noella // craves

365 - BilArabi

2012-02-13T12:04:00.001+04:00

I just came across this lovely set of calendars - it's very hard to find good arabic typography design, but I can definitely say this set of posters will keep me satisfied for about hmm 10 more months.
Representing the main character for each month in a contemporary arabic design, Mohamed Labib illustrated them with an added humour of original egyptian slang that reflects their monthly insights (excuse my literal egyptian arabic - english translation, it sounds a bit off).

love the color combination at work here

{February} stay modest

{March} give your mother a call

{April} stop lying

{June} give yourself a break

{Augustl} seriously, same as every year?

{September} don't go over the bridge

{December} bring down the winter

Poster designs by: Mohamed Labib

{July} don't forget your swimming gear

Under the stars

2012-01-25T15:59:00.002+04:00

Wait. Did I actually stop procrastinating and finally do something I've been planning and wishing and listing to do for like ever. Yay me! I'm definitely liking the new year me. On the 14th of January, outdoor movie night was officially scheduled in. And for once the weather tolerated with us, we had a cool 20°C weather and polka-dotted starry night. I can totally see this making its way into my calendar every other week. But the hardest part was choosing the movie, seriously, we even ended up watching something else other than our first choice (we were going for a french movie night but then turned into a romcom).

the set-up: I went for a cosy-buried-under-layers-of-cushions-and-blankets look... it was a bit of a challenge trying to squeeze all the mattresses and beanbags without tripping into the pool. And my baby brother warming up the beanbags

strawberry cheesecake cupcakes for desserts; personalized french themed coffee cups with hot chai karak (oh well at least the cups were still french); the movie projected on the wall

a little bit of candles and junk to set the mood

Once Upon A December

2011-12-28T20:34:00.000+04:00

Can you believe we are already on the last days of December. This year certainly had its bittersweet moments, but December has proven to be the sweetest. There's something special with this month; the smell of barbeque in the air, spontaneous trips to the desert with family, outdoors gatherings, hot mugs of chai in the afternoon; it's definitely one of my favourite times of the year. My mind usually starts to wander and flutter as soon as the temperature drops below 30C, with plans of outdoor parties, afternoon teas and bike rides around the park. But then soon enough, we're aleady heading into June and barracading ourselves indoors away from the killer heat and humidity, and what is left of all my parties are just a figment of my imagination. So to add on to the list is this awesome outdoor movie night for a 13 year old birthday party, . I just love all the details and the colour scheme, and look it has a vintage vibe too (it's like it's calling me to do it). Let's hope this time around one of my December wishlists becomes a reality.

Yes, that is a 13 layer chocolate pancake cake.. and doesn't those movie reels just go perfectly with the theme

I am in love with those huge balloons, can I have one please?

film reel inspired party invitation

Images via: www.hostessblog.com

Arabic Kitsch

2011-12-08T19:24:00.000+04:00

There's a wall in my studio just begging for this artwork to hang in it's place. There's just something so fascinating with painted Arabic graphics, and certainly does bring back memories for 90's babies.

image via: www.sauceloves.com

{Little Peanut} baby shower

2011-09-28T00:42:00.004+04:00

Back in June, my sister and I planned one of our closest friends a baby shower for her first baby. Her due date was smack in the middle of June, and well our summer plans meant we wouldn't be in the country when she delivers. So one thing lead to another and we decided to throw her a shower. Of course, she had to make it harder on us and keep the gender a secret (well we knew, but the rest of the party didnt' and she wanted to keep it that way). So no boy or girl, she called her baby 'Little Peanut'. And being designers, we ran with that as our inspiration for the baby shower theme.

pastel coloured baby shower invite

At the entry, we created a baby guest book table, that's my pretty vintage typewriter my sister got me from a Venice flea market, for people to write darling sweet letters to baby peanut. That long essay of a letter tucked into the typewriter is my homeage to baby peanut. I do tend to get lost in words, but it's rather sweet I must say.

Baby themed table; my cherished olivetti typewriter (need to get me some black ink asap), a baby guest book, mini cupcakes in a mini jell-bar (isn't it just adorable), a 'guess how many peanuts are in the bottle' game, snippets of baby pictures of the soon-to-be mom and dad, and strawberry, plain and chocolate milk in mini bottles

We found it really difficult to find a nice baby guest book. But in the end we decided to undertake a mini DIY project. We got a pretty photo album cover, after some cutting punching and threading, replaced the photo sheets with thick bristol paper, and tada one baby guest book done. Going with the peanuts theme, we filled a big drinking bottle with peanuts for the guests to guess the number of peanuts inside. Boy, people really underestimated how many peanuts could fit in this thing.

The set-up for the tables were basically divided into colors. Mini water bottles were wrapped with the invitation artwork and each table were decorated with a jar of more peanuts and a empty jar with 'Name the peanut' label to help with name suggestions for the parents. Don't you just love those purple and green striped cones, and look the tabs close as a heart shape. Wondering what's filled inside these cones, well could it get any 'nuttier' (quite lame I know, but it was begging me to, anyway it's stuffed with a mixed assortment of nuts if you were still wondering). We made personalised baby themed crosswords as a tension breaker at the start of the party when people are just arriving and get those awkward mini conversations. And it was the best idea ever! Everyone was so into their crossword with people actually finishing it all, mind you the clues were pretty hard.

personalised ABC cubes spelling Peanuts, while each table had a frame with a baby picture of the future mom or dad

mini baby themed decorated cupcakes; just look at those baby shoes and that adorable baby face. Some other peanut treats including peanut butter cookies and peanut butter and rise krispie crunchies, and did you notice some peanuts creeping here and there, They're everywhere I tell you.

We had maybe around 8 games planned, we started with Measuring Mummy. Each group had a piece of ribbon that they would cut to the length of mummy's tummy, a fun, quick and probably not the best way to start the day, especially with mommy already in stress about how fat she looks. We then had Baby Pictionary (drawing out baby words for the team to guess such as diaper, projectile vomiting <-- sister's idea), Baby Trivia that we projected onto the wall, followed with an extremely fun Guess the Baby Celebrity game where we projected pictures of celebrities when they were kids and then each team had to guess who that famous person was. I think everyone was dumbfounded when we put a photo of young Maryln Manson. Next was a game for all the artists there, to design a onesie for baby peanut.

I guess most of them caught the peanut fever, but aren't they so adorable, a lovely keepsake for sure!

Our last game was a challenge, the Ultimate Mommy Challenge obstacle race, one hell of an adrenaline-rush game. Contents: a baby, a bucket, a piece of rope, a diaper, a bottle and a onesie, and a paper tucked in the bottle containing a cherades clue to act out. Long story short, some of those girls have game, so competitive and they sure can run in heels!

Baby Jeremy in the Ultimate Mommy Challenge

All in all, it was an amazing day with lots of laughter fun, games and peanuts! One table actually finished most of the peanuts in the jar from their table haha. But oh how my poor feet ached, one 90mins massage was certainly what my body was begging for.

pretty wrapped presents for the winners

Cake pops for giveaways. Don't mind my scribbled writing, I had less than 1second to get this done before the guests arrived

Update: On June 18th, the most gorgeous baby girl was born. We had just travelled 2 days before so I had to wait a whole month before I saw this little princess.

UAE Chronicled; A street's Tale {St. 24}

2011-08-05T23:13:00.004+04:00

One of the other projects that I was working on before the summer back in May, was a graphically designed set of notebooks aimed to revisualise the country's urban sprawls. That's right, going to back my design roots, I collaborated with my colleague Bushra on creating a collection of products under the series 'UAE Chronicled'.

As I designer, I found that urban spaces and their experiences are an interesting and yet practical subject matter to represent. The project's first phase is dedicated to documenting Al Satwa, Dubai. One of the bustling areas of Dubai, Al Satwa is a far cry from Dubai's glitzy lifestyle, a community comprising of high density retail outlets; of fabric stores, tailors, cafeteria's and furniture shops.

The process of it all, hours under the scorching sun taking snapshots of every single detail in and around Satwa.

Intricately designed doors in bursting colors around Satwa

Blaring neon signs from every shop and store

Rundown sofa's on the sidewalk of houses

created an icon to use as a pattern for 'Satwa'. Our inspiration; the doors

Satwa is a very convenient area in Dubai, it hosts a large array of products and services. There is actually very little that you wouldn't be able to find in Satwa, yet there are no directories or maps of the area. A Street's Tale; Street 24 is a range of notebook designs depicting a visual narrative of Al Satwa, and most importantly incorporates a colour coded directory of the retail spaces. Al Satwa is basically one long curved street (Street 24) with rows of narrow buildings on either side, small shops and stores tucked around every corner.

So anyone in Dubai looking for some polka dot fabrics or hidden gems, head on to The Ara Gallery, email or comment to purchase a notebook for yourself. Believe me, once your in Satwa, the chaotic of it all can really get to you (so will our Sun), so having a directory will do wonders in getting you around. Here's a few pictures from the launch and the notebooks at The Ara Gallery.

Check out our blog www.tumblr.com/uaechronicled and follow @UAEChronicled for updates on the project and upcoming products. Would love to hear your comments or any thoughts you have.

Have a great day, and Ramadan Kareem to all.

Bits & Bobs

2011-08-01T22:35:00.001+04:00

It's been a week now and there are still traces of my holiday scattered across the room. I tend to get a bit distracted when it comes to unpacking, rearranging and cleaning out my whole wardrobe. Most of the time I do it in steps; create huge piles on the floor, take a break, sift through one of the piles for a few minutes, take another break, stare at the mountain of things accumulating ontop of the bed and magically wish they would disappear to their right places. It's pretty exhausting I tell you, my system that is, but I've come to terms with it.
Though I'm sure if I had these pretty items from Present & Correct to organise my random collections and my day.

for all things small and button-y

Office in a jar; I wish I could fit everything I need inside a jar as compact as this

The travel envelope; the perfect accessory to carry all your loose papers

If only all the random objects lying around would magically compose itself to this beautiful artpiece

images via; Present & Correct

Summer time

2011-06-24T01:53:00.002+04:00

So I'm packing my too-small-to-fit-everything-but-damn-this-is-one-heavy suitcase, and I thought I needed a break from all that folding and rolling, so I decided to pop in a bit for a post. Yes, summer is here and that only means one thing. Travelling. My other love besides eating, daydreaming, designing, sleeping...

So on the subject of travelling, here are some typographic logotypes for the destinations I will be jetting off to in 24 hours. Have a great summer.

Fine dining and extremely fine shopping.. in New York, New York!

All ready to hit Miami, the Carribean & Florida with my sunblock & sunnies

Cambridge is close to London yeah? I was never good at Geography

And Part 2 of last post's story will be coming up after the break :)

Images via: www.albinholmqvist.com

Art in the City

2011-06-21T18:32:00.001+04:00

I held off writing about this until everything was in picture perfect place. And now that I'm sitting here with my legs perfectly cosied up on the worktable and my sleeping patterns in tact, it's time to unveil what I have been designing, planning and cooped up in my studio for endless hours on this last month. May certainly did take its time to pass, but I'm not complaining, when you have a deadline you always beg for a few extra hours in the day.

There are two parts to this story (sounds intriguing, doesn't it :P). Ok, let me just get on with it then. As a graphic designer, I have always still loved to produce artworks. Get that canvas out and start splashing wildly away. I wish. I'm more of a detailed person, very micro in my works. While in university, I had taken a printmaking course, and I had started working on creating artworks on a theme around the old area of Dubai, Bastakiya, where my grandparents had lived. Back then, with no AC's (and living in a desert you can imagine how hot it can get), I was fascinated about how they used to live; in summer time when it would get hot, they would hoist up their mattresses and sleep on the rooftops. Their windtower houses, a funcionally built architecture that would capture the wind through the narrow slits in the box-like structure, and drive it within, cooling the interior and its inhabitants.

After university, I had always wanted to continue working on this theme, and I saw my chance when The Ara Gallery posted a call for an Emirati artist exhibition representing the UAE from their perspective. And here I am now, 2 weeks after the launch of the exhibition, breathing a sigh of relief and delight as my artworks have finally come to life on paper.

"Once upon a time" a reflection of Bastakiya's Windtower houses

a detailed look; the arabic type inteprets to 'once upon a time'

"Across the times" their means of living, on board Dhows and Abra's

"Endless Strides" their means of transport, across the harsh sandy dunes

"A moment" a blurred memory, captured to be preserved

Another Emirati artist exhibiting her artworks was Aljoud Lootah, the designer behind the successful fashion brand Niftee (www.niftee.ae). I really loved her works, depicting elements from the Emirati traditional gold jewellery blended with Arabic calligraphy to create a piece of art.

Hollywood in Pearls

2011-06-08T16:05:00.001+04:00

So I started this post 2 months ago and then I seriously don't know what happened, and how we are now two months later. But I'm back and you can all rest assured I'm here to stay, sorry for giving you a fright there :P And on to my much delayed post:

Pearls, crystals and more bling. Last month, was pretty much packed with events, galleries and art weeks. I have just downloaded the images from my pathetic camera so I can finally blog about what I have been up to in March (other than munching on delicious finger foods to tea parties may I add, they suddenly sprung up out of nowhere and I've been stuffing myself with macarons, salmon rolls and biscuits).

Leila Marashi, owner of fashion label Sugar Vintage, recently collaborated with S*uce boutique to unveil her first artwork collection "The turathi-pop collection". Inspired by Hollywood sirens and famous faces, Leila added a whole new bling makeover plus an Arabian touch to these icons, leaving me starry-eyed with all those crystal encrusted artworks.

Pearl encrusted Chanel perfume

Arabic jewellery adorning the ever classic Audrey Hepburn

In detail

Beyonce in a traditional Burqa worn by old women and henna

Dihn Ood; small Arabic perfume bottles

the queen dressed in pearls

another perfume bottle dressed to impress

Miss Mona Lisa

We're all mad!

2011-03-16T17:26:00.001+04:00

March couldn't have started with a more perfect way. This weekend I was in bliss.. or more like a Mad Hatter's tea party bliss...

"Don't be late for a very important date on the 12th of March. By order of the Royal Queen of Hearts, you are hereby summoned to attend our Jumeira Wonderland, and celebrate our day of madness with tea and goodies. Wear your fanciest hats and dress to impress the Queens. Respond to the queen by 10th of March or it's Off with your heads!"

With this super cute invite, I couldn't wait for Saturday to come. And it was worth my over-excited anticipation, the whole place was swarming with Alice and tea goodness and it was madly magical! It was incredible.. and having friends that are up for anything crazy that gets thrown at them makes it all the better.

A wonderful floral wonderland

Something magical is going on here

quirky Alice in Wonderland themed cupcakes

would you like a teacup with that?

pastries, cheesecakes and scones (yummy)

my very own feather to mark my spot

what's a mad hatter tea party without a few hats {1st place winner}

my cousin's crazy top hat {won 2nd place}

Doesn't it look lovely, all the colors and details and the whole fun of it all. Makes me want to throw a tea party now... Well one of these days (I hope).

Pop Art gone Arabic

2011-02-13T16:31:00.001+04:00

While I was shopping and lusting away in the vintage Bambah Boutique, I came upon two enormous pop art canvas paintings. Corinne Martins, the artist behind those paintings, goes back to her Middle Eastern roots and explores the themes of Arabic popular culture. Can I just say, my wishlist got a teeny tiny bit longer.

Coca-Cola :: Tide

Pringles :: Crash

Notice the old 'Pepsi-Cola' crate holding the Miranda bottles <3

Pepsi; there's something about arabic type that makes my heart tingle

www.corinnemartin.com

Vintage haven {Bambah Boutique}

2011-02-03T14:56:00.002+04:00

You probably figured out I love vintage.. I really do.. I am one of those people who's heart gets all jittery and fluttery at the sight of a typewriter or an old neon sign. Dubai is full of boutiques but none of those vintage, that is until the charming Maha Rasheed opened up 'Bambah Boutique' a one of a kind vintage store. Bursting with character and old style decor, it was love at first sight. Sequins, bows, dresses, florals, metallic, there's everything you've ever dreamed of, including a clock with arabic numbers that works anti-clockwise!

{Bambah Boutique} bambah:: an Arabic word for pink

Charming decor with homemade scones and tea

My new found love, the Arabic clock {5:47}

My favorite corner, really loving the mint colored walls

The gorgeous 50's wall

I'm a proud owner of a tunic black dress from the LBD rail

"Old Fashion is the new fashion" and I totally agree.
A snapshot from their lovely website www.bambah.com

{The metal wire on the left spells out Bambah in Arabic, بمبة , such a sweet detail}

Photo credits: FiveFive Fabulous

Fashion Gossip

365 Days

2011-01-13T13:13:00.003+04:00

Can you believe we are already halfway into the first month of 2011! And I still haven't gotten me a calendar for the new year, that's already 13 days of unwritten mini stories. One of the things I love about starting a new year is the search for the ultimate journal. I love writing. Or more so, I have a memory of a goldfish so I need to constantly write down my everyday adventures (not that going to the gym, or strolling down the beach may count as being adventurous). But I digress. My favourite part is rubbing my fingers over the back of papers and feeling the marks made from my pen, it reminds me of school days where I would scribble and scrawl all sorts of little drawings on the edges of my arabic books. Some serious doodle masterpieces were created back then, unlike today where everything is digital. For me, keeping a journal each year is more than just counting down the days, it's to document my life, my thoughts and my doodles :)

So when I came across Design Sponge's vintage postcard calendar journal, I knew it was the one. I mean, can you imagine how many stories could be written over the years. And the best part is if you run out of writing space (which I'm sure I would) you can just keep on adding more papers as you go on. Plus, it's so pretty with all those postcards popping in between each month. Brilliant!

a novel a day

On an unrelated topic, I found these mysterious letters a while ago and couldn't get it out of my mind. What a cool idea. I wish I was one of their neighbors. Lenka and Michael have sought out to sending out handwritten letters to everyone in the world, and they started with sending a letter to each of the 467 households in the small Irish village of Cushendall. I wish I lived in their neighborhood. I mean, who wouldn't want a personalised handwritten letter of their own. And their stuff is hilarious, I hope my writing would be as funny and spontaneous as them one day.

mysterious letters

So & Sew

2010-12-14T14:00:00.001+04:00

Chocolate chip icecream punctuated with drops of rainbows, tea parties and dreamy photos; these are exactly what appeal to me this time of year. Quick, hearty and satisfying. So when I came across these images of local designer, Hind Abdulrazzaq's Spring 2010 collection of 'So & Sew', I was in winter heaven. Here is where both fashion and interior merge to create one powerful design collection... oh be still my beating heart <3 (Is it just me, or there seems to be an Alice in Wonderland vibe in the images below.. yes? no?)

one; there's a potion that can make you shrink

two; and a cake that can make you grow

three; animals that can talk

four; Alice, cats can disappear

five; there's a place called wonderland

{noella designs} Tea Before Noon identity

2010-11-28T21:15:00.005+04:00

Wow, I can't believe it's been a year since I started this blog (as usual I missed my blog-birthday), of course I've pretty much slacked off in some months and mysteriously disappeared in others, however I love being part of this blogging world and being able to both share designs from my side of the world and equally get inspired by others, not to mention the wonderful and creative people I've met :)

Well, I just realised that I never showed you any of my design works, so what better way than to celebrate my 1 year with a little bit of me and my designs.

A month before travelling this summer, I was approached by a client to work on an identity for her. She came to me with a name, and it's product 'Tea Before Noon' 'Chai al Doha' - a bilingual (Arabic and English) magazine and directory for businesses by women to women in the United Arab Emirates. I got blessed with such a sweet client who was open to try out different methods and ideas and it was heaven working with her. Just from the name I loved it from the start, and my head was already overflowing with ideas, but what I loved more was the role this magazine would play; in acknowledging the importance of women in the UAE, be it business women, young entrepreneurs, sit-at-home mothers or students and aiming to promote their achievements through articles, interviews, notices and features in this quarterly magazine.

As I was saying it was a hectic month before summer, and there was so much to do in so little time. So with the name in hand, I pulled out my notebook and began sketching and drawing, noting down all the visual language I could get from the notion of tea; from the form of the arabic teacup (estikanah) that is present in every Emirati household to the color palette of tea.

Tea Before Noon {Chai al Doha} Logo

Created a system of icons from the teacup form for the different sections in the magazine

{ Kids | Health | Lifestyle | Fashion | Food | Culture | Art | Beauty }

Pattern Designs for the divisions within the magazine - Beauty, Fashion, Art, Food sections

Going with the tea theme, related each section with a kind of tea, such as Beauty :: White Tea.

The identity translated into the website splash page and main pages

www.teabeforenoon.ae

Ramadan Card

The Package Exchange

2010-10-28T18:00:00.002+04:00

I'm home. My suitcase is unpacked. Sunshine rays are finding their way back into my small corridor-cum-studio, and the avalanche of series is stuffed in the harddrive waiting for nighttime for me to settle comfortably under my duvet and watch them. Travel time from Bangkok, Thailand to Dubai: 7 hours. Okay... so this isn't exactly today, this was my situation back in August, almost 3 months ago, coming back from my summer holiday with the family from Bangkok, Hua Hin and HongKong; the perfect getaway retreat... but oh how I miss it. It was three weeks of shopping, eating, relaxing, adventure and fun, fun, fun! But that's for another post.

Now I want to rewind back to those last hectic weeks before travelling, way back in June. (sorry for the time travelling here, you will have to get used to it in my blog :P) It was a constant battle between freelance work, family gatherings, last minute shopping, and The Package Exchange. I had read about it on Cupcake Couture's blog and immediately sent her an email to be a part of this exciting swap. I got paired up with the sweetest, funniest, and oh so lovely Australian, Sharni Valle of The Pieces . Now being a designer I like to brainstorm and be conceptual, so after plenty of emails back and forth I learnt that Sharni was in fact an adventurous girl, with a love of floral patterns, music (especially mixed-tapes), and the great outdoors. So I began doodling and scribbling in my little notebook trying to think of the perfect thing to package, and at the end, I came up with
{Sharni's Camp Kit :: 8 vital things a girl needs to have to survive in the outdoors }

CONTENT OF THE CAMP KIT:

{Mix-tape Book} for when a song, lyric, or thought pops into your head

{Sewing tools} for when a needle and thread might come in handy

{Pocket Mirror} for when no-one tells you that you have a piece of spinach stuck in your teeth

{Safety Matches} for when rubbing wood together doesn't do the trick

{Plaster} for when everything seems to be going wrong, & a plaster heels it all

{Mini Jelly Hamburger} for when all you need is a burger

{Wooden Cutlery set} for when using your hands just doesn't do it anymore

{Earrings} for when the tough gets tougher and a little bit of jewellery keeps you going

{Mix-tape Book} I handmade this tiny notebook using the cover of an actual tape

In the making of: Cover - painted and adorned with floral designs, the Inside Cover, and the Back Cover

All stitched up and ready to be sent

{Sewing kit} Buttons, needles, threads and various knick knacks

{Earrings} Fashioned this cute origami shirt packaging and tucked the earrings inside (going with the clothing theme here)

{Pocket Mirror} Leaf patterned mirror pocket with my scribbly hand-written note

Stardust September

2010-09-29T23:13:00.003+04:00

September, you have come and gone in a blink of an eye. No wonder I keep on lagging behind blog posts, I close my eyes and a whole 2 months has gone by. But alas September, you did good - or better you were great for me, my own special month; we celebrated Ramadan, Eid, and my Birthday! It was a beautiful and blessed month, filled with lots of family gatherings, peace, religion, traditions, and laughs. The night literally was young, curfews were extended, tents were camped, lanterns aglow, cards were decked, and let me not start with the food. This was the time when all the girls worked out their chef hats to master each others delicacies... and of course the traditional sweets and food that has not been good to my waistline. Oh I'm already missing it. September do come back!

recycled candle-lit lanterns {fanoos}

Midnight tent

Second image: via ohhellofriend

Love me if you {dare}

2010-06-26T13:30:00.005+04:00

A scene from the magical movie 'Love me if you dare'

Have you ever watched a movie that is truly brilliant and you feel genius for discovering it. Well last weekend, I went over to my cousins house to watch a movie, and little did I know that that night my dreams were going to be filled with the magical romance I witnessed between Sophie (Marion Cottilard) and Julian (Guillame Canet) in the wonderful romantic French movie 'Love me if you dare'. What a fantastic story and movie by Yann Samuel, that enchants, frustrates and ultimately dares you to love it. It has that little bit of French quirkiness that I adore in a contemporary fairy-tale style using such captivating visuals (if you've seen Amelie you'll know what I'm talking about)

I for one don't watch movie trailers, and hate it even more when people spoil parts of it on me. I love to go to a movie blindfolded and watch with no expectations at all, so as to not build up a film too much and then get disappointed afterwards. So all I will say is get your hands on this movie and watch it, meanwhile I will lose myself in the rich colors, romance and mood of these photos inspired by the movie, and fantasize I am the lead star in a French fairy-tale story. Oh Sophie and Julien.. you made my heart beat!

Vibrant hued shots from a recent photoshoot collaboration with Luis Vuitton and Emirati photographer Lamya Gargash

Aqua-toned shots from Forever 21 lookbook

Into the wild

2010-06-11T14:25:00.002+04:00

A couple of days ago it was my younger sister's birthday, and as tradition, I conjured up a mini treasure hunt with clues hidden in various places around the house for her to find her presents. Each paper had a riddle for her to locate where the next clue was hidden, until it lead her to her treasure prize. I have no idea when and how it started, but every year I love to think up of crazy places to hide, more complex riddles, or even creating a crazy twist to the game. And the look and huge thrill in her face as she runs from one end of the garden/house to the other, reading out loud the clues to the family, with everyone joining in to help her find it. Or perhaps it's my lust for all things wild... I sometimes dream the possibility of being lost in the great outdoors, making my own treehouse from wooden scraps and findings, and spending my days swinging carelessly on my rope swing.

images via: Tea for Joy , Mimi Charmante , Flufflefritz , Liebemarlene vintage

Floral Tea's

2010-05-27T18:46:00.003+04:00

Nothing gets my heart beating than a lovely arrangement of pastel flowers in tea tins. I'm not a tea person, but pair some sweet florals with vintage cup-ware and I'm in love. Now where did my pruning shears go..

images:: heyzee , bijou kaleidoscope

Art on wheels

2010-05-19T21:13:00.003+04:00

I am a huge fan of skateboarders out there riding the rails and grinding their way over the city. Unfortunately, Dubai is still young and it's street culture of skateboarding is still in its initial stages, with very few skate-parks around the city. Which is why when Wafa Al Maktoum, director of FN Designs, took the next step by curating the first skateboard art exhibition in the region 'Fakie', I was more than thrilled to go and check it out. Too bad there were no skateboarders grinding their stuff during the launch .

{Khalid Mezaina} Bring the sword & axe

Of all the works, I loved his the most, those bold primary colors sure triggers something in me!
His concept is based on a combination of the urban world of skating and traditional UAE folklore.

{Janet Belleto} Mille-mare (a million seas)

Janet's designs are inspired by her continued exploration of underwater worlds as well as animal and sea creature illustrations.

{Mohammed Al Shaibani}

Music doesn't lie. If there's something to be changed in this world, then it can only happen through music

Admiring the artistic illustration and composition that went into this design. Mohammed pays homage to the 'grooviest' dude out there, a great man who once spoke through his music - Jimi Hendrix.

{Eyan Lomuntad} Right here. Right Now!

I love the description of this piece. Remember those Fruitella chewy candies? This is how it feels like! Word!

{Lateefa Bint Maktoum Al Maktoum} Lazer Flip

This was by far the most unique and conceptual skate design at the exhibition, the image engraved directly onto the original wooden surface. Of her design, Lateefa related a skater's tricks and movements as birds about to take flight. With that in mind, she wanted it to be playful, yet still referencing the roots of skateboarding, hence a surfer.

{Darwin Guevarra} Face to Face Basis

Drawing straight onto the board, Darwin's freehand quirky illustrations are just too cool.

{noella craves} arabic movie posters

2010-05-13T18:54:00.002+04:00

Seeing that it's already the 13th of the month, here comes another {noella craves} post, featuring my latest obsession for this month. I don't know if it's the city girl in me living in modern Dubai lusting for some rustic and vintage-ness, but I have been preoccupied with drooling over these loverly old movie posters. Be it the hand illustrated titles, painted portraits or the bold primary colors, these posters are craving to be framed and hung on my bedroom wall, or in the below case, stuffed with tissues.

Saudi designer Ayman Daydaban creates a collage of tissue boxes adorned with classic Arabic film posters from the 1940s-50s.

Classic Arabic posters found via thunder-lulled

Clutch me

2010-05-09T22:39:00.007+04:00

Look at these lovely arm candies by Sarah's Bag found over on Dia Boutique too bad I'm not a clutch person or else I probably would have stocked my cupboard with one of each design. The graphics and retro colors makes these clutches one fashionable art piece.. and me super envious.

Egyptian singer 'Umm Kalthoum'

Vintage arabic Pepsi bottles

Lebanese singer and actress 'Sabah' in rainbow

Collage of old Egyptian movie posters

Wrapped, sealed, delivered.. I'm yours!

2010-04-30T13:39:00.001+04:00

Oh how I wish all packaging would look as vintage and kitsch as these.. just look at the typography, the images and the colors on these Iranian products (swooon). It would certainly make grocery buying a whole lot easier. I'm definitely one of those people who would pick up any store products just because of how pretty they look, I guess it's the graphic designer in me!

(found via n; is for noon)

{noella craves}: Alice in Arabian Wonderland

2010-04-21T13:13:00.004+04:00

Every 13th of the month (of course today is supposedly the 13th), I will have a {noella craves} post, which will give you a little peek of my recent obsessions and cravings for the month. And to start it off, it's none other than the lovely 'Alice in Wonderland'. It's been popping around the blog world for months now, and with Tim Burton's new movie, Alice and Tea's have been sweeping us off our hard back chairs and longing for garden tea parties, alice photoshoots and deliciously cute teacup sets.

S*uce, a lovely fashion boutique in Dubai, recently collaborated with Harper's Bazaar Arabia magazine to be part of a photoshoot based on Alice in Wonderland, featuring the region's most quirky creatives as characters in this ultimate fairytale.
(www.shopatsauce.com) (www.harpersbazaararabia.com)

Amanda Gideon of 'Bow' is the doormouse, ready to pounce on an unsuspecting Alice

Tima Ouzdan, designer of Dju Dju, throws a rocking Mad Hatter's party

The real Jake & Gigi swap sparkles for stripes as Tweedledum and Tweedledee

Yes Your Majesty. 'Bil Arabi' jewelery creator, Nadine Kanso, plays a winning hand as the regal White Queen

Using her way with words to lure Alice onto the psychiatrist's couch is the queen of hearts, 'By Sophie's', Joumana Haj Ali

Who... are... you..? Designer Shrekhanth exhales shisha-smoking caterpillar philosophy

She Draws, an equally lovely blog belonging to Laura, creates the most exquisite and utterly cute illustrations of tea parties and cupcakes into buttons. I can't wait to the day I own a set of her delicious cupcake and tea cups buttons.
(www.drawglueglittermake.blogspot.com)

My Best Friends Wedding

2010-04-05T14:32:00.005+04:00

I think it's finally safe to say that spring has arrived (we had a freak 42C last week) the weather seems to be tolerating for once, with cool breezes, chirping birds and everlasting sunshine (though that has never been an issue!).
This post is kind-of late, I was really planning on posting earlier but things have been busy here trying to find a dress for my other cousin's wedding which is next week, I've also resorted to searching online but no luck - does anyone know of any good sites with long evening dresses??

Anyways, so the wedding.. it was a dream, and time just flew by so fast, the whole week was a celebration!

:: Sunday - We threw her a Bachelorette party that was crazy fun.. we started with karaoke, then went on to play such entertaining bachelorette-style games (sorry, can't go into details here :P). We also got her a red lips pinata that took forever to break open, probably because she was blindfolded and we kept on giving her wrong instructions, a themed decorated cake, and lots of gifts. My sister and I put the gifts inside boxes which we decorated with lace, pearls and heart-shaped doilies. Each box was a theme (ie. flirty, wife-y) which we typed out using the label maker. Here's a sneak peak below of the gift boxes we decorated.

:: Monday - Henna Night, this is a tradition in Dubai where 3 days before the wedding, we gather at the brides house and put henna on our hands. It takes around 15 minutes to dry up, and the longer you leave it on your hand the darker it becomes, and then you peel it off. Of course with my luck, a woman bumped into me and smeared the top part of the henna before it dried! The henna artists were very creative and detailed, I don't think I could ever have the patience or steadiness for that matter! I went with a full paisley/floral design on both my hands and up to my arm, my sister only wanted it on her fingers. Just looking at these photos I want to put henna again, and the smell... aah!

:: Tuesday & Wednesday - Favors, we spend 2 days at her house helping wrapping the favors to be placed on the tables during the wedding party for the guests to take home, we had to make around 800! The gifts were small jars, wrapped with ribbons, a small tag that had a flowery illustration on it, and mini cookies or waffles. They put me in charge of tying the ribbons into bows and I swear they couldn't have chosen a worse bow-tyer than me. I quickly gave up and decided to put the cookies in the jar, ooh they were so yummy!

:: Thursday - the Wedding day!! One minute I was in the salon doing my hair and makeup, and the next the bride and groom were cutting the cake... it went by so fast but everything was just gorgeous. Her theme was pastel colors and flowers so the stage was decked with lovely floral bouquets hanging from white branches, unfortunately didn't take any pictures of the wedding. Though here is a photo of the wedding card which was designed by my talented cousin also a graphic designer KS, I love the colors and the details are really beautiful and feminine. She created the invitation in both Arabic (pink envelope) and English (green envelope). The type is just perfect! You can also see the favor jar, it used to be filled with cookies but that was eaten a long time ago, so I've filled it with my pearls collection.

I hope this long post makes up for my lack of consistent posting!

Have a lovely cool sunshine-filled day.
:)

Back to blogging; Abu Dhabi Art Fair

2010-03-13T17:13:00.016+04:00

Oh my, so I guess you can say I have been *missing* for a while! But alas no more, I am back and bursting with many posts to come. This past month or two I've just been on wedding mode, last week was one of my closest cousin's wedding, it was one crazy day after another, but everything came out so beautiful at the end - will be posting about it soon with more details.

Ok.. no more blabbering from me, here are the pictures of Art AbuDhabi I had promised last time (I took horrible blurry pictures so here are some shots taken from the website. One of the highlights of the fair was the 'Design Workshop' built on the beach, this was a place where comtemporary designers presented day-long workshops. The public would be able to interact with cutting-edge designers and experience their live work in specially constructed performace studios and interactive workshops.

You see that large clock on the left side, there was an actual living human being inside the black container who would constantly change the time.. seriously! He would paint in or scrape off the paint from the clock facade to create the time, by minute! I loved it.

Ahmad Angawi {Saudi Arabia}: An Industrial Designer who blends Arabian tradition with modern international design. I especially loved the idea of his 3-day roadtrip to AbuDhabi, driving his grandfather's van all the way from his home country Saudi Arabia to the AbuDhabi art fair, using it as a movable workspace to get inspired from the different cultures and countries he embraces along the way.

Of his projects showcased in the design workshop, was the Glocal Chair. Ahmad fused two objects that are typically traditional pieces from two different cultural backgrounds (a Western Captain Wooden Chair and a Middle Eastern Ottoman) to create a Glocal Chair.

The other more simple yet equally interesting concept is the Tea {Chai} or Coffee {Gahwa}, both of which play a big part of the Middle East culture. Here, he fused the cups that we traditionally use to drink tea or coffee with together into one.

Reem Al Ghaith {UAE}: One of the other designers was my friend and colleague Reem Al Ghaith, who created chairs inspired by traditional designs found on doors and entrances in old Dubai (excuse my lousy shot). I really admired how she used different materials and textures to create a metallic frame for a chair with a printed cushion of the different elements she collages from the doors.

From this, she also went on to create art pieces of which are showcased on the 67th floor of Burj Dubai, titled 'Beyoutna' meaning 'Our Houses' in Arabic.

Huda Baroudi and Maria Hibri {Lebanon}: These 2 talented women are partners in the interior design studio, Bokja Design. You might have seen their stuff popping around the blogs, I dream of owning one of their colorful and eccentric sofas. They presented a unique sofa assembled from a composite of around 40 distinct fabrics from different parts of the world. Oh, to own a couture Bokja chair, I'll add it to my never-ending list of needs!

oh november

2009-11-29T19:22:00.004+04:00

i have seriously underestimated what a lovely month november is.. Dubai has just been one event mode after another.. and to top it off our hot and 40 degrees weather is finally behind us.. helloow {autumn}!
We are on holidays right now celebrating Eid (i guess you can say our equivalence to christmas) and our national day so we have one whole week off. (yaay)
Wedding season is starting plus I'm going on a quick shopping trip to Bangkok next week, so will be posting about all that has happened when i get back.

Hope you have a lovely day!

Typographic layouts // Farhad Fozouni

2009-11-20T23:28:00.005+04:00

I have been pretty busy working on my first collaborative project designing informational layouts, and all I can think about now is layouts, grids and numbers. So I am posting today a type & layout extroadinaire, Farhad Fozouni. I just love his typography work, an Iranian designer, Farhad Fozouni absolutely amazes me with his typographic compositions. It's written in Persian script so I don't even understand what's written, but I really admire the way he works with type and image.It was so hard for me to narrow them down, so go check out his website for more of his amazing work.

13.11.09

2009-11-13T23:57:00.001+04:00

So finally after procrastinating for nearly 9 months, I have gotten my act together and decided to be a part of the blogging world!! For my first ever post *eeks*, here's a few things that makes me {me).

I am a 22-year old designer from Dubai, UAE. I have a thing (well, more like an obsession) for the number 13. I work as a graphic designer, and I like to freelance in my spare time (wherever that is :P). I love *design*, and I love to create - I'm currently working on designing my own studio (which translates as a small table in the middle of a corridor) and refurbishing furniture. I'm always hoping and dreaming of having my own business (I think opening my own restaurant, cupcake shop, shoe boutique and clothes bazaar are all scribbled on some list somewhere - though I'm sure I would be terrible at the business side of it, the only thing I ever think about is how the interior of the place would look like!).

I am best friends with my older sister (she's 11 month bigger and I loved to tease people and make them believe we were twins). I love to travel and have been fortunate in seeing many places, though on my top of my list now is Greece and Japan. And sadly, I have no lucky bone in me at all.

Hearts::
// travelling
// designing
// type
// printmaking
// arabic type design
// vintage everything
// making lists {lots and lots of them - I have a memory of a goldfish}
// salmon colour
// design blogs
// shopping for cute tops in cute markets (Portabello - my love!)
// shoes
// dressing up
// having a great time with family & friends
// blue skies & fluffy clouds
// always wanted to learn the guitar, piano and ballet
// water
// vintage tags; sketchbooks; cute cupcake stuff - I am so into chalkboard and alice in wonderland now
// surprises (especially in the mail box)
// having friends from all over the world (i am very friendly, so don't be shy :P)
// cute packaging
// bits & pieces - vintage buttons, lace, colorful cotton fabrics
// cute tea products - though I'm not really a tea drinking person, I love all the other tea-related stuff out there: tea parties, tea towels, tea illustrations, tea cards, tea tags, tea-cups...
// my family :)

Phew! That was alot about me. Anways will be posting more interesting design-related stuff; to inspire and get inspired by all the great designs out there; write about my weekly obsessions; daily happenings; arabic design and so much more!

:: have a great day ::