As a child, Raphaelle Macaron’s schoolbooks were filled with scribbles and drawings rather than mathematical calculations and spelling exercises. Growing up, she discovered her love of storytelling through images. Of being obsessed with Daniel Clowes’ cult classic ghost world comic to devour her mother’s collection of comic books, Raphaelle quickly developed an instinctive passion for collecting pictures as a teenager. Today, her phone hosts an ever-growing collection of “useless images” that she saves for those times when she feels “completely uninspired”.
Born and raised in Beirut, Raphaelle now works in Paris. “Coming from Lebanon and living as an expat, it was exceptionally difficult to be away from home with all the terrible things that happened,” Raphaelle recalls somberly. She continues, “drawing, from illustration to comics, has always given me a tool to express myself”, it offers a sense of “purpose and depth”. While Raphaelle’s vibrant collection of posters over the years often communicates nostalgia for her favorite Lebanese snacks, the creative inspiration that offers the most powerful form of comfort, escape and joy is music.
“I think my visual universe was mainly built around my passion for music”, explains Raphaelle. She began collecting records and concert posters at an early age and these early influences permeate Raphalle’s practice today. “I think my use of color and constructing images with typography came from just looking at record covers,” she adds. So when he was asked to design the visual identity of the festival Nancy Jazz Beats in 2021, Raphaelle jumped at the chance to honor some of her greatest musical heroes in the form of five posters. Painfully feeling the hole in her life from the lack of live concerts during the shutdowns for the past two years, Raphaelle wanted to inject the buzzing atmosphere of live music into her poster designs. In the series, five portraits of musical artists are superimposed on snapshots of famous live performances.