Published in Ink Magazine

Two of my poems were published in a quarterly Pakistani magazine by the name of Ink Magazine in their May-July 2010 issue.

This was the first time I was published in a proper print magazine.

Here's a scan from the Contributor's section:

Poem - My Country

I wrote this poem in the February of 2010 after visiting Pakistan. Sent it to a newly starting out magazine-website and they published it. Small step in getting published :)

A few days ago I visited my homeland Pakistan,
I hate to admit it: I figured I was a deadman.
The security conditions there were not too good,
Thank God everything went just like a smooth wood.
There was no limit to my happiness when my plane landed,
To rejoice and shout out with joy I was sorely tempted.
I was in PAKISTAN, the land of the Muslim Nuclear Bomb,
A place with history; whose enemies want to spray it with napalm.
I set my foot, took a deep breath and kissed the ground,
What I felt at that time is undescribable, I was spellbound.
Ignoring the growing neckache, I looked on the roads left & right,
I just could not help grinning ear to ear with delight!
It is hard to believe that love could be so blind,
Even the polluted atmosphere smelled most divine.
The fields were filled with flowers so very bright,
They seemed to set the atmosphere with fire alight.
My country celebrates Earth Day each and everyday,
Electricity is shed for hours and hours without delay :D
I can't be more thankful to this land, for it's my identity,
Mark my words; one day it will be a place of complete chastity.
Because I've had many memories of this place since childhood,
I feel I'll always crave for it like a priest for sainthood!

Published at: Pakistan Zindabad Youth Magazine

Hi! LONG TIME!

I am embarrassed. The last update to this blog was two years ago. People visit it and then run away. It's time to change that =D I got published a few times and I shall be posting those to the blog soon. Also, I will be writing whatever I feel like here now :D It's no longer just a 'Portfolio' blog :))

SAAB CD

Aljomaih Automotive Company is the main dealer in Saudi Arabia for Chevrolet, GMC, Cadillac, Hummer and SAAB cars. As part of their marketing campaign, they wanted to distribute CDs to their customers which have all the details of the products they sell. One such CD to be distributed was for Cadillac, Hummer and SAAB. I was given the charge of designing the SAAB part of the CD.

I absolutely adore this design of mine! I believe it's both professional and simple, AND easy to use for the customer :)

Newspaper Advertisement for SAAB

This one is an oldie. Made it last year for the dealer of SAAB cars in Saudi Arabia. Unfortunately, they cancelled the campaign and never used this :(

Layout of Al-Nahda Club

This is the layout of the Al-Nahda Club, in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, which I made a few months ago, for a function.

Gulf College Get Together

The Gulf College for Hospitality and Tourism Management, Bahrain held a Get Together for their alumnis some time ago. I designed the flyer for the function and the layout of the hall where the function was to be held. Check them out!

Pakistan National Day Function

I made this flyer for a function for the Pakistan National Day (23rd March) in Bahrain a while back.

PIS Khobar.com

I was asked to design the Official website of Pakistan International School, Al-Khobar, Saudi Arabia. The website's going good Mashallah. Check it out here!

Abahsain.net

I once made a website for the Automotive Division of a company in Saudi Arabia. It consisted of 4 sections: SAAB Cars, Mack Trucks, Marangoni Tyres and the main division site. I made it when I was 12 years old and I do wish they would update their design because the designs I made were so so ugly! You can check the website out here or view the screenshots here:

Updated: The website's finally closed. Please make do with the screenshots.

Awards!

Wizarding-World.com and Muggle-Central.com received many awards when they were active. Following are some of the awards Muggle-Central received:

Muggle-Central :: Last Layout

This was Muggle-Central's layout before I closed the website :(

Muggle-Central :: Version 5

This is Muggle-Central's version 5. It was the best of all the layouts Muggle-Central had ever had!

Muggle-Central :: Version 4

This is Muggle-Central's version 4. The layout was green-coloured. It was made just after the release of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.

Muggle-Central :: Version 3

Muggle-Central's 3rd version had a black and gray layout. This is my third layout after learning the slicing technique. What do you think of it?

Muggle-Central :: Version 2

Muggle-Central's version 2 had 2 layouts. These two were one of my best layouts at that time. This was the first time I used the slicing technique while graphics designing.

Muggle-Central.com is Born!

Eventually, we had to close Wizarding-Muggles.net due to a conflict between us mergers and I finally created Muggle-Central.com on August 14, 2004, when I was 13 years old. Muggle-Central's first version had 4 layouts. Following are screenshots of the splash and four of the five layouts.

Wizarding-Muggles.net

A year after opening Wizarding-World.com, in 2003, W-W merged with Puddlemere-United.net to form a much bigger website, Wizarding-Muggles.net. I made many layouts for the website out of which only one remains with me.

Wizarding-World.com

Me, like most webmasters, made by first website on GeoCities. I do not have any screenshot of those earlier layouts. The layout I made for my first top-level domain website, Wizarding-World.com, was one of my best in those days.

Welcome!

Welcome to Talal's Blog! This blog will portfolio all the websites and graphics I have designed to date. Do leave comments about each design! Thank You!