A national Hero stamped

Maxime Chaya became a Lebanese Hero when he raised, for the first time in history, his country's flag to the highest point on Planet Earth- Indeed, Lebanon's foremost sportsman and climber, Maxime Chaya was the first person from his country to hoist its flag atop Everest , and he did so en route to ascending the highest mountain on every continent - the Seven Summits- while also skiing to the North and South Poles.

Avid sportsman since childhood, Chaya has been knighted twice for his achievements and got his portrait tagged on a 1000 Lebanese Lira post stamp. He was officially nominated the "SEVEN SUMMITEER" on May 15, '06 after having conquered all 7 Summits, the highest Peak on each Continent---
This is another act of gratitude from the Lebanese government, which hopefully will contribute to remind the Lebanese of Chaya's awesome achievement: a climb that was also stimulated by an urge to trigger awareness and focus on important issues, such as sustainability for a "Small Country with a Big Heart."

Reveal your Mask, Mr...

Reveal your Mask, Mr...
Originally uploaded by Sugarpoppy

A stunning airbrushed piece by a very talented fresh grad in Fine Arts, Elie Zaarour, who designed "Beat The Cancer" illustration for the Beirut Marathon Graf Space set @ The Forum De Beirut during PVD insanely hyped night.
The Graf Space was conceptualised & managed by The Communication Zone for the BMA as a spin-off of its campaign against Cancer & is only Chapter One of a bigger artsy roller coaster sort of entertainment event & art fueled activities within the MAP: the Marathon Art Playground-scheduled for Nov 26-29 in Down Town Beirut at the Marathon village.

Stay tuned for a blast off happening of street culture & urban art set to trigger meaningful interactions, creative dialogues & memorable stories all intended to highlight Beirut's Marathon mission to step down 'Haydak el Marad,' cancer that is.
All marathoners & runners are encouraging us to Run for Hope & ideally help Knock that devastating disease Down.
Let's Do IT, Let's MAP Out Cancer all together...

United colours of Lebanon

Colourful and quite unexpected taglines and designs around Lebanon, Beirut & various social issues made available on diverse products--Shirts, Mugs, Bags, Hats, Thongs, Boxer shorts, Pillows and many more Houseware & Officeware-- all put for sale by Raynbow, the Online Store founded in April 4th 2005 and powered by CafePress.

Items have been classified into categories, where you can search for designs and products 100% Lebanese, or just with an Arabic feel & lettering; there is a category titled country pride items, a quite innovative design approach to tackling social matters, also available beside more classical products filed under Fashion, clock and Lebanese model calendars-- these are cheesy items sort of-- Valentine, so on so forth...

Moreover, and the coolest part --but that is also one of Café Press interesting sides--Raynbow gives the designer, the chance to have your work exposed. If you believe you can be a part of the Raynbow team, and design awkward stuff to promote Lebanon, well feel free to submit your designs & click here. Let us know whenever your design becomes part of the peculiar yet daring Raynbow, store, would be glad to help highlighting unusual but pretty good work from Our Funky Town Lebanon, maybe the funkiest...

It is understood that Raynbow, is a non-profit store, where all the profit from sales and raised funds from donations will be used to cover the store's expenses first, whereas the rest will be donated to non-governmental organisations (NGO) working on human right issues in Lebanon.
Subsequently, by shopping at Raynbow, or by donating to the store ,you will be contributing to empowering human right movements in Lebanon.

Also, for people familiar with the ad industry in Lebanon, Raynbow site has been designed and developed by KALEIDO GRAPHICS.




Click to enlarge & view a selection by Sirdab of Raynbow best pick

Be there comrade

Four poster execution aesthetically enhanced by a great use of typography for the Beluga Bar of Mumbai's Intercontinental Hotel, India; this copy-based campaign has been conceptualised and designed by IBD Hakuhudo Percept, Mumbai.
The ads seem to target the yuppie new Indian elite who love to play the "gauche caviar" card, but with money to spend, who cares about politics!
To paraphrase the popular 80s show "lifestyles of the rich and famous" motto "Vodka wishes and caviar dreams!"

The copy reads:
"The Vodka and Caviar Evenings. From 22nd August - 30th Sept, '08.
At Beluga. Be there comrade."

Chez nous, il y a du talent...et le médiocre aussi!

Bumped into Beirut 001 --a blog from Beirut as its name indicates-- that houses some good visual communications, a witty social design sort of expression.

However, the blog seems to be dusty somehow, in the sense that the last sign of life dates back to...Hold your breath...2006.... & the owner---of what was supposed to be a space to archive some posters & postcards, made in Lebanon by Grabriel F. or whoever is behind Beirut 001---holds other blogs that ain't any active too. Whatever...It's worth a quick visit for whatever is in there...

Out of the (X)box campaign

XBox 360, the console that needs no presentation, is using ecstatic-frenetic, acid-dripped designs in a new, multi-platform Austrian campaign.
As a result, four art pieces with luscious graphics were created (A1 size posters). Additionally, the artworks are used for various forms of advertisement (Promos, ad events, campaigns, retail) within Austria.
Eric Chan (aka Eepmon) narrates on his blog, " Lets go back to several months ago. I was contacted by Thomas Kritsch, marketing director representing XBox 360 Austria who was interested in getting me on board for a collabo."

The collaboration involved XBox 360's 4 themes for their upcoming campaign that will be used throughout the rest of summer and fall of '08 in Austria. " I was given the honourable task to create the branding for XBox 360's 4 themes (Blockbuster Games, Music, Sports and Family)," explains Eepmon. "What a honour it is to be part of the XBox 360 experience. I am very pleased as how the pieces turned out. Every time I look at the 4 posters side-by-side, I look back at all the work I have put into this and to see it finally manifested into the physical brings an extreme satisfaction."

A definite out of the Xbox campaign, effervescent and jolly illustrations for one of the most must-have console games.