Concord have started installing the new billboards, like the new mupi’s these look wayy better than the previous setup.

Thanks Ely

Architecture of Kuwait have a new article up and it’s about the Shaikh Mubarak Kiosk pictured above. The kiosk which had a lot of important and historical value was turned into a samosa shop back in the 60s with the top floor also rented out to a photographer. Now it’s been renovated and turned into a historical building that looks very similar to the original. You can read more on why this kiosk was important as well as see more pictures on the Architecture of Kuwait website [Here]

I am not a huge fan of art unless it’s something really strange or different and I think this painting fits into that category easily. Kuwaiti artisit Nawaf Al-Hmeli has two oil paintings based on two Kuwaiti horrifying mythical creatures the Tantal and Hemarat Algayla. I honestly had never heard of these two creatures but this is what the artist says about them:

Hemarat Algayla (painting pictured above)
Half Woman/Half Donkey creature which hunts children and feeds on them “ONLY” at noon when the sun is blazing hot. It used to be the elders way of preventing children from wandering about at noon and keeping them safe so they’re not subject to neither heat strokes nor kidnapping.

Tantal
Tantal is a myth created by the elders in order to keep children from going out at night and ensuring their well-being. More like the Kuwaiti version of the Boogeyman if you like. The stories coincided with the disappearance of a young boy at that time who went out to sea at night and never came back. People immediately blamed it on Mr. Tantal here and the myth grew. 20 years later, this man comes along looking for his family and told everyone his story of how he was kidnapped and sold to a Persian man as a slave when he was a kid.

I really love the artist for bringing these two mythical creatures into focus since it allows me to share it with everyone. I’m not sure if there are any more myths but if there are would love to hear about them as well. I don’t have any information on the size of the paintings or if they are for sale but you can check out the artists deviantART page [Here], the Hmarat Algayla painting by clicking [Here] and Tantal by clicking [Here]

Thanks Safaa

I was checking twitter when I noticed Sheikh Majed had posted a link to an article in Wallpaper magazine of a beautifully designed house in Kuwait called the “Secret House”. You really need to check out the pictures it looks amazing. [Link]

This logo seems familiar…

I found out about a cool website the other day called Architecture of Kuwait. The website (or maybe it’s a blog) talks about various design and architecture projects in Kuwait which I always find very interesting. My only comment is I wish they provided even more details on the projects since some of the posts just have pictures with a tiny snippet of text. It’s still very interesting so check it out [Here]

Note: The picture above is of the Al Sharqeyah School for Boys which looks amazing

Nice visualization by Brownbook. You can view the full sized poster by visiting their website [Here]

Mupi Signs are the outdoor adverts you see usually in the middle bank between two roads. I noticed they’re replacing the old tacky looking ones with the newer and I think cooler looking black versions. This should help both the ads and the roads look better.

I was at Al Bader Stationary randomly walking around when I noticed some amazingly designed Lyra brand coloring pencils called ColorStripe. I know it sounds strange.. what the hell is an amazingly designed coloring pencil? Well that’s what I thought was the best part about it, someone actually decided to redesign the coloring pencil as we know it and did such an incredible job the coloring pencils won a gold in the iF product design awards as well as a reddot design award for best of the best. These are simple coloring pencils we’re talking about here.

They look like no other pencil I had ever seen before and that’s probably because these are how coloring pencils would look like in the future except they’re here right now. I of course picked up a box right away along with a matching sharpener. Not sure what I am going to do with them but I just couldn’t resist not getting them, if anything just to say thank you to Lyra for creating something so beautiful. The box of 8 coloring pencils cost me KD2.750 while the sharpener cost me 900fils. [Link]

Someone from the Herman Miller dealer in Kuwait left a comment under my old post on the Herman Miller Aeron chairs (picture above). When I had checked the price of the chair back in February 2008 they were selling it for KD420. Now though it seems they have an offer till the end of May and they’re selling the chair for just KD270. They’re like 3 years late since I already bought a different chair back then but if you guys are interested you can call Mr Sherif on 1834222 ext 405.