Design in Lebanon

I am sitting in my office at Notre Dame University, Zouk Mosbeh, Lebanon, 20 kilometers outside of Beirut. There is a driving rain mixed with hail. In the mountains, I can see that it is snowing. This is Lebanon in the winter. We have no deserts. Not even one camel.

I begin this essay with this preface so that you can readjust whatever misconceptions you might have about Lebanon in particular and the Middle East in particular.

Our design profession is in its infancy. Beirut has several universities offering degrees in graphic design while the remainder of the region has only a smattering, if any. Design is not recognized by business or government. In fact, it is usually confused with advertising even by those people practicing it.

We have several problems. We are recovering from a long civil war. The economy is in bad shape. The government is corrupt. Clients want to imitate Europe or the US. There only a few design studios but many advertising agencies. The difference between them is indistinguishable both by the practitioners and clients.

I recently served as one of the jurors for the International Advertising Association Print Awards for Lebanon. I saw a lot of work with potential but most used cliche ideas. Layout was poor and typography appalling. This is not due to lack of intelligence or design expertise but because of small budgets, short timelines, and a low level of awareness.

It is very difficult to convince new graduates to remain and improve the scene. They feel their only salvation is to go oversees to work within design firms where they can continue to learn, earn a livable wage and gain respect.

So why am I here for my fourth year of teaching? There is so much potential. Beirut in particular is the gateway between East and West. Before the war, it was the center of publishing for the region. The reconstruction since the war is in need of good design. Despite the negative news, life goes along unhampered by skirmishes in the South with Israel.

Despite the influences of globalization, there are the beginnings of awareness about the need to address local needs with their own particular visual language inspired by visual traditions. This is the hard part since with all of the negative media attention, many people here want to deny or ignore their traditions. They have also been dramatically effected by French colonization and the more recent Americanization.

The use of three languages—Arabic, French and English—creates some design dilemmas. In speaking, the people will use all three but in print, they are separated. (Few good Arabic fonts exist for the computer and require special equipment.) Everyone can speak Arabic, in many cases an informal vernacular Arabic, but are educated in French or English language schools. This causes the society to become segmented by class, culture and/or geographical region and also requires a clear knowledge of the target audiences for design/advertising purposes.

In this milieu, a colleague (Halim Choueiry) and I identified the need for more design awareness inside the profession as well as to elevate the level of design from without. We decided that we wanted to publish a newsletter or magazine for designers. We have been fortunate to be offered several pages within another publication meant for advertisers. We have not received a lot of direct response but through the publisher have heard that we are being noticed. As of January, we will become a supplement of 32 pages. This is an approach that has begun to work.

Last month a group of designers in Amman, Jordan invited us to organize a conference for them. It was such a rewarding and admirable event. They were so interested in learning how to improve their work. They, like us, work very hard but often don’t know how to progress. It is happening, ever so slowly but I believe through our commitment, we will see some amazing results. Results that reflect the people and values here.

Sherry Blankenship has taught graphic design in the the US, New Zealand and Lebanon and offered courses and workshops in Jordan, India, Turkey and Zimbabwe which has only stimulated her interest in design and culture. Before entering design education, she designed books and magazines. She currently writes and co-designs Comma, a publication dedicated to graphic design in the Middle East.