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Blog

Welcome to Max Taha’s portal.

January 1, 2009 Blog

The place for my designs, illustrations, musings and uncanny attractions!

Also, I offer all types of design solutions for the perfectionist in you. My services range from graphic design for all print media, web design, social networking, SEO,  branding, identity, marketing, advertising strategy planning and consultancy. If you have ambitions for your business, get in touch and find out [...]

Caricature: Tribute to Naji al-Ali

August 29, 2007 Art
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My interest in the art of caricatures was sparked in the early 90s when I noticed this interesting little scrawny cartoon guy in an old al-Safeer newspaper. It was Palestinian artist Naji al-Ali’s daily caricature depicting the ravages of the Lebanese war with his signature Handala character. That drawing with its simple lines and minimalist [...]

Illustration: Lebanation

August 11, 2006 Art
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If you’ve ever heard of Lebanon, chances are you’re familiar with this country’s contentious history. To describe Lebanon in few words, I would say it’s a boiling cauldron of sour soup with sweet bits floating all over it. There is plenty of good here and there, but it’s all surrounded by hate, bigotry, vengeance and [...]

Caricature: Middle East Blues

March 18, 2006 Art
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2006 was a tough year, on personal and global level, notwithstanding the Israel-Hezbollah War and the resulting carnage and destruction, and in these dark times I did several caricature drawings releasing my feelings towards the Middle-East and the never-ending conflicts there.

Here are six of those focusing on the Iraqi invasion and its infighting, Gaza blockade, [...]

Illustration: Childhood Inspiration

November 10, 2004 Art
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It’s quite strange where artistic inspiration emanates from, and in my case it is a tiny charcoal portrait of my young mother, which was drawn somewhere in the Soviet Union when she was a teenager.

This little discarded portrait laid in our family albums for decades untouched, until one random day, I picked it up and [...]

Presentation: A Look into Lebanon

April 1, 2004 Lebanon
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I was digging through my university folder recently and discovered my old PowerPoint presentations, from my days as a president to the International Students Club at MSUM.

So here’s the presentation I prepared to represent Lebanon in the Celebration of Nations event, along with a shorter version prepared for a class meeting.

If you are interested in [...]

Sketch: Inked Faces

December 12, 2002 Art
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A batch of quick ink sketches from my black book, which includes friends and loved ones:

Tools used: Black ink.

Sketch: Sanguine Faces

February 12, 2002 Art
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Unloading a batch of my early practice sketches with the Sanguine media, which focused on human and plaster faces and some random anatomy bits.

Pretty much every available family member and friend was used as a (un)willing model for this run. Tough crowd indeed:

Tools used: Sanguine.

Sketch: Vusa & Kittens

July 13, 2001 Art
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There is something special about cats, these nocturnal and mysterious creatures, that frolic around their masters obliviously, flirtatious at times and rebellious the rest. I’ve never considered myself to be a cats’ person, but that changed rapidly after our family Persian cat, “Vusa”, gave birth to two shaggy kittens, for which I supervised and helped [...]

Design: “Praise” Poster

May 26, 2001 Art
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Behold!

One of my first ever computer-aided graphic designs, titled “Praise God” in Arabic and depicting a traditional Eastern praying beads, God and the solar system. Can’t get any better than that.

The poster plays on the Arabic word for using the beads and “praising” the one God, as a symbol of coexistence and harmony between the [...]

Crafts: Cross-Stitching “Our Lady of Kazan”

November 16, 1999 Art
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For a guy growing up in the masculine and male-dominated mid-east, I was blessed with a tender and crafty mother.

My Ukrainian mother Galina indulged in all types of crafts and hobbies, not the least of them was the traditional form of embroidery cross-stitching. Watching my Mom sit for hours, eyes peeled and focused on the circular [...]