MICHEL KARSOUNY | Visual Artist & Art Director

The Toy Man

2012-01-27T12:58:00.000-08:00

The Toy Man, 1.33m x 0.90m, Giclée print on canvas

"The Toy Man" is a piece based on the life of the client that commissioned the work. It took deep understanding of how he perceived his world, expectations, dreams etc... to get an end result that genuinely portrayed him.

Lana & Nataly

2012-01-17T12:37:00.000-08:00

Part of a post Paris ongoing 15 painting collection I'm developing right now.

Mograbi Optical Murals

2012-01-09T04:14:00.000-08:00

I was commissioned by MC Saatchi to produce murals for Magrabi's campaign Tempo.

Elle seule

2012-01-09T03:35:00.000-08:00

"Elle seule", Mixed media on canvas, 80cm x 120cm

inspired by the poem Le Fou d'Elsa by Aragon.

for people who dont have a mirror at home:
"Elle seule et tout le reste
S'en aille au diable vauvert
Elle seule et j'ai pour elle
Seule ainsi vécu souffert
Elle seule O ma romance
Mon sang mes veines mes vers
Elle seule et qu'elle sorte
Je demeure dans l'enfer
Elle seule et que m'importent
Cette vie et l'univers"

Paris Part 1: Incensé

2011-12-29T02:55:00.000-08:00

Part 1 of a series of paintings of a 2 months trip to Paris. Oil pastel on paper.

Joué Club, Christmas

2011-09-02T02:38:00.000-07:00

Posting any small picture of these murals would never give this project justice. It was one the most trying works I've ever undertaken.

The idea was to the process of creation of toys till their delivery – starting from the magical Joué Club factory in the North Pole to the kids' homes at christmas morning.

Of the deliverables was a whopping 34m x 2m mural that we decided. To make things more interesting, we rendered all characters and backgrounds in pencil. ALL SHADED, then colored on photoshop. My most gargantuan job considering we delivered in one month time. A team of illustrators set on 20hour days/4hour nights sleeping in the office as not to waste time. A big David and Goliath story. I'm very proud of the result.

The 34m x 2m mural

Noir Mekanik CD

2011-06-16T04:35:00.000-07:00

Noir Mekanik asked me to design their new CD. I had a completely different approach before we ended up with the "Party Glamor" style they're known with.

The color palette in the 1st approach reminds me of the psychedelic golden age. Way to stand out and re-start the trend in 2011.

You know which one is my favorite ;)

"My Last Valentine in Beirut", Movie Campaign Visuals

2011-05-04T01:05:00.000-07:00

"My Last Valentine in Beirut". Directed by reknown Salim el Turk and produced by Assaad Tarabay, it is the first Arabic film in 3D.
I handled the visual promotion for the movie (logo, posters, website/implemented by buildmedesign.com, folder and promotional CD cover) in preparation for its screening in the Cannes Festival 2011.

MLVB tackles one of the biggest taboos in our society and shows really how literally EVERYONE is involved. It sheds light very intelligently on how different people from different walks of life interact with prostitutes; Juliet in that case, the protagonist. When watching the movie, this contradictory state of being and identity that the heroine lives makes her human and removed some stereotypes I had drawn up.

Apart from the question of the subject matter, which interested me a lot because of how daring and avant garde it is in the Middle East, I really enjoyed interacting with Salim El Turk for coming up with the visual style and developing the punch line – which he ended up beautifully summing up. Salim was so into the minute details of the movie on all its levels that I was able to push the ideas and visuals to target the message he wanted to put out.

It's a controversial movie that I loved working on – and watching ;). It definitely entertains and makes you think . You're going to love it!

Ashekman, Ya Reyt Video Clip

2011-03-13T01:00:00.000-08:00

And here it is! After working on it for over 3 and a half months: The "Ya Reyt" Ashekman video clip.

Done through The Konstrukt, Art directed by me, Illustrated by Fouad Mezher and Animated by David Habchy. Working all together with Mezher and Habchy was an amazing experience as we're all so obessive compulsive perfectionists, it was like tiny detail after the other! A blast to work on!

Ashekman's Omar and Mohammed Kabbani were fun to have as clients, they're rappers, graffiti artists & design their own urban clothing after all :)

Big thanks for Alain Nasnas.

THE SHIFT, "She smelled of daisies"

2011-03-12T12:00:00.000-08:00

"She smelled of daisies", Giclée print, 140cm x 100cm

"What could've been", Giclée print, 140cm x 100cm

THE SHIFT

2011-03-12T11:58:00.000-08:00

"I am terrified. But it's ok". Those words repeat themselves in my head for 4 straight days as I decided to take the shift. Yes, I might be a graphic designer, or an illustrator, or an art director... But I am first and foremost simply passionate about Art. About putting down my emotions, putting down my whole self; on paper, on canvas; with paint, with ink, with photographs, with sculpture, with moving image, with music and song... WHATEVER THE MEDIUM! It's about forgetting about briefs, about the world outside and about the journey within the self; within this huge world inside us that we fail to explore.

The time has come. I've attempted this so many times before, but not with the sheer determination that I feel within me right now. Not with this constant obsession that I feel, about putting things down. Not with this heightened awareness of my senses...

Neo: "Why do my eyes hurt?"
Morpheus: "You've never used them before."

And so starts ... THE SHIFT.

The work below starts off with china ink on board, then goes back and forth between digital and manual work to get finally a Sherpa print on canvas of usually 150x100cms or 100x60cms.

"Comme un accident de Bagnole"

"Elle et moi"

"Bucktooth, Margueurite et moi"

"Magic talking diary"

"She got all dolled up, for me" 100 x 60 cm

"La liberté [ou plutot l'insouciance] au bout des doigts"

"as my hand tells me stories and i watch them unfold"

"Hurdles and wires"

"Element 1"
Michel : "Anis lezim ersoum"
Anis: "eh rsom honik"

"Element 2"

The Good Life, Stickers and Press ad

2011-03-12T11:27:00.000-08:00

printed in all colors in the press ad above

PUSH magazine, Issue 1, Publication design

2011-03-12T11:15:00.000-08:00

PUSH is the first Business and Empowerment magazine in the middle east and I was fortunate enough to have been asked to lead its creative team to set a working system for the magazine as their corporate ID and final system gets developed; and to design the magazine. Here's issue 1. Cover illustration has been worked along with Konstrukt member Fouad Mezher; retouched by me.

The fun part in this experience is the freedom to create extra illustrations for the articles – like condolences in high heels or Zeroing in on your Goals – and of course to start the magazine from scratch and seeing it develop issue per issue.

Personal, A couple of studies

2011-03-12T10:59:00.000-08:00

Sami Tohmé aka "Le Petit Prince"

Métro Blues issue 0, Let's Comics

2011-03-12T10:14:00.000-08:00

Métro Blues is a comic I submitted to the COSV Let's Comics workshop. It is actually a preliminary study for a comic I've been wanting to work on. It got exhibited in the Lucca for comics and games festival 2010 in Italy.

Anthony Saroufim Photography, Business Cards

2011-03-12T08:19:00.000-08:00

Photographer Anthony Saroufim was preparing an exhibition in Biel and asked me to supervize/quality control printing his photographs; and a signature logo and business cards were in order for promotion.

Anthony's style is grungy and elegant. Here's what we ended up with:

Anthony's logo and card recto

Who Killed Bruce Lee, Branding & Character design

2011-03-12T06:00:00.000-08:00

There was no brief. Actually, brief was: "make it look cool".

Who Killed Bruce Lee is hands down IMHO the best Indy band in Lebanon. 4 Killer musicians. Amazing performances; the kind where you really can't stop your leg from constantly pounding the floor along with the rythm.

I decided to go with Characters, and to give it a very gritty Ghost in the Shell meets Bruce Lee movies, along with some Arabic type to go with the blend.

Kudos for The Konstrukt intern (at the time) Chris "Cesiumatom" Moussa for the amazing arabic Kufi Mourabba3 (square Kufi) logo. They loved the Arabic take on it. We ARE Lebanese at the end of the day.

WKBL now have a new member: Hassib Dargham – thus a new charater should come up soon.

The Good Life, Press ads

2011-03-12T05:38:00.000-08:00

"The Good Life" owner George Salhab is the archetype of "living the good life". The guy is so passionate yet so chillaxed about life; the press ads were a sleek elegant solution for the shop and the spirit it embodies after a lovely back and forth brainstorm session.

"The Good Life" has the coolest kicks you might find in town, along with limited edition clothing and designer toys; and kick-ass interiors to say the least! Check it out!

Bonjus, Flipper Packaging

2011-03-12T05:27:00.000-08:00

Bonjus's new ice cream: FLIPPER! :)
with The Konstrukt.

Ronin & Nesta at Plum

2011-03-12T05:14:00.000-08:00

Plum manager: "Ok. can you give me the final?"
Ronin: "this IS the final"
Plum manager: "no I mean the final flyer"
Ronin: "Yes."

This flyer is inspired by the work of David Carson, post modernist that shook design to its core. We were talking about going a bit avant garde with the whole nightlife feel – for some reason, glows, drop shadows and stars really don't do it for us anymore. I kept their color palette going and started developing what we now call "the Ronin & Nesta style"; and ended up applying the same approach with their next CD and MixFM banners.

Noir Mekanik, Jojo & Gunther & Stamina

2011-03-12T05:06:00.000-08:00

Noir Mekanik, Logo

2011-03-12T04:59:00.000-08:00

Noir Mekanik got inspired by Ronin & Nesta and asked for a logo. Dance Music, straight to the point. Black and white.

Beirut in the Mix, Branding Ronin & Nesta

2011-03-12T04:56:00.000-08:00

"Young fun-loving DJ Superstars". That's what I got out of them in the end as the essence of the Ronin & Nesta brand in our brand positioning meeting. It was time to SHOW the world who Ronin & Nesta were.

Press pack. Before MixFm.

The Konstrukt, Self-Promo with Fouad Mezher

2011-03-12T04:20:00.000-08:00

We wanted to do murals. We love murals. It's the best way to put out one's creativity in my opinion. Big format. Overwhelming.

Fouad Mezher and I ended up doing different pieces as a promo for The Konstrukt. This one's a piece that we worked on together that ended up being published in Le Mag.

Saatchi, BLF "London & New York" Poster

2011-03-12T04:11:00.000-08:00

I was asked by Youmna Sarji and Barry Brand at Saatchi to create this Illustration for Banque Libano Francaise. Scrapbook feel, fun hand-made work.

Bonjus, Trucks

2011-03-12T04:05:00.000-08:00

Bonjus had asked The Konstrukt to design their trucks among other deliverables (packages, poster, freezers, packshots...) and we ended up giving a whole lot of options when it came to the illustrations on the trucks. Here are my favorites, not necessarily the final ones, just what made my heart flutter and that I'm proud of the most.

NK productions, Sursock New Year's Eve Parties '10

2011-03-12T03:43:00.000-08:00

NK productions went REALLY big for new year's 2010. They wanted to have two parties in both Sursock Palaces: "Ceasar's Palace" at the Linda Sursock Palace and "The Luxor" at the Lady Cochran. I was asked to create the visuals for the website and to design the tickets to the events.

Beirut In the Mix, New Year's Cliché '10 (and '09)

2011-03-12T03:25:00.000-08:00

Click to ENLARGE: fun, naughty, eye-soring & meticulous Detail

Ronin called: "the sheep is back" he said. And it had started all over again. But this year it was gonna be BIGGER, BOLDER, CRAZIER and much much more of a New Year's Cliché.

So what IS a New Year's Cliché you ask... well it goes like this: Lebanon's pretty small and as you know, we ALL know each other somehow. So what tends to happen is that people tend to FLOCK together in a couple of locations and a air of conformity is bound to take place. We are thus SHEEP. Of course, we dress up, get so prepped for new years, to attack the super premium booze, sushi bits and bouchées, and the humongous bottles of rosé; but also socialize like there's no tomorrow, not remembering ANYTHING of what other people tell you... the crazy sexual tension, the ridiculously hyped up people, the bored ones, the pissed off ones, the santas, the boucers, the Pappaz, the cigars...
Add to that some of the year's themes: Michael Jackson passing on to a better place, the "Rise of the Blackberry", Kun Hadi, Obama... and some inside jokes...

...AND POOF! you got yourself an 8 x 3 meter mural for people to trip on, adapted onto a slightly over sized ticket so that people might enjoy the where's waldo of sheep, condoms and booze.
Ticket had been spot UVed like no tomorrow with extra tidbits, we just couldn't get enough of the Clichés!

Here's last years' (worked with Marianne Moussalli) with extra Ronin and Nesta CD design, Sheep masks to transform the whole crowd to cattle, and live size SHEEP.

Noir Mekanik, "OMG it's 2010" New Year's

2011-03-12T03:01:00.000-08:00

Referred to by Ronin & Nesta, Noir Mekanik approached me to design them their New Year's Eve party poster, flyer and ticket. The approach was meant to be glamorous yet dance music oriented. Target group: 18- 25 preppy cool kids.

Tyente Logo

2011-03-11T09:57:00.000-08:00

Tyente: Fashion Party Organizers.
Client chose the upper one.

Tyenté, Non Fashion Show Event

2011-03-11T09:55:00.000-08:00

Tyente Fund raiser Fashion show promoting young talent.
Poster and flyer.

Dead Monkey, Logo and Poster

2011-03-11T09:45:00.000-08:00

Dead Monkey are underground party organizers. They asked me to design their logo along with their ORGY new years party flyer and poster.

Their logo revolves around a simple concept: "you talk about Dead Monkey, you die"(for members revealing secrets about party whereabouts ... etc). In all cases they want the world to know that a true Beirut underground exist and that we don't know about it – and are not part of it.

Photo-manipulation and Photo-retouching for Leo Burnett

2011-03-11T09:28:00.000-08:00

LEO: "Make it pretty"
Michel: "ok."
:)

NK productions, Hell of a Party III poster

2011-03-11T09:09:00.000-08:00

Club X promotional work

2011-03-11T08:58:00.000-08:00

Club X is an underground club in the Port region in Downtown Beirut.
Deliverables include: posters, flyers, CD covers, banners, business cards.

L'Oréal, Lisse Ultime Nuit

2011-03-11T08:52:00.000-08:00

L'Oreal's Lisse Ultime Nuit night cream billboard.
Also made under an A4 format in light frame to be put at hairdresser salons.

NK Productions, NKpendance

2011-03-11T08:39:00.000-08:00

NKpendance is a independence day party celebrating the details that make us Lebanese and Beirutis. Worked to be an 8 x 4 mural. With Marianne Moussalli.

NK productions, Hell of Party

2011-03-11T08:29:00.000-08:00

with Marianne Moussalli.

Beirut in the Mix, The Carwash Experience

2011-03-11T06:31:00.000-08:00

My first encounter with DJ Ronin who was organizing The Carwash Experience foam party under Beirut in the Mix. A night where gorgeous cars were going to be washed by models in swimsuits as Ronin and Nesta blow people away with their music.

The deliverables were: Logo, poster, flyers (a5, a6), 3 tickets & powerpoint presentation for sponsors; and I had a knack for photo-realistic digital paintings (check the car and the girl).

Amazing night! (and the beginning of a great business relationship/friendship).

Kuwait Air Ad, "We take you everywhere"

2011-03-11T06:13:00.000-08:00

Poster I worked on as a freelancer with art director Amr Shalak at Promofix. Client however preferred a more serious approach – that isn't in my portfolio.

When everything fails, Love thyself

2011-03-11T06:02:00.000-08:00

"When everything fails, Love thyself": a series of 5 photographs with Diego DiAristegui as my model. Making him imagine to court and kiss himself was fun. People on Facebook enjoyed the series pretty well...

A couple of months later, I start receiving phonecalls from friends and family congratulating me for the new C&F campaign with Diego as model with the slogan "Love Yourself" which they thought I did. I was intrigued, I didn't know if I should've gone ballistic or thank them for the favor. Coincidence? Mmm ... I guess not.

Autumn

2011-03-11T05:46:00.000-08:00

I love this mask that Hala has. She always had it in her room and always kept staring at me in the face. It was Autumn and I had been consumed by the idea of identities and multiple personalities. It had been raining outside and all the snails were out to play...

"BO18 by Sunrise"

2011-03-11T05:39:00.000-08:00

It's 7AM and we're all completely wasted. As we get up the legendary BO18 stairs, I decide to sleep on my back to take this photograph. Anis pretends not to know me, then yells "why the hell would you want to take a picture of THAT!?". I laugh.

A tribute to BO.

AUB Music Club posters

2011-03-11T05:31:00.000-08:00

with Graphic/Fashion designer Maya Khalil

with Maria Hakim and Yasmine Zalek. Macro photography of my collector's superman figurine.

caught the attention of Vault49 – "design worthy of our studio", one of the best days of my life.

Funnest posters I've done. The brief was as usual: "Do whatever the f*** you want!" of course they would give me the theme of the concert. And they usually turned out pretty awesome and client was satisfied.

BLEH! moved to cavahabibeh.blogspot.com

2011-03-10T09:24:00.001-08:00

BLEH! moved to cavahabibeh.blogspot.com