Category: Design

I love the bottle! [Link]

A reader yesterday emailed me a link to a website of a Kuwaiti illustrator called Ahmed Al-Refaie. I checked out his work and was blown away so I emailed Ahmed and asking him if he could tell us a bit about himself and his illustrations and this is what he had to say:

Currently, Im about to graduate from Kuwait University “English Literature”. I don’t like it, but certain circumstances forced me to since there was no Graphic Design in KU. My name is Ahmed Al-Refaie (22) (Kuwaiti, although that does not matter, an artist is an artist no matter the origin ), my art is called vector art. I’m self-taught, never attended any art related classes. When I was 10, I started sketching, beginning of high-school I began graphic design, but this current style you see all around my website started in early 2006. Usually my art was varied in style and that is what I think of as a corrupted aspect of an artist. So I made and refined my own style. My website does not include my old works. For more technical details, I use a mouse, keyboard and Photoshop CS3 ( I always get the question “do you use a tablet?” ), just a good ol’ Apple mighty mouse. I was a bit into 3D using 3D Max but quickly lost interest as there are many giants in that field, its just not for me. That said, my work is completely raw, no pictures, filters, I do however reference body gestures (sometimes) but the image used is removed and I recreate the whole thing.

I think the guy is extremely talented and I think its about time KU setup a design department. There are a lot of talented young people and it would be sad to see them all taking random majors like English Literature or cooking just because they don’t have design.

Here is a link to his deviantART gallery [Link]
Here is a link to his personal website [Link]

There is a digital art showcase that’s being held at The Exhibition for the next two days. Here is the information I received by email:

Ugly, But Beautiful
Date: February 26-28
Time: 4PM-12AM
Location: The Exhibition

Beauty is something rational, everyone has their own taste of it. Ugliness, on the other hand, is one’s own opinion.

When you look at an image that is full of beauty and structure, you find it beautiful because you are living a structured life. You rarely see things placed randomly, as a result you say an image is ugly without knowing that ugliness has its own beauty.

That is why we can say something is ugly, but beautiful at the same time.

‘Ugly, But Beautiful’ is Remon Yousef’s means of making you see how ugliness can have its own beauty.

Remon Yousef, a Lebanese graphic designer currently working in Kuwait, will be showcasing his artwork to the public for three days only.

All artworks are for sale.

Abdullah, a reader of the blog sent me a picture of the giant wall sticker above which he took while he was in the States. The reason he sent it to me is because it looked very similar to Kuwait’s national logo (also pictured above). I wonder if a Kuwaiti living in the States remixed the logo or if Shepard Fairey (the guy behind OBEY) did it himself. He already admitted that his famous Obama Hope poster was based on a copyrighted photograph so it wouldn’t be to far fetched to think that he based this design on the Kuwaiti national logo. For those of you who don’t know anything about OBEY or Shepard Fairey, check this [Link]

I finally spotted a Banksy work while in London. I should find out where the rest of his stuff is located and go check them out live since I find this more interesting then visiting boring museums. For more details on the above work and better shots check this [Link]

I sooo want these sneakers! Only 130 pairs of these lucky-red sneakers were made and I desperately want one. I love the embroidered graphics in the red silk texture and the box with the different compartments for the different shoe laces it comes with is really cool.

I found my size on eBay but its selling for KD288! I wouldn’t mind paying that much if the sneakers somehow magically didn’t get old or dirty. But to pay that much and watch dirt and grime cover them… Check out this link for a lot more details and more pictures of the sneakers. [Link]

I can’t get enough of this. [Link]

Back in 2006 I posted about a blog called IKEA Hacker that had just launched. The blog displayed different IKEA hacks done by other people, people who took regular IKEA stuff and using their creativity turned them into unique pieces. Well two of those people are a couple living in Kuwait, Pinot and Dita. They took IKEA fabrics, cut them up and then created fantastic wall art with them. Its really cool stuff and whats even more cool is the fact they taped the whole thing and created a video presentation which you can watch below. Currently they’re voting for the IKEA hack of 2008 and they are nominated so vote for them by clicking [Here]

Now watch the video below of the making of and check out the post about them on IKEA hacker. [Link]

[YouTube]

Interesting fact, did you know that the Kuwait National Assembly was designed by the internationally known architect of the Sydney Opera House, Jørn Utzon? Jørn Utzon sadly passed away late last month on November 29th at the age of 90.

I am nearly done redecorating my house so I’ve started looking for accessories including paintings. Like everything else in my life I am looking for them online since I highly doubt I could find anything interesting here. One painter that’s recently grabbed my attention is Scot Listfield. He mostly paints astronauts, the future and even Star Wars characters like in the painting above which by the way is amazing but already sold! I emailed him asking about the price of two other paintings I found interesting, one is called McDonald’s the other Intelligent Design. If you notice both have something to do with burgers! Anyway check out his work he has some pretty cool paintings if you’re into this stuff. [Link]

I love the new look, always preferred Pepsi over Coke and now I have one more reason why. The video below is what Pepsi sent out to 25 influential people but if you want to simple take a look at the new logo and bottle designs click [Here]

This rendering is of the new Center for Knowledge and Culture in Saudi Arabia. It still hasn’t built but the design just got approved and it looks like something from the future. Hovering cars wouldn’t look out of place in this shot. [Link]

via BoingBoing

This is by far the coolest looking reusable water bottle I have seen. It goes on sale next month for $30. [Link]

This is a link to a blog post that contains 70 different business card designs. A lot of nice looking cards, my favorites are the interactive ones like the one pictured above. [Link]

A really cool photo set of soda bottles, cans and logos dating from the 60s through to the 80s. Coca Cola launched their classic bottle awhile back but someone should tell 7up to do the same thing. Their can design pictured above from the 70s is extremely funky. [Link]