Even at the tender age of 22, Karim Fakhoury is making serious waves in the Design and Digital Art worlds. His compositions are surreal, intricate and pull you in. Karim is a member of the Slashthree collective.
Here’s what Karim had to say…
Tell us a bit about your background…
I am a 22 years old student completing my bachelor’s degree in Graphic Design at Laval University. I consider myself to be more of a self-taught designer since the age of 16 as I quickly developed an interest for the digital arts world. Since then, I continuously keep learning, testing and pushing the boundaries of the digital world to keep evolving as an artist. Considering that graphic design is a passion of mine, I usually use my spare time to work on various projects as a freelance artist.
How did you get into Graphic Arts?
As a young boy, I had great interest for the graphics in video games and movies. The technological advancement allows us to work and create art from a new perspective and it is this artistic progression that first attracted me to the graphic arts. When I was about 16 years old, I started playing around with Photoshop to modify pictures of friends and family and it led me to discover the vast possibilities that Photoshop had to offer. I then decided to take on more meaningful projects and to convey a message trough my images. It all started unwillingly actually. When I started doing digital art, I was posting some of my works on relevant art networks without any expectations whatsoever. I was surprised by the response and by the amount of requests for customized graphic designs that started coming in, which got me even more into it.
What’s great about being based in Montreal?
Well that’s an easy one! I think anyone working in the creative field in this city can consider themselves lucky to be living in Montreal. It’s not a secret; the city thrives on variety, art, culture, architecture, history and more. It’s a premiere destination for artists worldwide, and the home to many art renowned companies and advertising agencies – which is great for anyone thriving to work in that field. The opportunities are vast, and I have been lucky enough to complete three summer internships with big Montreal advertising agencies. Having the opportunity to work for agencies that I have always respected has been a blessing of its own, and has allowed me to gain a great amount of knowledge.
Coolest thing you’ve ever done?
I can’t recall one specific project that stood out the most to me to be honest. Every project that I have worked on contributed to my passion for designing and has made my journey greatly enjoyable so far. However, if I had to point out a project that affected me the most, it would certainly be my collaboration with the advertising agency BCP Montreal and Virgin Radio; I had the opportunity to work on the first image campaign since Virgin Radio was launched in Montreal in 2009. With great team orientation and collaboration, I was able to produce several billboard visuals that were installed a bit everywhere in Montreal, and that was pretty cool on it’s own! Also, since the main project of this campaign was an activation initiative, we built a special billboard equipped with a built-in DJ booth and launched a street-level event where we threw a radio dance party hosted live from the billboard. It was the first time ever that a radio show had been broadcast live from a billboard! I was 19 years old at that time, and it was truly a unique experience that allowed me to learn more about the advertising world and gain hands on experience. The feeling of creating a simple mock-up on my computer screen, and watch it evolve to being a live event on the street with fellow Montrealers enjoying their time was truly motivational for me to become a better designer and to surpass myself every time I have the opportunity to do so.
What would you be doing if you weren’t a designer?
Probably something that has to do with politics and/or history since that were the courses I preferred the most back then. It actually still piques my interest, but I doubt I would have enjoyed a full career in this field.
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