Uprising: Tania Radwan’s Creativity Is Her ‘Comfort Blanket’

“What’s the root of creativity? It’s curiosity,” says digital art director Tania Radwan. The creative who works at Cheil UAE, grew up in the mountains of Lebanon, “roaming around in hues of yellow and green.”

“I was a quiet and shy child. I had awkward social skills and it took me some time to be comfortable in my own skin,” says Tania. Her childhood was spent watching Disney movies and diving into the magical worlds on screen, as well as dipping her fingers in paint and creating her own masterpieces through arts and crafts. 

“And of course like any other kid, I also had lots of imaginary friends,” she says. “We built forts together under dining tables and talked for hours. I found myself collecting junk and making a spaceship out of wasted straws and bottle caps. I would say my creativity was my comfort blanket.”

It’s no surprise that Tania turned to creativity, especially since her mother’s career as a contemporary painter, mosaic and collage artist rubbed off on her – not to mention her dad’s passion for literature and poetry. “Art books and supplies were always available in our household, which gave me a lot of room to explore different mediums and to develop skills ever since I could remember.” She also learnt through watching her mum navigate the canvases she worked on. 

“The serenity of shapes and colours that art used to give our home was something I wanted to keep,” she explains. In her small town environment, “where people didn’t often have high expectations for girls” she wanted to reach further and dream bigger. She says, “That pushed me to challenge myself even more. This is why I think that sometimes the things that try to sink us down deep are the same reason we are afloat today.”

In an effort to broaden her creative landscape, Tania chose to study graphic design at the American University of Science and Technology in Beirut, when she left school. While the experience isn’t for everyone, she explains how she combined theoretical and practical learning to benefit her best. 

She says, “My university experience was very fun. I also worked there for financial aid in the printing and press office. It was a good experience and I started to observe the difference between my classes and fieldwork. My classes were experimental and challenging, whereas working in an office was more technical.”

Following her graduation in 2015, Tania worked at a news outlet, drawing infographics and editorials for features. “I enjoyed it. It gave me the freedom to explore my style and work harder on my programmatic skills,” she says, but there was something missing. “In the back of my head, I always wanted to work for an agency.” Two years later, she made that happen when she explored opportunities to become a UI/UX designer.

When she got a call from Impact BBDO Beirut in 2018, Tania jumped at the opportunity, “It was the field I always wanted to be in.” She was based there for a year before the economic situation in Lebanon made her divert to Dubai, “I came [to the UAE] carrying my shattered country on my shoulders, and I put those thoughts and feelings into my work,” she says, “it was the best I have ever produced in years.” It’s now been four years that she’s been at Cheil, as she carries on embedding the essence of Lebanon within her work and creating beauty out of the wreckage.

All of Tania’s experiences have transpired in her role today, as she explains, “Experience in different fields over the years gave me an advantage to look at things from different perspectives and that’s what made me succeed in being an art director.” Taking a look back at all the work she’s created, it was her approach to Dubai Watch Week in 2021 that stands out. 

She explains, “I had to digitally draw [the illustrations] and we turned it into an editorial platform. I feel like I had combined everything I loved about what I do, the illustrations, the art direction, the colours and modernity under one brand. As an art director, I always strive to have the right layout, colour combination, texture, and the right visual message conveyed to the audience, in the hope that it’ll spark their interest and feast their eyes.”

Behind everything she does, there’s a child-like curiosity keeping her going. “I think in the industry people forget that our creativity flows from our inner child when we are at the core of producing and brainstorming. With time, as we grow up, we tend to be less curious and most people get busy with the routine of delivering – because of the stressful environments and short-term deadlines –  or focus on award titles with no proper long-term solutions.”

For Tania, her inner child screams for meaningful change, which is what she wanted to achieve from the beginning. “I originally come from a country with a lot of social and political problems,” she says about Lebanon as she explains her motivation. “It could be small, with solutions for a brand but sometimes if you’re really lucky, you can benefit a community or a nation with one ad and that’s what gets me going.”

Being human and sharing human experiences are things that she feels strongly about, “I think the industry needs to revolve mostly around empathy towards society/ an audience to fully understand the cause, and solutions needed, and also inside the agencies with coworkers to build higher emotional intelligence and stronger bonds.” She believes that creatives shine when they have a safe space and the time to be curious, which makes them realise why they chose this industry to begin with.

“When work is done,” says Tania, “I surround myself with music, movies, video games and books. One of my favourite directors is Gaspar Noe, his theatrical and hypnotic approach to human emotion is really interesting. In gaming, I love the art of Yoshitaka Amano in the Final Fantasy series.”

The curiosity which drives her means that Tania continually dedicates time to delving into the new – whether that be looks, music, video games or different types of art. “Also, when I find the time, which is not as often as I would like, I love to paint. I believe it’s my calling and I try to dive into it every now and then.”

Tania leaves us with why she makes time for these new pursuits, “I feel that helps me think from a broader perspective, especially in my day-to-day work and career.”