2013 Winners & Shortlists

Brief Explanation

This is a serious company, in a very serious business. They are risk-averse. Saudi Arabia is a very conservative culture. No one single person on the client side had ever dealt with a design company before. It is unlikely that they ever shall again.

The Brief

The National Shipping Company Of Saudi Arabia has grown into one of the most respected bulk carriers in the world. They specialize in dangerous cargoes and operate in treacherous waters. They have ambitions, with the encouragement of their customers, to expand into a broader range of logistics. This will be a global expansion, with a complete door-to-door service involving trucking, refrigeration, warehousing and whole new range of activities. It is a huge plan. They asked us to re-brand in preparation for this undertaking.

How the final design was conceived

We started with the name, Bahri. This is an ancient Arabic word, the closest translation we have is “of the sea”, but this does not do justice to the poetry of the original. The mark we designed has the echo of the prow of a ship. Within that shape there is something enclosed and protected. The lines are clean and geometric. It is a shape that has a story, but the story is hinted at rather than explicitly told. This semi-abstract but symbolic shape is a feature of Islamic art. You will see it in tiles and mosaics from Cordoba to Cairo. The story is there, but you have to know how to read it.

Indication of how successful the outcome was in the market

The new identity was launched with great public fanfare in Riyad. Press and TV reported it with great pride. As you read this, our mark will be making it’s way through the Panama Canal and ploughing the farthest reaches of the South China Seas. It is thrilling to see something that started as a few strokes of a pencil expand across the vast hull of a supertanker.