July 12, 2012

ADOPTING A PERSONAL APPROACH

ADOPTING A PERSONAL APPROACH TO BRAND STATIONERY

By Maryam Ahmed, Intern @ Zaman

Stationery is a word that we mostly associate with our daily office requirements. Personally, I did not know that the word stationery is a common word in design and branding until recently. Some of us think of stationery as rigid and serious, some perceive it in a more personal way. Stationery can be papers (company letterheads, branded notepads, envelopes), office supplies, cards, pencils, stickers etc.

In the design field, stationery is mostly designed for companies both big and small, as well as freelancers. When thinking about companies I tend to imagine serious and rigid designs, however there are many businesses that approach branding and the design of their stationery in a more personalized way relating their customers to the place or brand. I think this is a more successful approach, because people like to relate to the place or the object.

The way the stationery is designed can also help the customers of that business to understand the nature of it more. Plus, visual impressions are very necessary to how we perceive a certain company or a product. Not to forget that when designing stationery for a business the design of the theme needs to stay consistent through out all the stationery so that it all looks like a part of the business.

An important aspect of designing stationary for businesses is business cards, obviously! Business cards appear to be the most personal as they directly relate to a person, but in big businesses where the stationary needs to stay consistent all business cards need to have the same theme. But, who knew that some really jazzed up business cards exist out there?

Other examples of stationery created by Zaman Branding that I find appealing include:

Click here to see more examples of stationery designed by Zaman for its Middle Eastern clients.

June 22, 2012

QFIB

GUIDING A NEW BANKING ERA IN QATAR – QFIB

QFIB, a new approach to banking, was born amidst the global financial crisis. Derived from sound Islamic principles of sharing and integrity, its story capitalizes on the current economic state of affairs presenting a new and different approach to banking.

Although the bank already had a logo QFIB commissioned Zaman to create a more structured brand identity and comprehensive guidelines to ensure consistent application of the brand to multiple environments. Additionally we created templates for annual reports & the corporate brochure.

To mark QFIB’s inauguration Zaman orchestrated an event at Doha’s I.M Pei Islamic Museum. All elements of the event from the invites – personalized with gold leaf calligraphy and sealed with gold wax, and presented in a hand stitched leather box, to layered lighting choreography, space architecture, welcome kit and gift items were designed to reinforce QFIB’s Islamic values of transparency and depth.

Click here to see more of Zaman’s case studies.

June 22, 2012

Guiding a new banking era in Qatar – QFIB

Click here to see more of Zaman’s case studies.

June 5, 2012

AL NABOODAH

AL NABOODAH – UNITY UNDER ONE UMBRELLA

Case Study: “When Al Naboodah wanted to leverage its position across all its businesses, Zaman was called to create an identity that tells a story at every touch point. This is the solution that enables all stakeholders to easily make connections among its various divisions & business interests” Grace Yacoub, Founder Zaman

The colourful sun wheel at the heart of Al Naboodah’s new logo illustrates how its various components are united in purpose. Zaman designed the new logo to underscore the group’s unity of purpose. Using one icon to symoblise all its activities, the logo enables the Group to capitalise on a solid, singular brand. The kaleidoscope of colours portrays the vibrancy that emanates from the unique and diverse range of Al Naboodah companies, which cover four broad value pillars: Unity, Progress, Responsibility and Excellence.

Zaman applied the new identity across multiple environments, including the reception area of Al Naboodah’s Head Office in Deira.

Click here to see more images of the work we did for Al Naboodah and our other clients

March 16, 2012

Designing an identity

Designing an identity for a 20th century art furniture gallery

Brand design services

A few weeks ago in a post on the upcoming Design Days Dubai (DDD) fair we’d mentioned that we were in the process of finalizing an interesting project for an exhibiting gallery at the fair. We’re happy to announce our successful partnership with La Galerie Nationale – a new entrant onto Dubai’s Al Serkal Avenue.

About the gallery: With over 20yrs of experience La Galerie Nationale specializes in original design art pieces created in the 20^th century by celebrated designers such as Mathieu Mategot, Jean Royere, Raymond Loewy, Willy Rizzo, Joe Colombo & more.

What makes the gallery particularly unique & guaranteed to be a favourite address among the region’s art collectors is that La Galerie Nationale’s (LGN) exclusive collection is homage to the concept of original, vintage furniture as art – where each piece embodies the vision of the designer & the spirit of life during this period.

In choosing to setup a representative gallery of La Galerie Nationale in the Middle East, our client was also keen to use this opportunity to use our brand design services to create a more refreshed & stronger visual identity – cleaner than the previous logo.

We began with a series of briefing workshops in our studio with the gallery founder to familiarize the team with 20^th century art, the story of the gallery & the founder’s aspirations for LGN in the region.

Below is a short interview with our Creative Director Dejana on how the team used the insight for this project:

Dejana, what appealed the most to you in the gallery’s story?

“Listening to the gallery founder Guillaume tell the stories of some of the unique pieces in his collection, dotted with anecdotes on finding a specific piece or an interaction with a designer from that period…his passion & obvious love for design objects from the period coupled with his expertise.”

What was the direction for the visual identity?

“For the logo, we wanted it to be a complete departure from the old one, opting instead for a monochrome approach. Going by the images shared by LGN, some of the pieces are very colourful or have unusual shapes so the final logo is simple & elegant providing a subtle backdrop for the vibrant portfolio. We opted for customizing New Courier typeface, the use of which was inspired by the 20^th century when typewriters were used; we thought was a nice touch. The diagonal line in the logo is a graphical devise which is both part of the identity and also a smart play on architecture as LGN also represents the architects of that era.”

What is the commonly preferred marketing collateral for the Middle East brands?

“In the ME the same requirements for basic stationary required in the West are applicable here. So in the limited amount of time we had to “launch” the LGN brand in line with the gallery opening & the upcoming DDD in agreement with the client we worked on design artworks for business cards, letterheads & envelopes as well as COA (certificates) – although we’re not working on the LGN website we did prepare a visual blueprint on how the finalized identity system can be applied to the website & also invites for future gallery events.”

Inspiration for the gallery’s event invites?

“Well, we looked at a lot of references in the form of email invites that Grace or myself frequently get from both local & international galleries – minimalism is definitely a key theme, both in terms of imagery style & the level of descriptive text. The purpose of the first invite we designed was to announce LGN’s participation in DDD. We created a template, applicable to future invites, which employs the graphical device which is already quite strong & impactful and then just included key info on dates & location.”

Thanks Dejana!

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