Bassem Gamal, also known as Besoo, is a visual and graphic artist born and raised in the capital, Cairo, Egypt. He creates visuals inspired by old Egyptian films, childhood memories, traditions, and society. At only 24 years of age, he creates nostalgic artwork about art, cinema, culture, and anything from his surroundings. Simply, Besoo finds beauty in everything. For him, Cairo is like a station bringing Egypt’s diverse and rich community from all its districts and regions all in a single place. He is merely inspired by Cairo and its districts such as Heliopolis, Zamalik, Tahrir, and Downtown.

Although he doesn’t come from an artistic background, his talent was born from his love for cinema and film posters. He wanted to reflect that love in different forms through video editing and graphic design. A graduate in business and administration, he used his love for art and talent to get professionally involved in this field. Films, flyers, and traditional posters in Egypt inspired him from a very young age, which later became a visual archive he used to create memorable and relatable artwork.

As a viewer myself, I felt nostalgic when I came across his work on Instagram. It is as if I were revisiting Besoo’s artistic work from the past. He managed to connect different fields of art with social concepts in a sarcastic way that many, I believe, in the Arab region could relate to. Throughout his career, Besoo has mainly worked as a freelance visual artist and graphic designer. On social media, Instagram has been the main channel Besoo uses to connect with the audience. In the age of fast communication and scrolling, he managed to capture people’s attention mid-scroll and connect with his work.

Besoo’s Style & Uniqueness

His approach focuses on a mix of humor and sarcasm, as comedy is what makes people laugh and creates a sense of acceptance around anything when it is approached through sarcasm. Besoo wanted to connect with people authentically, not only for visual consumption but to allow people to find a connection or relation with his work, in a sense, bringing the posters he designs to life. Graphic design for him shifted from being a simple design to focusing on dissemination. A shift that began when he was a high school freshman. To make it in this field, he started working as a freelance graphic designer. From creating logos to developing visual identities for diverse clients. He also had the opportunity to work with an agency in Cairo while studying at university.

Although passion is what ignited Besoo to pursue this field, he highlighted that passion alone is not enough and that one must show dedication. As he described it, and I quote: “to show up” every day, which can truly make a difference. From there, he stepped into social media to create and share art. But most importantly to connect with people but he didn’t want to make it about him or about views. His goal was simple: not to be known as the person behind the account but to share and connect with people. It is the reason why he created his page under the name “besoo.png”. To inspire others and connect with people, and even the name of the channel is sarcastic in its essence.

Connecting With Besoo on Social Media

For Bassem, the Instagram account opened opportunities beyond what was known to those it connected with. His style, given the uniqueness of his work, inspired him and allowed him to become the creative director in his work. He developed the artistic vision and created a market strategy for diverse clients. As a freelancer, it opened the space for him to work with clients beyond Egypt. Reaching many countries in the MENA region, such as Saudi Arabia, Jordan, the UAE, and others. 

”Remember to create something familiar but speaks to our time today “

When it comes to work, Besoo is most proud of, or perhaps the work that can be considered a trademark of his career, would be the fashion industry for brands like Soak, Younyo, and Dolaby. For him, these fashion and art projects allowed him to explore a new style while combining nostalgia with a twist. Besoo aims to work on complex ideas and wanted his portfolio to be unique. He strives to tackle complex concepts with a one-of-a-kind portfolio. Today, his passion has transformed into a thriving career, empowering him to support and inspire fellow artists.

Concluding Remarks From Besoo

His message to visual artists and graphic designers who are still new to this field, and to those who feel stuck, is to always return to the basics. Do not over-engineer any work you aim to address. Most importantly, always remain relatable to people, as your work comes from people and is aimed at people. Don’t forget that art is a personal experience, and remember to reflect your experience in the art you’re creating. 

You can check Besoo’s work in detail on Instagram, where he now has around 73K followers: Bassem Gamal