Tarek Fahmy: Cultural Critic

UX design and architecture seem to be foreign sounding job titles to most people; including some Graphic Designers. Ironically, this specialized field demands that its practitioners be equipped with a varied skill set. The UX designer is a researcher, a prognosticator, a writer, an information architect, a designer, an interviewer, a prototype maker, a psychologist, a communicator, and a diplomat.

Perhaps being a diplomat is one of the most important functions of this job since UX designers have to communicate to all involved stakeholders (Researchers, writers, designers, programmers, etc.) and convince them that the User Experience is not only an important part of the screen based project, it’s extremely integral.

Since UX design is ‘fairly’ new, this communication with the other stakeholders needs to be even more diplomatic, convincing, and measured; especially since UX design has still not garnered wide respect in the field. UX designers are ‘Noobs’ in the IT field and need to prove their worth, ingenuity, and most importantly, their overall importance to the project lifecycle.

• UX Design: Balance & T-Shaped Skills
• UX design, Where the Front & Back End Converge

The following video features Navigation Arts Director of Information Architecture, Kelley McDonald, discussing how to engage site visitors through effective site structure and relevant content.

I love social networking sites. They allow the end-users to network easily and efficiently from the comfort of their ‘laptops’. Social networking sites have boomed lately and you could say that Facebook, numbers wise, has the third largest global population; behind China and India respectively.

The Facebook model is flexible and malleable. It could be used in a number of different ways depending on the end-user’s needs. That’s one of the reasons why Facebook is so popular and has replaced a number of other specialized sites or forced the previously popular social networking sites (myspace) to specialize.

Facebook can be used solely as a dating site, a business marketing site, a portfolio site, a blog, a school reunion site, a family reunion site, an email application, an instant messaging application, or an all-encompassing website that wears many different digital hats.

It is also starting to serve as a digital networking hub, partnering with many other sites and allowing the end-users to share their activities with their already established Facebook networks.

Facebook, as of now, is the nucleus of my online universe. I am guessing that a good number of the 500 million+ Facebook users also have that same exact nucleus (Facebook) occupying and thriving in the center of their online digital hubs.

Personally, I use Facebook as a blog, a marketing tool, and a social networking venue. During the past year and a half I have uploaded hundreds of photographs and created a large number of posters, montages, profile images for friends, info-graphics, and a number of other original artwork that is worthy of a blog entry and an interesting hybrid gallery exhibition (contact me for details).

Some of the work is political in nature while other pieces are purely historical, and a number are just for fun. All of the images were created quickly and efficiently; these pieces were not labored over for days or weeks, just created in a couple of hours max. Some are also what I call reactionarry pieces, created after watching a movie, a documentary, or after reading an article.

The following images were all created for Facebook or uploaded first on Facebook. Welcome to this Facebook-centric online exhibition.

The Book of Eli Quick Reaction Poster

WWII Documentary Quick Reaction Poster

A Reaction And a Critique Of Two Magazine Covers

An Advert For A Trainer

An Homage To Jeff Bridges After The Oscars

The Dunk: John Starks

A Joke

Before & After

A Reaction Against Bigotry & Profiling

Montage: Gay parade 2010 NYC

Profile Picture Created For A Friend - 1

Profile Picture Created For A Friend - 2

Profile Picture Created For A Friend - 3

Profile Picture Created For A Friend - 4

Profile Picture Created For A Friend - 5

Profile Picture Created For A Friend - 6

An Homage To Football - 1

An Homage To Football - 2

Self Portrait: Anima Vs. Animus

Photograph - 1

Photograph - 2

This year’s World Cup has rekindled my love for ‘Futbol’. I consider this sport one of the purest and simplest sports to participate in. All that you need is a round ball, two goals, and a bunch of willing athletes. I believe that this low maintenance quality of the game is one of the main reasons for its overarching International mass appeal.

In poor areas in Egypt kids play a makeshift version that they call ‘Korah Sharab’ which literally means ’sock ball’. The kids are so poor that they cannot afford a proper football. Instead, they use what’s inexpensive and readily available in the from of a pantyhose and newspapers. They stuff the pantyhose with newspapers and make a substitute football out of it. To fashion the goals they place two boulders about six feet apart on both ends of the playing area and voila; you have a football, a field, two goals, and a bunch of willing participants.

Athletically, all that you need are three basic and ubiquitous talents: running, passing, and shooting. These three skills are very common in the majority of other sports and come instinctually to all good athletes.

I hope that ‘Futbol’ truly catches on in the U.S. but, in the meantime, I have been following International leagues. One of which is the British Premiere League since it’s always consistently streamed live and otherwise on line (For Free).

The following graphic is dedicated to the first week of the British Premiere League and to my newfound love for ‘Futbol’.

Being purely selfless is impossible. A couple of infamous people who advertised themselves as selfless lived in Waco Texas (David Koresh) and Jones Town (Jim Jones) and were responsible for many deaths. I have a general distrust of self advertised ’selfless’ people because I think that they have a healthy ego below that altruistic veneer.

On the other hand, being egocentric is misunderstood and has a bad reputation. Egocentric means that your ego is your center and is centered, which usually means that you are a balanced and healthy human being.

Some artists use themselves as the starting point in their work to understand the world around them. They believe that this inside-outside process is the most efficient way of questioning and potentially understanding. The self is naturally a product of that given world and by dissecting it that given world will also be under the knife by default.

Who knows yourself better then you so why not use that as the starting point for your inquiries; philosophical, artistic, and otherwise. By truly knowing yourself you might begin to trully understand this amazing world that gave birth to you.

Some artists that quickly come to mind that were termed egocentric, narcissistic, and self indulgent are:

• Lucas Samaras
• Cindy Sherman
• Philip Glass
• Lars Von Trier

Balance is the ideal that everyone strives for; personally, socially, and professionally. Balance is sought after because it helps us grow, communicate, create, adapt and evolve more smoothly and efficiently.

I feel that we never fully reach that ideal state of balance and truly self actualize till old age; if we are lucky. Some of us start showing hints of that all elusive balance at a younger age.

At this moment in my life and career I feel more balanced then ever. I am starting to depend on a healthy dose of both instincts and intellect to filter information, understand it, and interpret it; personally, socially, and professionally.

As a UX / UI designer, that sense of balance sets me apart from other UX designers. You want a person that has the ‘wow factor’ as a designer but also has an Information Architect’s awareness and skill.  In short, you want a hybrid designer that balances right and left brain sensibilities.

I pride myself as that designer that is conceptually as well as aesthetically driven. You have to have both to be a good designer. I always try to occupy that grey middle area in my life as well as in my career. Being a hybrid designer, I place an equal importance on concepts and code as well as aesthetics and design; which is consistent with that balanced life philosophy.