Khatt Chronicles in Conversation with Hanane Kai

About this episode

Yasmine Nachabe Taan interviews Hanane Kai about her journey as an illustrator and her creative projects.

Yasmine Nachabe Taan interviews Lebanese illustrator Hanane Kai who shares her journey from studying and working as a graphic designer to the moment she decided to concentrate on illustration work. They discuss her illustration career that began with sketching in the park, to online blogs and social media, eventually leading to award-winning commissioned work. They unpack issues related to her response to upsetting events, through personal political posters, some in collaboration with type designer Kristyan Sarkis. They also discuss her passion for children's books that she collects, diving into her work for children and young adults books. Hanane speaks about the challenges of illustrating children's books especially those addressing difficult social topics and mental health issues. Through the conversation they talk about the Bologna Children's Book Fair and the impact of a visit to this fair on her work as an illustrator, inspiring one of her most experimental and playful illustrated children's book. Hanane explains her process and the importance of research, as well as letting the content dictate the media and style of image-making. Hanane also talks about her latest project…

People in this episode

Host: Yasmine Nachabe Taan

Guest: Hanane Kai

Topics covered

• illustration
• graphic design
• children's books
• mental health
• political art
• creative process

Keywords

• illustration
• graphic design
• children's books
• political posters
• Bologna Children's Book Fair
• mental health
• artistic process

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