> HORECA 2013: Best Stand Competition

This year was HORECA's 20th anniversary and I had the pleasure and honor to be once again part of the jury of the 2nd Best Stand competition.
The members were the same as last year, but Alain Hochar (left) joined les 3 mousquetaires (left to right): Maya Metni (me!), Malek Salamé & Rana Nasr.

>I'll start with the small stand: it was a delight to see so many participants make the most of the little space and work with interesting materials or even a compilation of their own products, like MATEX-MABCO, who are providers of plastic containers for the F&B industry, our 3rd nominee in this category.

2nd nominee: Biomass, organic products, fresh & simple materials, enhanced merchandising:

And our winner, an absolute coup de coeur, Qanafar wine:

Sober presentation, simple yet nice & contrasted materials, beautiful display of wine ware, welcoming staff &... exquisite Lebanese wine!

>2nd category: Best Branded Stand

2nd prize, Barista, who captured well the sensual espresso mood:

3rd prize, Najjar, with among other products, Gio & Thea:

And our winner, Shawarmanji, where i couldn't even take a picture of the whole stand because there were so many people attracted by the beautiful branding (& smell ;-)):

> Last but not least, the best stand category:
3rd prize, Diageo for alcoholic beverages, with a "duplex" stand and even bouncers like in a real nightclub, we even had to prove we are a jury to get in ;-D

2nd prize, Cafe Abi Nasr who had a crossed ground plan with four corners, here's the Lebanese coffee side:

And the winner is, drum rollllll, ...  SOHAT water!

With a very subtle stand all in light, white and transparencies, displaying their new glass bottle, a future hit for sure:

And the souvenir picts with winners and organizers... 

Bravo to all, Mabrouk to Joumana & Randa Dammous for the 20 successful years, and good luck to all for next year!

> Born & Raised in Lebanon!

I'm very happy to share with you those latest commercials I created and directed for RECTANGLE JAUNE as they really convey all the dynamism and passion of my funky city, Beirut.
They were filmed with the stop motion technique, each requiring 165 photos for the 15 seconds.
It was very delicate to keep the model at the same place while handing him the clothes to change, and keeping a link in the wardrobe.
The idea was to show the clothing items that RJ created chronologically: in 1988 the shirt and boxer, in 1990 the pants etc... till the swimwear created last season. We are aware that this does not really show, but it was our "fil directeur".
What we wanted to show on the other hand was all the dynamism of this 25 years old brand, and the attachment that the lebanese, locally and abroad, have for it. So we asked the talented Jean-Marie Riachi to compose for us a pop rock variation of our National Anthem, and at the same time, we did not want it to be very obvious. I think he did a great job, don't you?
Once again huge thanks to Imad El Khoury, my super photographer, Julien Abboud my inspiring stylist, and all the RJ & RJmag team: you guys really rock!!!