> Pool Beauty Essentials

Summer heat, beach parties, inflatable donuts (!)... here we are again!
As much as I love the SSF trinity (Sea, Sun, Fun not Sacred Saint Family;-), my skin though tanned, dries quickly, my hair looks awful with chlorine and mostly I can never put anything to enhance my look except waterproof mascara... Right? WRONG!
I had the chance to work on the latest issue of Samoa Tendances and now I'm the Pool Yodaaaaaa:

 Well yes Samoa have lots of pool friendly makeup and a huge palette of colors!

So here's what you do: 

1- You read the mag online here

2- You shop the looks online on Feel22 and you get them straight to your door in 24 hours

3- You get a super discount, simply by adding my code MAYAMETNIFEEL22 !

This Velvet Lips page above is actually my favorite; It really embodies what I always say about Art Direction: be it a huge conference, a fun event, or simply art direction on a photo shoot followed by a neatly designed page, if you're doing it right you get the same adrenaline rush...

Summer 17 Tendances marks our last collaboration this year with Samoa. You must have heard of the #Samoa40andFAB campaign, the blogger collabs, the fun online management with JoesBox... We really enjoyed this opportunity and look forward to new adventures.
Till then, stay cool while you're twisting' by the pool!
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Less is More JAUNE rebranding campaign

I know I always shared sneak peeks of my work before they went public but this time, given the ultra confidentiality i could not. I waited for the shops to open and the look book to be sent!
But now we can share it with the world:-)

As you know, Rectangle Jaune has been on the market for 28 years, strong with their high end quality DNA, they shifted to a smaller name, JAUNE, in order to reach more and go global.
To embrace their new design motto "Less is more", we decided to remove the pocket label and use only the yellow threads on the second button as signature:

Fun, right?
Also we brainstormed for weeks for the best concept to explain this uplifting and came up with these films, created by myself, directed by Ghassan Koteit and produced by The Filmhouse :



And this one starring Maya from Playing With Fashion:



In a nutshell, we are saying that while we are proud of our heritage, "change is the only constant"! So we simplified our approach to be more minimalist and enhance our essential qualities, which is in the current Zeitgeist...

Above a picture from the TRENDS wardrobe: new structures and patterns, with closer cuts.

On the blue background, a picture from the ICONS classic wardrobe.

And this last one is from the ACTIVE palette, with bold colors and nautical themes.

To celebrate the new branding and to present the collections into their perfect setting, BLEU design renovated our flagship boutiques. The elegant mix of rough wood and dark steel with bright yellow convey an atmosphere of boldness & warmth, portraying perfectly the style codes of the modern gentleman.

As you see, rebranding a landmark is not an easy step and it involves every possible aspect; for instance the website Jaune.me developed by ActiveWeb follows the same "Less is More" spirit:

Which is also conveyed in the publication:

This barely sums up the works did in every field to boost this launch, but more reports and posts are coming very soon so stay tuned! ~M

> AGRAFE Conference Branding

I had the pleasure to work lately with the French Consulate in Beirut on the visual identity of their new geo-referencing app AGRAFE.

The project was launched by Mrs Cécile Longé, Consul General, as well as Mr Paoli the French Ambassador, in the in the beautiful premises of the Résidence des Pins.

Navleb created the app, I designed the logo, brochure, and all the branding in the following pictures, and printing + production was handled by the super helpful pressrilis.

As you can see, for the video presentation, we integrated a plasma screen in the giant flex banner behind Mrs Longé.

Another branding option for conferences containing more multimedia is a giant LED screen like this 14 x 4 m one we created for LFA's BIFEX last year, where you could insert the speaker's presentation, a live video cam and the twitter feed for example:

I love the work behind branding conferences because it could go from the smallest detail like a name tag to art directing the whole show, and I'm really grateful to the French Consulate for giving me this chance!

> From one season to the other: RJ minimag

This post means that I took too much weeks off from blogging, and I'm here to fix that!
I've got a lot to show you and will try to do that at least once very week.
Let's start with the new RJ catalogue for which I worked on the concept and art direction:

Warm colors, lots of blue, black and navy denim, as well as a lovely sweater collection...

Shot at Imad El Khoury Studio, Bouyouti & the Shouf Cedar Reserve.

Full Catalogue here:

> Fashionably late, RJ mini mag

Yep, was late to share this but have to have it here!
This SS 2014 season was very light and sporty, hence the tennis & pool backgrounds...

 

Creative direction: Maya Metni | Styling: Julien Abboud | Photography: Imad Khoury

 You can check the whole mag here:

> Have all trendy french fashion brands become one?

That's my impression actually!
There were these bespoke "petites marques françaises" with each its own identity, but now every time I flip through a magazine or look at billboards or shop windows, I feel they've all "united" into only One look! One pause! One haircut! (or two actually...)
I mean c'mon guys have you no imagination at all? Of course we love each one of you equally, and we LOVE your difference; I feel like I'm lecturing my little girls here...

Am I right or is that just an impression?

> 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!!!

> Pages from RJmag 10, published next week

This season we decided to stay home for summer and shoot right here in our beautiful neighborhood, Mar Mkhayel. Did you know it's one of the prettiest corners of Beirut?
We started at the charming Villa Clara hotel, then we moved to Frosty Palace, and after that, off to the magnificent stairs by Paint Up!

The second day we shot the swimwear at the sandy beach of Okaibeh, with a section about all the hand signs in Beach Volleyball...

And if you feel like a sneak peek at the making of, here you go:



And read the whole mag here:

> New Guide " Beirut Revealed " by Carole Corm

The year ended + the first month of 2013 is well on its way and I even didn't have the time to share this beautiful new guide with you!
325 rich pages by Beirut based journalist and Monocle correspondent, Carole Corm,
& Photographer Nadim Bou Habib.
A little peak at the content proves that it is not your regular basic guide, and even I, the unconditional Beiruti, found many tips!

And there are very interesting contributions about various subjects,
like Gregory Buchakjian's piece about the Beirut Art World:

And Ghassan Koteit's piece about Beirut & Film:

and last but not least ;-) a small contribution by MM ( me!) the foodie, Carole was so generous to include me in the local insights, amidst great Beirut figures like Chef Hussein Hadid, or Rabih Kayrouz to say the least, so I'm really happy and I hope you enjoy my tips!

Click here for the Daily Star's review about the guide.