A designer by day.

Update: As Samah has mentioned in the comments below, it seems there's another more credible syndicate for graphic designers in Lebanon. I've also received an email from them, it's in french but I'll post a part of it for your information:

Le SPGIL , fondé en 1996, réunit les professionnels des métiers suivants : Graphic Design- Illustration- Bandes Dessinées- Caricature- Animation. 
Le SPGIL a sorti ces métiers de l'ombre, les a officialisés et les a protégés de la concurrence déloyale. Les membres du SPGIL bénéficient des avantages suivants : 
- Une assistance juridique gratuite 
- Un Suivi sur les lois du copyright© 
- Un Dépôt Légal et l'Enregistrement des logos, des personnages et des mascottes 
- Des Barèmes de tarifs pour les travaux des 5 professions 
- Des Contrats types pour les 5 professions.

Grace aux efforts déployés durant 3 ans , le SPGIL est l'un des 8 syndicats fondateurs de la CAISSE MUTUELLE UNIFIEE DES ARTISTES LIBANAIS, instaurée sous le décret 7535 du 12 Février 2012.

Ainsi, tous les membres du SPGIL bénéficient des avantages supplémentaires de cette caisse mutuelle, à savoir essentiellement, l'Hospitalisation et la Retraite.

Pour votre adhésion ou pour toute autre information n'hésitez pas à nous contacter : 
e-mail: spgil96@yahoo.com 
tel/fax: 01/616771 
mobile : 03/827511

 
I've been wanting to blog about this for a while now but thought I'd do some research prior to the post. Surprisingly enough, there was little found. I even sent an email inquiring about more information but haven't received any reply yet. So without further ado, please meet The Lebanese Graphic Design Syndicate!



Good news is we now have one. Bad news is I wouldn't be so proud to join!
According to Icograda (yes, we're listed in Icograda):

The Lebanese Graphic Design Syndicate is founded in 1976, reformed and restructured in 2010 to become the only official syndicate and professional forum for graphic designers in Lebanon, certified from the Lebanese ministry of interior and remunerated from the Lebanese government.
The syndicate is assessing the quality of graphic designers while at the same time establishing a better environment for them, by tapping into the professional interests of communication designers, Creating a developed market, Enhancing the design skills and backgrounds, Design policies concerning governmental and public matters, Developing the creative climate.

Well, to tell you the truth, I've been waiting for so long to be assessed by a force as creative as the LGDS! Now I can seriously hope for a better environment for us designers.
I mean, look at that logo! I'm in love with it! I've never seen such a smart, harmonious, typographic composition portraying what our world is truly about: the labyrinth of communication! And that website! Such dreamy horizons, smooth gradients and perfect slideshows! If there's one thing I've learned as a designer it's that no website should claimed as such if it doesn't have a weather report and a calendar. Plus, you can tell how well a website is doing by how much advertising space it has. So there you go!

Nuff said. I guess I will be waiting for that email to consider joining the syndicate. If ever. And if any of you readers is already a member I would love for you to share that experience with us!

1. A good designer has no pride at all.
We designers have this "better than thou" attitude that seems to just come with the job. And when we're working on something, we get so immersed in our perfectly justifiable color palettes and obsessively kerned type, it becomes hard to look at what we're doing like total strangers. And that is essential for effective design. I made it a point to always work on a visual, leave it be for a night, then look at it the next day to find all the wrongs of the world in it. And when you don't have time to do that, another designer's point of view is all you need. And this is where your pride should leave the way to objectivity. Listen closely, discuss, you might not be convinced but still you should try. This wasn't always so easy but if you try it a couple of times and it works, then it's silly not to try it over and over again.

2. A graphic design degree is the last pre-requisite for becoming a design God.
In my working environment, we don't all come from a graphic design background. And this is the one things that has made these 4 years all the more enriching. I found this offending at first, having my work criticized by people who hadn't spent years being formed into designers. But then I found that a different point of view is always a good one. It's not what they teach you at college that makes you better. It's the osmosis of different minds and backgrounds that does. You'll find yourself back to stage one a lot of times and your pride will have to zip it here too. Because this process of re-working things is what makes you better whether you like it or not.

3. Client education rarely ever works.
Clients will always want their logos bigger, will always ask you to copy their always better competitors and you will always have to shrink your visual culture to fit theirs. This will make you hate your job. And your life. But then, out of the blue, you'll get a client that is willing to take your advice and see things your way. Forget about the others, give them what they want while keeping your design conscience as clear as possible. You don't need their stress. And quoting Baz Luhrmann: "If you succeed in doing this, tell me how!"

4. The advertising/design community is a shallow, deceitful one.
I've been to a couple of community gatherings these past years only to discover that they would be better titled masquerades. Fake smiles, even more fake praise and the whole "better than thou" thing tattooed on everybody's forehead. I'm lucky not to be working in a big agency and lucky to be surrounded by people who are exceptions to the rule.

5. You are the sole responsible for keeping your creativity alive.
Through these last years, I always felt like I was falling into some sort of routine. Even if I've seen a lot of people come and go and made it a point to learn something new from each and every one of them, 4 years can still weigh you down. But then I decided I should take matters into my own hands. Now I always venture into unknown territories when I'm working on a new project. Sometimes I even imagine myself being someone else working on it, kind of like 'what would whoever do'.  And although these trials might sometimes turn out to be a waste of time, they remain essential to keeping a fresh perspective on things. So are personal projects, personal research, freelance and everything non-design that you do outside the office. But most of all, so is giving yourself a break every now and then and not taking yourself too seriously.

6. Comic sans can be used right.
Okay no, not really. But, on a more technical note, I've learned that gradients work, that shadows make a huge difference and that the lens flare can be your friend. I've also learned that the designs you dream of doing are rarely the solution that needs to be met, that in order to convince a client you will have to work longer and harder on the preview than on the actual design. There may always be things that I will refuse to succumb to but I'm sure a day will come to prove me wrong.

So, 4 years have passed and I still can't claim that I know better who I want to be as a designer. How long the self-discovery process is supposed to last, I have no idea. Has it gone too long? Should I know by now? I'm not sure. But looking back, what I'm sure of is that I have gone from one phase to another, never lingering in one too long. And I'm just curious to see where the next phase will take me!

Teachers, lecturers, peers, everybody who's anybody will tell you that the biggest, most important step in any design project is research. And this is largely, though not undeniably, true. Back in college, I wasn't quite the online research guru that I am now. The only 2 websites that I ever ran to for help were Google images and DeviantArt. And although, looking back, I realize that my visual eye was really immature, I still made it top of my class. I didn't need endless hours online, just my concept and the little visual culture I had growing in the back of my head. Things have drastically changed now. The magic word for any Google research now is "showcase", they're everywhere and they cover EVERYTHING!
So after going from little to too much visual research, I'm realizing that I should hit the brakes again. Why, you might ask? Here's the reasoning behind it:

Anthropologists have lately revealed news about the emergence of a highly evolved branch of homo sapiens. They call it homo ophtalmus mainesthai.

This specie can be traced back to the late 19th century when the so-called graphic arts began manifesting themselves in large advertising posters by the likes of Henri Toulouse-Lautrec and Alphonse Mucha (proclaimed possible ancestors of the specie). However, some scientists presume it is more accurate to date it back the invention of movable type printing in approximately 1439 A.D. by Johannes Gutenberg.

Whichever the case, it is without doubt that the homo ophtalmus mainesthai witnessed the culmination of their evolution during the 21st century crossover, when development in computer technology was peaking (and has been peaking ever since).

In fact, the said specie has undergone a series of mutational physical changes that define it as such. Extensive studies and experiments have shown the following characteristics:

A while back I watched “Un chien andalou”, the surrealist movie produced by Luis Buñuel & Salvador Dali. The first scene of the movie shows the slitting a woman’s eye with a razor and what is called “the vitreous humour” spilling out of it. I hadn’t seen something so shocking for quite a while. Following the movie, there was a commentary by Buñuel’s son and he made a very interesting point. He said that advertising today relies mostly on the surrealist movement for its shock quality. Quite an obvious thing, but for some reason I had never thought of advertising as “surreal”.

Thinking about it, advertising in the beginning of the 20th century was concerned with simply informing the consumer about the product in the bluntest way possible. Then a shift happened and the focus became how the product made you feel. People and objects were taken out of context, creating a scene that makes no sense at all and yet creates a surrealistic reality. And you want to buy that reality. There’s nothing so interesting and new about all of this except for the historical timeline maybe. But what I really find alarming is the shock factor.

I remember when my online life started almost 10 years ago. Back then, the term “blog” wasn’t so much in use; at least I wasn’t that familiar with it. Back then, the hype was journals. The trend was to keep online diaries, to share everyday life with friends and strangers alike. It’s true, some stuck to the direct meaning of a diary, while others broadened it through photo galleries, links and more general entries. Yet still “blogging” as we know it today wasn’t really “in”. Now the blogosphere keeps growing exponentially. It isn’t just about personal opinions and interests; it’s about exposure, being present on the web. It’s a must for every marketing strategy, for every starting business. Whatever your favorite topic, you’ll find a blog about it. That is why I always find myself wondering about whether to blog or not to blog.