Beautiful Space Vacation prints celebrate fan favorite movies Achi-News

I first fell in love with Samar Haddad’s playful yet sophisticated caricatures on Instagram, where he publishes pop culture poster art from his favorite TV and movies under the name “Space Vacation.” Her excellent cartooning skills allow her to deftly create a distinct face with just a few lines, creating an instantly recognizable trademark. His drawings are funny and strange; her color palettes are outstanding.

You will see many of his illustrations The Edge – most often, in line with our how-tos and sometimes in The Vergecast. I chatted to her about drawing people without noses, where she finds inspiration, and how she makes time for art as a parent.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

How did you get started making pop culture prints?

I had been working in design and branding agencies for a few years and I was stuck in a rut where I was always dictated by what the client wanted, and I didn’t really have a say in how the projects came to head Then, a friend of mine was working with a television production company, and they were looking for a collection of designers to create posters in whatever medium they wanted. I chose to depict several iconic film characters and combine them together in one composition. It was the most fun I’ve ever had on a project, and I loved the freedom I had.

Then, seeing how movies and series got me excited about drawing in the first place, I continued Game of Thrones, the first illustrated poster I made for myself, and as I continue to create more posters based on films and series I love, I launched the Space Vacation brand through my first exhibition in 2016 to showcase the prints this. It has been an exciting journey since then.

What about films got you excited about being an illustrator? Any specific movies or shows?

I have always been more attracted to fiction and fantasy than reality. Being around films and series felt like stepping into my own world. So paying tribute to some of my favorite films or series happened naturally, and I started designing posters with my own interpretation of them. I started with the films that influenced me the most as a teenager Alien, The Breakfast Club, Star Wars… I feel very lucky to have grown up during such an exciting time for the cinema.

How do you start a new project? Talk us through the process of creating a composition.

The process is the same for all projects. I try to capture an idea or inspiration from whatever I’ve watched recently; it can be a line from a movie or a scene that really stayed with me. I write it down and then come back to it (usually at night when everything is quiet and I can concentrate without interruption). I develop this idea further by creating several vector elements such as the main characters, the setting, and sometimes I integrate them with type. I go through many color schemes and composition variations until I am satisfied with my progress. And I always work digitally. I feel like it allows me flexibility whenever I feel like starting over or changing elements to recreate them differently.

So you create individual elements and then assemble them into one composition?

Yes, I treat it like a collage. I used to love making art collages as a hobby when I was in college, and I thought, why not apply the same treatment to illustrations? The process takes many trials and alternatives, but in the end, it gives me great satisfaction.

The faces you draw are so distinctive – you use very few lines to communicate an instantly recognizable person. How did you find this style?

When I started drawing faces, I went for a very geometric style. I experimented with making characters recognizable through other distinctive aspects, such as a unique item of clothing. But I found that this method made the characters seem stiff and often similar to each other. So I started to loosen up my style a bit by making the lines curvier. I made the position and size of the facial elements more proportional to the actual character I was drawing. It was that mix that made the faces more recognisable, I guess.

I have to ask: why don’t you draw noses on your characters? I love these details and the fact that people are so recognizable even without them. Was this a conscious choice?

Yes, it was. I was inspired by anime characters and felt that this allowed more focus on the eyes and mouth, which convey a wider range of emotions and expressions. The nose, a critical and refined feature, is left undefined to preserve the essence of the object, capturing a deeper character beyond mere physicality.

Do you approach editorial art and commissioned projects differently than the pop culture prints you do?

I treat self-initiated prints the same way I treat commissioned projects. If I treated them differently, I would get too comfortable, and they would become secondary. I wouldn’t want the result to be as good as I want it to be because, ultimately, they are as essential and personal as my other work.

Do you still have time to draw “just for fun”?

It definitely got a lot more challenging since I had a daughter, and spending time with her takes up most of my time. In my pre-toddler life, work always took over. Now, it has changed significantly because I want to be present for every moment, especially in the early years. But I make sure that I set aside time for myself and creative play to keep fueling the spark and replenishing my inspiration.