

Hand of the Machine-Man

Style

The design / idea of the illustration was inspired from the teachings of the Art Nouveau period and the Futurists. The spiral starts off in a curvilinear and ornamented format and slowly changes into a rectilinear and “machine-man” aesthetic.

The pointillist style was used as reference to the particles and atoms that create our universe. A dot is also the most primitive form in design, that if extended becomes a line (one-dimensional), a plane (two-dimensional), and eventually a volume (three-dimensional).

Method

The composition was hand drawn using a Rotring fineliner pen on Calque paper. Two separate drawings using different sheets were superimposed on each other using Photoshop.

The first being a grid (background) which used the golden-ratio and served as the scaffolding of the drawing. The second being the main illustration (foreground) was constructed using the grid.

Concept

The evolution of the universe through kinetic abstract mediums inspired by Cymatics.

Synopsis

First there was light, then there was sound. What happens next is an amalgamation of material conducted by vibration.

The storyline mimics the evolution of our universe by utilising elements inspired from science and religion.

Method

The project was accomplished by using an array of experimental techniques on After Effcts.

Style

The style starts of in 2D form and eventually transforms into a 3-Dimensional wave form.

This method is used in homage to Design Theory (point, line, plane, volume) and to exemplify the evolution of an organism.

Concept

The evolution of a living organism or planet using cymatics, science and religion as a guideline for a visual medium.

Synopsis

Several different perceptions exist pertaining to the idea of our existence. Whether religious, scientific, philosophical or theoretical, humans have always attempted to translate the world they live in through a certain lens. The project attempts to unify those ideas into a single visual narrative.

A form in the midst of a dark space collides with an alien object. The impact of the collision releases vast amounts of energy which fuses the two elements together to create different life forms. These life forms then interact with each other and construct a new planet or organism.

Method & Technique

Ink, frozen ice spheres, water and clay were the materials used. Each item (excluding clay) was filmed separately with a GoPro from different angles underwater. Wide angle shots were used in order to capture all the actions taking place within the different containers. After the footage was compiled, single shots were specifically selected and extracted.

Each file was cropped, cleaned and edited in Photoshop and then assembled into collages to illustrate the visual narrative. Hugh, Saturation and Colour Balances were altered to create the required result. All visual elements in each scene are composed solely by capturing images of real objects.

Process

Purely experimental, the project depended heavily on the law of chance and randomness since each scene was filmed without a defined outcome.

Trial and error was used in order to achieve the required footage.

Style

The narrative of the story is extremely visual. The style starts of as plain 2D and eventually transforms into 3D forms. This method is used in homage to Design Theory (point, line, plane, volume) and to exemplify the evolution of an organism.

Colours are used to code the process of the life form. Two perspectives are provided, one being an observer from the outside, and the other being the formation from the inside.

About

A series of stark and dark compositions depicting some of the problems effecting Lebanon.

Concept

Being the symbol of Lebanon, the cedar tree was used as the common denominator amongst all three collages while simultaneously serving a different purpose depending on context.

The tree was altered in each composition and was accompanied by supporting elements that reinforced the intended message.

Compositions

Figure i - "Freedom" 

Idea

Lebanese tend to seek their future abroad. Some are lucky enough to find work, while others are fortunate enough to hold a foreign passport which enables them to easily manoeuvre.

The rest of us have nowhere to go, and are a prisoners stuck in our own country. Hence the depiction of the cedar tree as a jail cell, and the word "حريه" meaning "Freedom" placed on the footer of the image.

Contextual Background

Lebanon is a country with power outages, poor and neglected infrastructure, low water supply (ironically Lebanon is abundant in water), religious segregation, political hysteria used to control the masses (embeded in religion), corruption in every sector of government and industry, bad career opportunities with low pay, high cost of living and education...the list can go on and on.

Yet people go on with their lives, party every weekend, and accept the state their country is in while continuing to omnipotently support the corrupt politicians in power.

Figure ii - "Dirty Banks: A USD Crisis" 

Idea

The capstone of the pyramid found at the back of a one dollar note is replaced with a cedar tree. 

The all seeing eye is positioned within the tree and appears momentarily to asses the situation. 

Contextual Background

Banks in Lebanon were offering people exorbitant high rates of interest for placing their money in savings accounts. This was obviously perceived as a good thing since everyone thought their money was being put to work. This eventually turned out to be a massive Ponzi scheme as the 2019 Revolution hit and everyone lost their hard earned savings.

The Lebanese Lira (L.L.) being pegged to the US Dollar, meant that the Lebanese economy depends on US Dollars. After the Revolution an economic crisis occurred (still ongoing) that changed the rate of 1,500 L.L. per 1 USD to 28,000 L.L. (at the time of writing this) per 1 USD.

Figure iii - "Xmas Gift" 

Idea

The composition has multiple layers of meaning.

Firstly, a skeleton of a cedar tree replaces the traditional Christmas tree. This represents the un-nurtured state of the country along with the many forest-fires which ravaged the mountains of that year. Fire fighters struggled to put them off because the politicians stole the money allocated for that purpose.

Secondly, barbed wire is wrapped around the tree skeleton. Like the crown of thorns placed on the head of Christ, this represents the pain and suffering inflicted on the Lebanese people.

Thirdly, a leaking tear gas canister is placed on top of the tree instead of a shooting star. This signifies the violence that riot police imposed on the protesters where hundreds of tear gas bombs and rubber bullets were shot to stop the people's voices. A situation where the government actually spends money.

Finally, a small diesel generator powering the ornamented lights is wrapped with a ribbon and placed under the tree to mimic a Christmas gift. This represents the lack of government electricity in the country which people replace with diesel fueled generators. It also signifies the full day of electricity the entire nation usually receives on Christmas from the government, hence the title of the piece - "Xmas Gift".

Contextual Background

Lebanon has daily power outages. At the time of writing this, around 21 hours of the day are without government electricity.

Businesses, homes, buildings, hospitals and factories (literally everything but street lights) receive their electricity from diesel powered engines that are either personally owned or subscribed too.

Method

A collage of images, drawings and animation assembled in Photoshop and After Effects.

Concept

A striated vase constructed and styled in the manner of eroded rock formations.

Method & Technique

The entire vase was made and cut by hand using a cutter blade.

The initial form was drawn on an orthogonal grid for proportional conformity.

The curvelinear form was then traced on cardboard and balsa wood, afterwhich it meticulously cut out to produce several pieces of the same shape.

Different thicknesses of balsa wood and cardboard were used. This was done to create a gradual gradient of appearance as the vase went higher, and to form a heavy base for the lower half of the structure.

The individual pieces of balsa and cardboard were then glued together to form solid unified elements.

These elements were then carefully attached to one another by slighty shifting their position each time to achieve a cantilevered form. 

Concept

A cocoon styled lamp shade that mimics a larva life form.

Method & Technique

A geometric grid was first drawn on a cardboard sheet. It was later scored and peeled using an exacto knife to create hinge lines.

The final form was accomplished by structurally folding the cardboard plane into place.

About

A stamp was designed with an Arabic calligraphy inscription consisting of three letters:  د (dal) - ل (lam) - أ (alif) 

Method & Technique

To create the calligraphic composition, the three letters were first drawn by hand then vectorized using Adobe Illustrator. This was then transfered into AutoCad and applied to six layers. Five of those layers were scored with the composition and a diamond criss-cross pattern.

The sixth bottom layer was etched with a series of lines (to hold the ink) and a cut-out of the composition itself. Small circular holes were cut-out of each layer and served as entry points for iron pins that held the six layers together. The components of the stamp are made of plexiglass and were laser cut.

About

A box was designed with an Arabic calligraphy inscription consisting stating:  "الحاجة أم الاختراع" meaning "Need is the mother of invention"

Method & Technique

To create the calligraphic composition, the statement was written using a calligraphy pen then transferred into AutoCad where it was traced. The box itself was designed in AutoCad and later laser cut from plexiglass. The longitudinal faces of the container display the Arabic statement, where on one side it is engraved and on the other it is cut-out.

The shorter faces are protruding wave-like facades. They were created by drawing, cutting and assembling numerous layers to one another. The entire structure is held together by iron rods that were inserted into specified holes.