Interview with Gaby el Ashkar

It’s this need to explore and create, to sit down with a blank piece of paper, and a few pencil strokes later, a new concept sees the light, with description, character, and a name.

It was the natural expansion to my already existing artist facet; a more “framed” creativity.

It’s not about one design genre or type. If I’m designing on my own initiative and not for clients, I usually tackle what I question or what I’d like to explore more. If I had the choice, spaces aside, I’d do more car/industrial design.

I’m not very comfortable with that word, to be honest. I have a lot to achieve and a lot of innovations to compile over the next decades before feeling more at ease with such terms. That said, I can answer what they should do to progress and evolve. To that, I’d say be curious about other disciplines and skills, even if not directly involved within them. The skills and perception of both the world and their craft they can gain from these parallel disciplines can elevate their game and give them an edge in our field.

Persistence.

If it answers the questions I had on that first pencil stroke, and If I don’t have any questions when I revisit it.

Good designs are markers for society’s advancements, signatures of some sort, and platforms that transition from one period to another. Good design / Art is how we understand previous eras and how we define the next ones.

I would design self-sustaining compact residential units/clusters, built as monuments rather than shelters, for cities to help eradicate the increasing levels of homelessness.

I’m always dreaming, and I never have enough time.

A pinch of curiosity and a hint of persistence, bring to a boil, then simmer.

For me, it’s more about specific designs from diverse designers that inspire change and answer pending questions.

Designs that I find myself neither second-guessing the intention nor the development behind them, regardless of fame, name, or pedigree.

It’s always the one I’m currently working on.

Never believe what you know is enough.

I would have doubled down on my artist facet.

It is the art of imagining an alternative reality and inviting others to believe it as it becomes part of their own perception, thus turning “real”.

Weirdly enough, it was everyone that hinted I couldn’t do it, as much as it was everyone that believed I could.

Believing I could become better and finding satisfaction in that journey.

To be honest, most of the little wins were taken against all odds. And the list is too long to be divulged. What matters is that all hurdles were overcome.

Embedded with intention.

More dreaming. More doing.

To be part of the momentum pushing for positive change.

Not to compromise.

It inspires it and reshapes it by conviction.

Art Wise: a series of life-size sculptures is in progress addressing the different states of defense mechanisms against adversity.
Design wise: a series of lighting elements should see the light soon (no pun).

Private residential projects and the interactions with every dweller as they identify with their dedicated space and instantly adopt it as home.

Less compromising on bold and genuine design for the benefit of benefits.

The design field is continuously evolving as it mirrors the tendencies and needs of an ever-changing society. The future of the field will closely follow the pragmatism and extravaganza of the society it interacts with. As long as designers are the ones designing, both the field and its society will bloom organically.

Every project is different, and every design genre is different. The time a project needs is the time I answer my own questions and make my case to showcase my answers in the best way possible.

Research, caffeine, sketchbook, and a 2B pencil. In that order.

Imagine. Create. Believe.

Designs set the trends, and trends set design frequency.

I limit the intervention of technology in the early stages, for I need my designs to be a reflection of my reflection. In the visualization and design drawings stage, I use all the technology I have access to communicate my design in the most complete and comprehensive of ways.

A mirrorless camera, an ultrawide monitor, a graphic tablet, a 3d printer, and a computer running AutoCAD, 3dsmax, V-ray, Adobe Creative Suite, MS Office, Rebelle, and a handful of experimental software to discover and widen the array of creative tools.

They are integral building blocks of the finished work, as letters are to words.

The intention behind it.

I need to read about how it came to be.

One that is well-versed in what I lack, knowledge-wise. Co-design can be fruitful and efficient if the partners are compatible and complementary, and it can be limiting when they are not. I have experienced both scenarios.

Everyone with significantly more experience than me, that at one moment or the other along the timeline of my design journey, stopped and shared a behind-the-scenes glimpse and wisdom.

Less design books, and more books addressing psychology and the human condition in general.

I’m ever-learning and curious by nature, and I like to push myself to explore every aspect of this field, as well as related fields, and enjoy harnessing this cross-disciplinary experience. I’m never satisfied with just what is required.

The alternate versions of “Me” that might had made different choices at past checkpoints on my timeline, and had branched out to other paths.

I wouldn’t say I’m famous, and fame is not something I seek. However, I would like for my work whether in design or art to be known and valued. I aim for the intention and reflection I put into my work to be recognized and not necessarily the face behind it.

Black, my corner in my favorite coffee shop, pain-perdu, autumn, clay, and “inkrypted”.

More than 2 decades of professional experience later, I’ve had memorable moments with collaborators and clients alike. If I want to mention one instance, I’d tell you about when clients insisted we create a duplicate of their reception space, only for it to be Christmas-themed with fixed built-in lights and decorations they’d for use instead of their main reception only during December and to lock for the rest of the year. They just didn’t want to bother with decorating & dismantling once every year. The room was dubbed “Lapland”.

Any sunset that sees the design maturing and evolving more than it had been at sunrise is a good day.

The curiosity was always there, and so was the tendency to fix and upgrade all that was broken. However, art was the frontrunner in that child’s imagination.

One can hope the world will be a better place and this species will be more considerate and more mature; that’s hope and not a prediction. Any person, entity, or analysis that claims otherwise is delusional. One can only hope.

I will communicate all I want to say through my creations, as an artist and as a designer. I’m more fluent that way.

After a long journey as head of Design & associate at an Architectural & Design bureau, I co-founded “Inkrypted” in 2018, as an alternative, offbeat, art-inclined multidisciplinary design studio, with a more selective approach to projects and an ambition to create less generic, less restrained, art-infused designs.

It is the art of imagining an alternative reality and inviting others to believe it as it becomes part of their own perception, thus turning “real”.

Spaces and interactive objects for their relevance in people's everyday life and their sense of "being" and "becoming".

It’s hard to choose one since every design has a story, but if I have to list one I’d say “X” (aka “Change”). A hybrid design/ interactive Art piece, in which the audience is invited to remove the blade-like vertical iron support from the concrete base and slide it horizontally in that same base—an analogy for change made by the people in turning a throne into a people’s bench.

It was an architectural design for a multi-use unit for a complex in Lagos, Nigeria, back in 2001

In Art: It will always be clay, as working it feels more like a dance or a dialogue between the creator and the creation disguised within.
In Design: it would be 3D visualization as a means of communication as it deciphers a designer’s idea into realities for people to believe.

Every time I open my sketchbook.

The aspect that highlights innovation.

It’s a wonderful feeling of detachment from time and place. It’s addictively freeing.

A sense of pride, and an urgency to start again.

Personally, I find that the criteria for success of a design differs from that of an artwork. For a design, success is adoption. It’s when an audience believes the designer’s reality and makes it their own. For art, it’s when the artist fully adopts his own creation and identifies with it, as the audience rejects it, accepts it, or questions it or the reality of things.

The alignment between the intention and the outcome.

Designers are involved in every building block of society, and every element it interacts with. They create trends, influence habits, and solidify systems. As designers, we have the responsibility to be, well, responsible.

The design field is continuously evolving as it mirrors the tendencies and needs of an ever-changing society. The future of the field will closely follow the pragmatism and extravaganza of the society it interacts with. As long as designers are the ones designing, both the field and its society will bloom organically.

My last exhibition was during Beirut Design Week in 2018. Other scheduled exhibitions were canceled due to Covid and the unrest in Lebanon during the years that followed. And further to Beirut’s 2020 Port explosion that reset many journeys and plans, mine included, I moved permanently to Ottawa in 2022. As I rebuild my body of work on the opposite side of the planet, I’m currently planning the next exhibition.

In Art: It has always been about making sense of all that surrounds me. They become vessels that hold these reflections, the time to process them.
In Design: What fuels my creativity is designing balance, in a space, in an object, in a state of mind. A balance Inspired by challenges and constraints.

I would say it is a style that mirrors my evolution as a person and as a designer along the years. It has become more streamlined and more minimal while balancing function and aesthetics.

I was based in Beirut till 2022 when I moved to Ottawa. Growing up and practicing in Beirut was a double-edged sword. It was limiting as a stage in comparison to major design centers, due to scale, resources, and unrest. That said, Lebanon is a multicultural hub with a convergence of influences, a cradle of civilizations, and a continuously lived-in Mediterranean core for over 7 thousand years, which made my journey more enriching than nowhere else could be. Now I approach the new chapter and bigger stage with that knowledge and cultural wealth.

I approach every collaboration with a sense of excitement as it opens new horizons and creates new encounters and experiences. There’s always a phase of studying and understanding, the project and the team, that precedes the actual collaboration.

My advice would be not to address the selection of designers as they would other trades or disciplines, since qualifications and experience aside, designers have signatures and methodologies that should align with the companies’ philosophy alongside the project requirements as an essential catalyst for compatibility.

Everything starts with a cup of coffee and extensive research, followed by an untold number of sketches and pages, till that seed of an idea becomes clear and refined. Since clarity in graphite can be deceiving it requires CAD sessions to verify dimensions and proportions making way for 3d visualization so that idea is communicated.

If it’s about items around me in my immediate surroundings I could list my minimal modern turntable, a minimalistic acoustic guitar, a life-long trusted comfy lounge chair, my dependable coffee machine, and my sculpted lead holder.

24. Can you describe a day in your life?
A mid-week day usually starts with caffeine, emails, messages, and updates, before tackling the design project at hand (or meeting if scheduled), lunch parentheses then resuming design development. In the afternoon, I move from my office, graphic tablet, and workstation to my art atelier, where re-caffeinated I take on my sculptures till evening, usually isolated by music.

Rebel and break codes, standards, and rules, but only do so after you fully learn and understand what came before.

A positive would be uninterruptedly seeing the world from a different point of view.
The negative would be uninterruptedly seeing the world from a different point of view.

Don’t hold back.

Observation & patience.

It all starts with a sketchbook and a 2B pencil. Sealed with an ink pen, it makes its way to AutoCAD for drafting before being extruded following the Z axis in 3DS Max as textures are prepped in Photoshop. Renders see the light in V-ray, get edited in Photoshop, and are laid out in InDesign, while animations come to life in Premiere Pro. Elaborate details and drawings revisit AutoCAD, as documents, presentations, and specs get developed in MS Office.

I usually do it till I can’t do it no more.

Somewhere between the time it needs and the time it takes.

"Can I ask you for a favor?"

In my 17 years as Head of Design at M.Architects, I had the chance to take on diverse projects of different scales and genres, on different continents, and collaborate with major companies, suppliers, and engineers.

Whether in arts or Design, my clients vary as projects do, and all value their privacy.

Design I do out of my own interest and curiosity over commissioned designs.

Resuming both Art and Design careers in full scale and full potential on this side of the planet.

It depends on the project and its circumstances. I mostly work alone, and it is my preference, but I have successfully worked, coordinated, and managed teams of different scales, forms, and disciplines.

Art Wise: a series of life-size sculptures is in progress addressing the different states of defense mechanisms against adversity.
Design wise: a series of lighting elements should see the light soon (no pun).

Through my socials @gabyelashkar , as well as contacts listed on gabyelashkar.com & inkrypted.com

I think it was well varied and extensive as interview, and I thank you for it.