Most people associate Dubai with a mass of cliches. Simply telling them that Dubai has culture is not enough. We needed to show them and give them something tangible that they could see and experience.
The Brief
Dubai is a city that is both envied and disparaged. Many of its residents find it devoid of culture. Quint is an art and culture magazine, and the creative conscience of the city. So their challenge was to open people’s minds to the things they don’t see, by bringing the streets to the people through a poster campaign.
How the final design was conceived
We asked ourselves if design could change Dubai's perception of Dubai, and decided to use design as a means of connecting people to the city.
We went out onto the streets and made unique charcoal rubbings of places, objects and artifacts that could tell interesting stories. Those actual size rubbings were turned into a series of posters that opened people’s eyes to the simple, quirky or essential bits of culture that surround them every day, and urged them to open their minds and see beyond the obvious.
Indication of how successful the outcome was in the market
The posters were put up in art galleries, creative spaces, cafes, at events and art fairs, where they got people talking and thinking about Dubai in a new way.
People also wrote in to Quint, to suggest other objects and quirky things they associate with Dubai's culture, and now Quint has enough crowd-sourced suggestions to do an ongoing series of posters.