2013 Winners & Shortlists

SHARJAH CHILDREN'S BOOK FAIR

Short List
BrandDEPT OF CULTURE & INFORMATION - SHARJAH GOVERNMENT
Product/ServiceEVENT
EntrantTHE BRAND UNION Dubai, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
CategoryCORPORATE IDENTITY SCHEMES
Entrant Company THE BRAND UNION Dubai, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
Advertising Agency THE BRAND UNION Dubai, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

Brief Explanation

This is not a culture with a traditional of reading. (Even the great regional hero, the founder of the UAE, Sheikh Zayed, went to his grave without ever having learned or read or write. There was no shame in that. Quite the opposite.) Even today the young prefer comics to books. The Fair has traditionally looked “educational”. Heavy and serious.

The Brief

Sharjah International Book Fair in it’s 19th year. Children’s Book Fair a personal project for Sheikha Bodour. We wanted a section of the Fair that looked like it belonged to the kids. A zone they could own.

How the final design was conceived

When our young designer, Ahmad Issa, told us about the hidden accents that only children use we knew that we had the answer. We then had to make these accents sing. The colours did that.

Indication of how successful the outcome was in the market

Children came and stayed. We ran out of collateral on the second day and had to reprint overnight. First time that has ever happened. Sold more books than ever before (but shouldn’t take credit for that – the numbers are, happily, rising each year).

Credits

Name Company Role
Paul Cardwell Tbu Exec Creative Director
Simon Parkinson Tbu Creative Director
Ahmad Issa Tbu Designer