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Rana Salam
Born 3 September 1966 is a London-Beirut born designer known for how to merge both art and design, creating some of the most outstanding projects through her "Capturing Culture" vision. Her signature style is inspired by the Middle East’s popular culture. She takes her visual cues from billboards, vintage film posters and signs of consumerism and translates them into visually captivating solutions, delivering a contemporary reinterpretation that extends the global relevance of her designs across everything from interiors to products.

Life
The daughter of pioneering Lebanese architect Assem Salam, Rana grew up in Beirut.

Her father’s gift of a Vespa at the age of 15 inspired her to explore the city’s streets, unconsciously exposing her to the shaabi (popular) culture that later became her inspiration. Her mother Josephine Bisharat, who grew up in Jerusalem, studied at Vassar College, NY and Harvard where she then returned to the Middle East to teach at the American University of Beirut. She loved cooking and baking which had a huge impact on Rana’s childhood, growing up on cookbooks such as The Joy of Cooking, Chez Panisse and Claudia Roden.

Ironically it was not until later, during her design education in London, that Rana studied and fully discovered her own country’s creativity.

With no facility for formal design education in Lebanon, she left Beirut in 1986 to pursue her BA in Graphic Design at Central St. Martins, to follow this with an MA in Visual Communication and Art Direction from the Royal College of Art.

At the time, London was leading the global design-branding explosion and artistically expressing its days through the creation of the iconic design. Inspired by London’s projected introspection, Salam turned to Lebanese popular art and culture, exploring it and merging it with the latest design technology. She essentially commenced to export her own culture through expressions in her work to change people’s perceptions on the Middle East, thereby creating her own distinctive style.

She returned to Beirut in 2010 to directly engage with the dynamic capital and bring London’s value for design to the frenetic city “that is continuously exploding with creative resilience.” Rana Salam Studio opened in 2012, with the artistic intention of projecting the Middle East in a fresh, engaging and new light. Rana continues to capture her culture and use her growing archive of found objects and everyday signs to expose and document visual experiences of the region by publishing books (The Secret Life of Syrian Lingerie) revealing the expected and shaping exhibitions (Iconic City: Brilliant Beirut at D3-Dubai Design Week 2016) that uphold the importance of the Middle East, particularly Lebanon, in the international design scene.

Career
Inspired by Paul Smith, Sonja Rykiel and Kate Spade, its easy to see how these have filtered into how she works.

Rana Salam’s career took off when she designed the window display of upscale London store Harvey Nichols straight out of collage, translating hand-painted Beirut street billboards and pop stars into glamorous European icons such as Bettie Page and Brigitte Bardot. Soon Liberty of London embraced the flair of Middle Eastern street art and commissioned Rana to design their then new swimwear department. Her studio has since acquired broad experience and developed specialized knowledge in art direction, design and consultancy for retail, product, print, hospitality, and exhibitions.

Rana’s design repute is also well-established within the GCC and globally.

A milestone of Rana career came in 2008 with the publication of her book, ‘The Secret Life of Syrian Lingerie’. Co-authored with Malu Halasa, the book sold close to 5,000 copies in its first year. More projects came on stage later and up to now you can find Rana Salam designs in UK, France, Lebanon, Spain, United States, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

Philosophy
“For me, inspiration comes from observing both ends of the spectrum, from the old-fashioned to the contemporary, the dull to the extraordinary, the filthy to the pristine! Everything is mesmerizing and delicious to look at! I hide nothing! I am always on a quest to capture positive images of the Middle East and portray them in my work. What better way to impact and change perceptions than through the power of design?”.

“My unique interpretation of design and signature language bring to life and celebrate the contrasting juxtapositions of my environment. I want to brilliantly transform the perception of the Middle East. What better way than through play!”.