2013 Winners & Shortlists

Brief Explanation

Our key objective was to design a cover that would increase sales by being visually attractive as well as create a way to instigate conversations on the subject between readers.

The Brief

For their special edition issue covering the struggle between traditional and digital media, ArabAd, one of the region’s leading and oldest industry magazines, requested a cover design that would illustrate the ongoing industry discussion.

How the final design was conceived

The Traditional vs. Digital conversation is a continual industry discussion. We tackled the argument by giving readers an experiential way to pick a side. We created the region’s first augmented reality (AR) cover. Designed to look like a boxing ring, readers were invited to scan the cover using an AR app on their smart phones. Once scanned, two fighters (one representing traditional media, the other digital) appeared and began to fight, using the cover as their backdrop. By using both mediums we gave the reader the ability to experience both simultaneously and therefore the grounds for argument for each medium.

Indication of how successful the outcome was in the market

Our cover received a great amount of interaction. Through the application we were able to determine that over 760 users had scanned the cover and by the end of the year that number had increased to over 2500. Although the cover came out in June, we realized through the increased scanning throughout the year, that people who had purchased the magazine had obviously kept it to share with friends, family and colleagues, thus spreading interest in the cover's design. In addition to the consumer appreciation, ArabAd stated the June cover was one of its most successful yet.