Meet Tariq Alobaid | Visual Designer and Brand Strategist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Tariq Alobaid and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi TARIQ, where are your from? We’d love to hear about how your background has played a role in who you are today?
I owe a lot to my cultural background as a young creative from Kuwait, born and raised there and being surrounded by art. Historically, Kuwait was the first Gulf country to be developed after the discovery of oil in the 1940s, and for a time was the center of the Arabian Gulf’s regional art development. This essence of art still rings true to this day, Kuwait today being known for its media output from television dramas to advertisement and marketing. Growing up surrounded by this, in addition to my paternal grandfather being an artist and my maternal grandfather having worked for television production as a journalist, has informed my artistic growth knowing I have a legacy to look back on and carry forward.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I pull a lot of my inspiration from my Kuwaiti background, centering primarily on Arab graphic design and its campiness, while applying modern graphic design trends and sensibilities. I’m inspired by old album covers and artwork from the late 1990s to mid-2010s, namely the “Pen & Pixel” style most known for hip-hop albums in the United States, and additionally Arab Internet Art from the 2000s, such as gifs of bedazzled roses with religious Islamic supplications or awkward Photoshop edits for early social media featuring immature yet bombastic typography. My main dream is to work on artwork for entertainment: promotional poster art, key art, and album covers. I would love to take my background and help apply it to a vision and curate it and truly create something that hasn’t been done for Western audiences.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Monday: lunch in SoHo, then coffee from Arabica and take a stroll around Elizabeth Street garden, then walk around the shops and show them my favorite hidden gems and spots.

Tuesday: We’d have breakfast at Cafe Kitsune, then off to an immersive experience at Hall Des Lumieres, then get dinner at an Alamo Drafthouse dine-in movie experience.

Wednesday: Take a break. Let them go do their own thing, but I’d recommend a restaurant or two of my choosing.

Thursday: They’d come down to my neck of the woods in New York (Downtown Brooklyn), we’d walk around DUMBO, get coffee or ice cream at the pier, then watch the sunset from Brooklyn Heights Promenade.

Friday: Breakfast at my place, then we’d go off to Williamsburg for a day out to my favorite spots: Qahwah House, Spoonbill & Sugartown Books, Marsha P Johnson Park, and then Putting Green mini golf at Domino Park.

Saturday: A farewell tour of Manhattan, with an exploration of Summit One at Vanderbilt where we’d take photos in the silver balloon room, pass by Grand Central Station, get some Chip City cookies or mocktails at 30 Rock, then end the night with endless steak and fries at L’Entercote.

Sunday: wish them off to the airport.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I wanna dedicate this shoutout to my late paternal grandfather who was the source of my inspiration and growth as an artist, whom I carry his name, and who has supported me since I was a young toddler in my artistic ventures, growing as a young filmmaker to a modern and forward-thinking graphic designer.

Website: https://trqalobaid.cargo.site

Instagram: https://Instagram.com/trqalobaid

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tariq-alobaid/

Image Credits
LVA GRL photography by DEBORAH GROSMARK.
KA’RIMA MAGIC photography by Alvar Puckerin