Lebanon: Interview with the “Brofessional Review” · Global Voices
Layal Al Khatib

Nine months ago, a group of three designers and two advertising graduates teamed up to start a blog tackling everything related to design: advertising, fashion and media; they called it the “Brofessional Review”. Now, with more than 100 reviews in their archive, readers look forward to their posts/opinions whenever a new brand, advertising campaign or promo hits the market. Global Voices Online  interviewed them to know more about what they do.
The “Brofessional Review” Team
Global Voices Online: First of all, who are the Brofessional Review team members?
Brofessional Review: We are a team of 3 aspiring Graphic Designers and 2 Advertising
graduates, relatively contributing to the blog. Some members are more active than others but the whole team shares a set of principles regarding design related subject matters, and how to interact with the field. We agreed to be  transparent and fun, a mix between cynicism and criticism, the ‘Brofessional’ way.
GVO: What inspired you to start the blog?
BR: Admin I : Nothing in particular; Being very active as a designer and very opinionated as a person, I somehow reached a phase where I had so much to say but lacked the right platform. It was a random intuitive moment when the idea came up and got reformulated to reach its present stage.
GVO: Have you ever received an official or unofficial response from an
agency/brand you talked about?
BR: We receive responses almost constantly. It only took few weeks that the blog started getting a good amount of exposure. Agencies started knowing about us and we got in contact with many brands’ marketing
managers. Responses varied between hate, hate and a reasonable amount of objective interaction. After almost 8 months we’ve held meetings with many agencies discussing their work and we’re still exchanging emails regarding such matters without affecting our tone or credibility.
GVO: Based on the ads/campaigns you see and review, how do you describe the advertising business in Lebanon?
BR: The advertising scene in Lebanon is in desperate need for design. Design is not a technical medium; it’s not a tool, but a thinking process. The majority of our agencies tend to disregard process and go for the fast commercial work that lacks creativity and innovation. To be fair, advertising in Lebanon is hypocrisy blended with clichés except the very few daring individuals trying to break through.
GVO: What's the next step for Brofessional Review?
BR: We are aiming to add more daring insights regarding design, featuring well-known design thinkers expressing their minds informally – The ‘Brofessional’ way. Design is our main concern, whether talking
advertising or fashion. The next step will focus on interactivity with a higher dose of guts!
Thank you!
You can follow the Brofessional Review on Twitter @BrofessionalR and on their Facebook page too.