2011 Winners & Shortlists

Brief Explanation

Our key objective was to create a visual language for this year's festival that would be iconic. The eventual creative we knew would have to, given the nature of the festival, be used in information heavy applications. Programmes and leaflets with author names, venues and times. Our aim was to develop a clean look and feel, that no matter how much information it carried, would still reflect positively in terms of the stature of the event. A further challenge was that the visual language we created, had to be entirely bilingual. Understood equally amongst the primary English and Arabic audiences.

The Brief

Rather than an advertising communication, our brief was to create a "look and feel" for the 2011 Emirates Literature Festival. A look that could translate across all the various requirements of the Festival from banners and festival guides, to print and outdoor. The design had to be heroic and malleable across multiple media. One idea. Manipulated. Moreover, a singular piece of design that would create an immediate association with the Festival.

How the final design was conceived

"We are the sum total of what we know." A random line found somewhere during our research turned out to be the inspiration for the design. Books being the metaphor and indeed catalyst for the sum total of who we are and indeed "what we know". The graphic book became the design feature of this year's Festival. Reinterpreted in various guises to meet the express needs of a particular piece of communication. Whether to draw attention to Arab or children's writers, masterclasses or once off guest lectures.

Indication of how successful the outcome was in the market

One week before the Emirates Literature Festival was due to start, most of the author and masterclass sessions scheduled for the week long event were completely sold out. It is estimated that in excess of 25 000 will attend The Festival to see literary stars such as Margaret Atwood, Michael Palin, Edward de Bono, Wole Soyinka, etc.