Category: Design

Cozmo Entertainment will be opening Kuwait’s first Graffiti park really soon. The park will be called Cozmo Spraybox and it’s going to be located near Sultan Center Shaab. I passed by recently to check it out (which is how I ended up with a small cameo in the video above) and I really liked the idea. The space isn’t very big but the ideas they have for it is pretty interesting, basically they’re going to rend out space for artists to come graffiti and they’ll provide the spray cans and everything. For now the video above is a bit of a preview, will share more info once I get it. [YouTube]

The Kuwait Towers are now on UNESCO’s tentative list to become a World Heritage site. The first report was submitted back in May and later accepted by UNESCO in July. It’s only the first step but if it does get approved, then the Kuwait Towers will become the first modernist building in the entire Gulf region to be designated a World Heritage Site.

There are a number of reasons UNESCO found the Kuwait Towers a suitable candidate including the fact that when the Kuwait Towers was designed and built it was a complex task to allocate a big volume of water at a high level, in an elegant object and in such a delicate location. The symbolism behind the Kuwait Tower also sparked their interest, Kuwait being a barren dry desert while the Kuwait Towers representing water, the symbol of life. It’s an interesting report which you can check out [Here]

But, as many of you are aware, the Kuwait Towers are currently closed and although my investigation didn’t result in a conclusive reason to whats going on right now, I did manage to get some idea.

For a building to become a World Heritage Site it’s not an easy process involving a lot or requirements. If the Kuwait Towers does becomes a World Heritage Site then it will no longer just belong to Kuwait but it will belong to all of humanity (figuratively speaking). So if later someone in Kuwait decides they want to change the spheres from blue to gold and cover them in Swarovski crystals, they would have to get permission from UNESCO first. But, for the Kuwait Towers to become a World Heritage Site it also needs to be restored to the original state and this is where I understood the issue is.

The Kuwait Towers were undergoing an internal makeover to make the interior look more Kuwaiti. To UNESCO that means destroying the integrity of the building and UNESCO requires the interior to keep its original elements. For the Kuwait Towers to gain the World Heritage status, they now need to flip through all the old documents and photos and try to restore the Kuwait Towers interior as close as possible to the original state from railings to the carpet.

On a similar note, the Kuwait National Assembly Building which was designed by the Opera Sydney House architect Jørn Utzon was also submitted to UNESCO to become a World Heritage Site. Sadly it was rejected with the main reason being the huge ugly extension that was built adjacent to it.

For a wealth of information on the Kuwait Towers and some construction related documents, check out my favorite source [Here]

If you’ve ever been curious to know how Monstariam creates his beautiful graffiti wall check out the timelapse video below. The wall in the video was created in Shuwaikh Market for the Little Ones event that was recently held there. [YouTube]

I’ve told them to let me know of their next event before it happens that way I can post about it here in case anyone wants to take part in it.

The 2nd Street Spray Soup took place in Shuwaikh Market. Some of Kuwait’s most talented artists gathered for good conversation, an exchange of ideas and to just draw together while giving one another tips. Mogahwi Stationery, LB o J’zazz, The Kuwait Times and some of Kuwait’s best dancers Doss and C-Sick also dropped by to support the event.

[YouTube]

[YouTube]

Monstariam, Artspace and Red Bull recently teamed up to give talented artists in Kuwait a chance to win a trip to South Africa. They held a doodle art competition and the winner was chosen today and it was the doodle below by Mohamad Mayya. Mohamad will now be going to Cape Town where he will compete with other international artists for a chance to have their art put on a special edition Red Bull Can. Check out the video above on the competition.

Thanks TJC

Last week I posted about the graffiti parking lot in Salmiya that is getting demolished. They’ve been bringing it down wall by wall and every time a wall falls down a graffiti work is revealed. Today I noticed the wall pictured above that’s now left standing and I thought it looked really beautiful. It’s not a sight you see very often in Kuwait.

While I was researching for a post I found a page with old Kuwait Airways timetables dating back to 1959. According to that timetable Kuwait Airways was flying to the following destinations back then:

Abadan
Bahrain
Basra
Beirut
Bombay
Cairo
Damascus
Dhahran
Jerusalem
Karachi

I also found the image above of their fleet inside one of the timetables which I thought was very cool. Check out all the timetables [Here]

Last year Adobe stopped selling their software the traditional way and instead moved everything to their Creative Cloud where for a monthly fee you could rent their apps. Some people hated it others like me loved it because it meant instead of paying a large sum up front for their apps you could now pay a much smaller fee every month. So back in February of this year I tried to sign up to the Creative Cloud but because I was based in Kuwait, the only option I had was to go through one of the regional dealers and turns out because I was in Kuwait I couldn’t pay monthly and instead I was quoted KD175 a year. Obviously that pissed me off but there is good news.

Last week Adobe updated their Creative Cloud apps and also started offering the service in more countries including Kuwait. I signed up to their Creative Cloud a couple of days ago where for KD14 a month I have access to all their apps including their desktop and mobile ones. If you’re a student or teacher its just KD5.6 a month.

For designers who are interested, ME (Arabic support) versions of the apps are available. Once you install the Adobe Creative Cloud app on your computer go to the preferences and choose English with Arabic support as the app language and then download and install the apps. Check this help page for more info on this [Link]

If you’re into photography, Adobe have a special price on Photoshop and Lightroom, they’re giving both along with the Lightroom mobile app for just KD2.8 a month. So there really is no longer a need to pirate their apps. You’re also allowed to install the apps on two of your computers so I have them installed on my desktop and laptop which is perfect for me.

If you’re interested in signing up to the Creative Cloud follow this [Link]

Kuwait based graffiti artist Monstariam held his first Street Spray Soup event a couple of nights back and it turned out pretty successful with many of Kuwait’s most talented artists dropping by to exchange ideas and create some interesting pieces. Check out the video below of the event by TJC Films.

[YouTube]

Sarah is a 17-year-old girl who’s currently a senior at The American School of Kuwait. Her graphic design teacher enrolled her into the Adobe Youth Voices Awards and out of all the entries submitted, Sarah’s poster (pictured above) was chosen to be one of the 20 finalists which is an incredible achievement. There are a bunch of prize categories and one of them is an Audience Award where the student with the most votes wins a prize. If Sarah wins the Audience Award she will get $500 to donate to her favorite charity as well as a one year membership to Adobe’s Creative Cloud. So if you want to help Sarah win, visit this [Link]

Note: No signup is necessary to vote

A few hours ago the Central Bank of Kuwait revealed the new design of the Kuwaiti currency and a few moments ago I obtained the official images of the currency. The new Kuwaiti Dinars were designed by the famous De La Rue company in the UK. They’ve been around since 1821 and they sell high-security paper and printing technology for over 150 national currencies around the world. The new notes have plastic polymer in them making them difficult to tear as well as making them a lot more durable for day to day use.

I love the new designs and can’t wait till they go into circulation in the next couple of months. My only criticism is the lack of a KD50 note, KD20 just isn’t large enough today. Check out all the notes below.

Thanks Patrick

The Central Bank of Kuwait just released images of the newly designed Kuwaiti Dinars at a press conference a short while ago. The photo above is taken from the video presentation and clearly shows the new designs. First impression, I like them.

Thanks Asrar

Update: Another friend just sent me the below images of the new currency.

Thanks Mana3ee

I’m not a big fan of the new Central Bank of Kuwait tower (pictured above) thats being constructed across the street from Souk Sharq and after seeing the video below of how it will be lit up, I dislike it even more. The building looks really out of place with its surroundings and is just a huge ugly concrete block from the back.

[YouTube]

Thanks Ammar

I’m not sure when this happened, but NBK have finally gotten around to redesigning the online banking website. I haven’t used the website in ages and instead use their iPhone App for pretty much everything. The only reason I actually ended up going to the website was because I needed to add a new transfer beneficiary which I can’t do via the iPhone App.

The new layout of the website is a lot cleaner and more up to date looking while still keeping the graphics low like the previous version. I love it. [Link]

Shop and Ship who are known for their US forwarding mailboxes have given their website a much needed facelift. Other than the fact the website looks better it’s also a lot more organized and easier to navigate.

One new feature I noticed is the tracking page now gives you an idea on when your package will be delivered to Kuwait. This was a much needed option and I’m curious to see how accurate it is. Check out the redesigned website [Here]