> karim haïdar, contemporary lebanese cuisine

For a few months now, I've been working with the passionate Lebanese Chef Karim Haïdar, to create the image of his company and various restaurants. And now the website developed by NoBrand following our graphic guidelines is finally out right here!
You can have a look at Karim's Bio along with pictures of his creations, and many more...
Soon you will be also able to get a taste of his talent in Beirut at Zabad restaurant!
There's been lots of talk about Zabad, but I do assure you it's worth the wait.
The menu will feature Karim's latest delicacies, interiors have been developed by my friends at Bleu , and branding by myself as already revealed .  (Though it seems some people liked it so much they put on their portfolio... ;-) )

>Fashion shoot sneak preview: Feline Amazone

I am currently working on the new ad campaign of Julien Abboud a talented young lebanese designer... The collection is not yet online but I couldn't resist posting a few photos!
I did the art direction on shoot and Imad El Khoury did the photos...

>My road trip to South Italy...

After being so long off the blog, I thought I'd give you one exhaustive post, with lots of pics about my wanderings this summer!

Our trip started in Calabria, Cosenza to be precise, with its lovely medieval town.

North Calabria is very refreshing because you do not see many tourists,
you really feel like an explorer.

After that we moved down to Tropea, a little jewel on the Mediterranean:

...where we ate seafood pasta and spada involtini, or rolls of sworfish, miam!

And from Calabria, we were off to the Aeolian islands, starting with Lipari and Panarea,

and then to Stromboli!!! The island with the eponym volcano!

Okay at first it looks quite peaceful from afar...

Then you discover its beaches where the sand is actually lava stone...

 And suddenly at sunset, badabooomm!

Stromboli is one of the most active volcanos on the planet but its eruptions are quite small... but scary nevertheless! It is very well seen from miles away, and people actually call it "Lighthouse of the Mediterranean".

After Stromboli we continued to Mount Etna, in Sicily, yes another volcano ;-)

And more lava stone, with cute little red visitors..

In search for more peaceful surroundings, we really enjoyed the Gigliotto Agriturismo and its fruity wine...

Caltagirone village, which actually comes from the arabic قلعة الجرن which means town of the jar, and its ceramic stairs...

Then Ragusa, Modica and Noto the Baroque towns, unforgettable Syracusa, and I'll finish with these lovely pictures from The Tarot Gardens of Niki de Saint Phalle and Jean Tinguely, on our road back to Rome's airport. 

Arrivederci!

© all picts by ghassan koteit.

> Will be back in 3 weeks...

picture via N.Besserer 

>mmm.. What is that? When will it open?

Can you read the arabic?

Oooh.. and yes! I did their logo!

>Midnight in Paris et autres délices...

Well, "comme d'hab", a little round up of my quick escapade to Paris with my latest tips...

UN
To put you in the mood, do not miss Woody's latest delicacy: "Midnight in Paris". Don't know about you but I'm particularly enjoying Mr.Allen's mature films as much as his classics (or even more)! Vicky Cristina Barcelona was sexy, funny and smart and this one is an absolute delight! Just watching Owen Wilson playing "a la woody", and Adrian Brody as Dali (pict below) is pure perfection.

DEUX
Dans l'intimité des frères Caillebotte, Peintre et photographe
Musee Jaquemart-André

Very intelligent exhibition, showing from one side Martial's photos and from the other Gustave's paintings, depicting Paris' first steps into modernism...
Two regrets, my favorite painting Les raboteurs de parquet was missing, and second, the Musee is too cluttered for such an important show with so many people and.. no AC!

TROIS
Sparkling address: Point Bulles!

Did you know that one of the hidden gems of Paris is a Lebanese Chef? Karim Haidar's restaurants need no presentation but my coup de coeur this week goes to Point Bulles in St Germain's market. Magnificent champagnes and Mediterranean tapas... And click here for the latest review.

>Nathalie Khayat at BAC

Nathalie is an amazing ceramist who designs beautiful, sensual, moving pieces...
Her latest exhibition, "seeds", inspired by macro images of actual seeds, is now at Beirut Art Center. A lot is happening in Beirut right now but this is an encounter you should not miss: get in touch with her emotions, your emotions, and discover an art you do not see everyday.
More details here.

>JPG @ MBAMTL! (or: Jean Paul Gaultier au Musée des Beaux Arts de Montréal)

I lived in Montreal once and was very much into all the museum activities, and I have to say since the YSL expo (and even before) they've been doing some excellent work! Here they strike again with the most beautiful work of Jean Paul Gaultier, l'enfant terrible de la mode, 35 years of fashion. The roaring scene corsets of Madonna, Kylie, Gaga, Almodovar's cinema, Maurice Béjart's ballet...All there! So if you're in MTL this summer do not miss it! Click here for the details.

>Nikon School Lebanon

Yesterday was the launch of session 1 of Nikon School Lebanon:
Great feedback from all the attendees!
If you wanna know how to use your camera to its full capacity and take great pictures, all the details are here... You don't have to own a professional camera, any compact will do and it does not have to be a Nikon!

> We're all blues...

I was diving into the blues of the Mediterranean this Week end... A portfolio presentation for Bleu, a balad in the Jounieh bay, and Chet Baker on the radio...

>So what did you think of Jay Jay?

Jay Jay? You know, Jermanos Jermanos, the new character by Fadi Raidy, star of the Cornelli ads?? Well, personally........ I liiiiike it !!! (i mean him;-)

Seriously, not often we come across a well-thought of campaign in Lebanon:

>The billboards (will post a pict of those soon) look fresh and nice, good composition, the photos of JayJay are nicely taken and well-lit. In a jungle of ugly billboards and bad pictures this is definitely refreshing!!!

>The character and the TV ads : What can say about Fady? Well as Jessica Rabbit says: He makes me laugh!.. He depicts so well the Lebanese cliché! All his previous characters were a hit but this one is definitely my favorite. C'mon we all have an "ameurkaynayyyyyy" cousin, don't we?

So to sum it up, this is an ad to which every Lebanese relates, regardless which side of town they live in ;-) The production is well done, and the visual identity is neat too...

Bravo JayJay & Cornelli! Who's with me?

#update: look at the buzz on facebook in 30 minutes only:

#update 2: AND.. here's a pict of one of the billboards courtesy of Beirut Drive-By:

>Encore elle??

Well yes, I'm all over the media this week! Rest assured though: this doesn't happen often, I'm more of a low key "public" person ;-)
But if you'd like to know more about my work I'll be in PechaKucha Beirut Souks tonight 8pm, to talk about "my zelig path"... (?!)
And on MTV lebanon's Tahkik, Friday 10pm, to talk about the role of visual communication in Lebanese Franchise RECTANGLE JAUNE.

>PechaKucha 20x20: I will be participating on May 25, Beirut Souks!

PechaKucha Night was devised in Tokyo in February 2003 as an event for young designers to meet, network, and show their work in public. It has turned into a massive celebration, with events happening in hundreds of cities around the world, inspiring creatives worldwide. Drawing its name from the Japanese term for the sound of "chit chat", it rests on a presentation format that is based on a simple idea: 20 images x 20 seconds. It's a format that makes presentations concise, and keeps things moving at a rapid pace.
On May 25, Volume 11 will take place in Beirut Souks and if you wanna know more about my path in design and visual communication, see you there!
More here  about PK beirut and here about PK 20x20 in general.

> eye candy

Thought you'd enjoy these picts from an "eighties neon" fashion shoot a couple of years back...

> the real story behind playing cards!

It has been published a few months ago, but i just read it .. and loved it! Ralph surely knows a how to tell (and draw!) a story... If you read french, you're 11 and up, and wanna know all about hearts'n'spades, this is for you!

>new design: nikon bags

Under press right now: 2 new bags I designed for Nikon Leb. One is a lightweight recyclable yellow paper bag, and the other, inline with the I AM campaign, in more sophisticated materials.

>Welcome to RJ in the blogosphere

Welcome to RECTANGLEJAUNE in the blogosphere right here!
The new social media team (soon to be revealed) in collaboration with the visual communication manager (me) will try to keep you up with the latest trends, behind the scene news, style tips and more...
http://blog.rectanglejaune.com/

>Aida's cookies... mmmm!

Very proud to have worked on Aida's cookie pack and logo.. They taste amazing btw, soon to a shop near you!

>It's duck season!

Not so much into eating duck (well maybe some canard laqué...), more into preparing a fun table!

>my latest craze: pinterest!

I've been making moodboards for years now: on my desk, behind my desk, in my home, on my laptop, in certain folders, on my desktop, in clients files... and each time i wanted a special inspirational pict for a job or for my own use... go find it!!!!
AT LAST I'M SAVED.
Pinterest is here! A place where you can pin your collections online in as many boards as you want... and discover other people's boards from all around the world.
A world of its own, i tell you.
Click here for my boards, i've been there for barely 48 hrs so they're still small, and here for Pinterest in general...