GE

George Eid

Founder & Chief Executive Officer at AREA17 and 1 other company
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George Eid founded the branding and digital product company Area17 in New York in 2003, adding a Paris studio in 2006. Today the company works for brands that include Nike, Google and the New York Times. Alongside his brand work, George has founded several digital products through the company’s incubator, such as Subfolio, Slash, Krrb, and Twill.

George's career trajectory has been far from typical. A child of refugees, a late diagnosis of dyslexia exaggerated George's sense of being an outsider – but also increased his determination to succeed.

His first creative love was the theatre: George established his own company out of college where he wrote, directed and acted. From here, he extended his repertoire into filmmaking, with his productions for the screen that included an award-winning documentary about Gaza.

When George discovered code in the late 1980s for him it was a natural extension of his theatre and film work – an emerging medium that enabled expression beyond the bounds of language. An early foray into web design led to side projects, and then agency creative director roles from where the decision to strike out on his own in 2003 and found Area17 came naturally, like the bridge from being a performer to programmer.
George's creative career has evolved alongside his other great passion – food, which he pursued by founding a restaurant with his brother, running it when he wasn't performing. Today, living in Paris with his wife and daughter, food is still a central part of George's existence. And he sees the simple joy of feeding people as analogous to his work with Area17. "It's about combining simple ingredients with artistry to create magic. To delight someone. And when people get together over a great meal, they can change the world. To me that's what my job has always been about."

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