Sako Shahinian
Sako Shahinian (born 1980) is an American-Armenian illustrator whose artwork has been featured in System of a Down projects.
Biography
Sako was born in 1980 in Beirut, Lebanon to ethnic Armenian parents. From youth he showed interest in drawing. He attended Los Angeles County High School of the Arts, where he earned the opportunity to paint the Woody Guthrie Exhibit's main mural with Adam Dryden at the Gene Autry Western Heritage Museum in 1999.
In 2001, Sako worked on a book project with Serj Tankian from System of a Down. His artwork accompanied Serj's poems. In 2004, Sako went on to graduate from Art Center College of Design with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in illustration. In recent times, he has created Serj Tankian's new website.
He has annually been illustrating System of a Down's "Souls Concert" poster. He created the new System of a Down logo in coalition with Velvet Hammer productions. In October 2005, his illustration of Jack Nicholson from the movie The Passenger was published in The New Yorker. He has worked closely with a wide pallet of companies, designing CD covers, packaging material, creating corporate identities, and marketing print materials.