The ‘Global Village’ is a clique. But in the world of design, be it architecture, graphic or product design – it is a global market. Jordan tennis shoes come to mind. Working from the Middle East, based in Kuwait and traveling to Dubai, Ahmed Alrashid, has struck a note that resonates throughout the world, as his success reflects.
From tennis shoes to drinking cups, to these designs speak to an audience of youth and vitality from Converse to Starbucks. After achieving his degree in Business Management, in Kuwait, he continued to pursue the skills in computer imaging that led to his success. Ahmed conducts workshops in the Gulf to spread his spirit to other designers.
Ahmed’s uniqueness stems from his approach to place his designs directly on the products with markers for his prototype, very hands on and reminiscent of the Pop Art era of Warhol and Rauschenberg, which in some cases becomes his final statement. This enables him to foresee the design and experiment in a freeform manner to interact with the product.
Ahmed is a believer in the social media world and started his sharing on Instagram, [@ahmadalrashid] (where he first sold his Converse shoes in auction to a follower in Bahrain). Vibrancy is the hallmark of his work; it speaks with volume to the contemporary design world. He states, “merging colors is the one of the most important aspects of my creativity, it helps in bringing the whole design together.” Bright – bold and exercising the color theory of Joseph Albers.
Alrashid’s work has an intelligence that is informed by his business acumen and experience in the marketplace. In the same way Warhol understood the role of the patron and artist, Ahmad grasps the role of art and commerce. What is so interesting is that his work is global in design, that speaks to no particular culture, but the village as a whole. I was impressed by his spanning of world cultures in our meeting and further correspondence. Ahmed is truly an ambassador for design. He harkens back to the likes of Milton Glaser (and Pentagram), who became a tradition in the speaking of many languages.
