2015 Winners & Shortlists

GAZA TYPEFACE

Short List
BrandPCRF PALESTINE CHILDREN'S RELIEF FUND
Product/ServiceSAVE GAZA
EntrantTBWA\RAAD Dubai, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
CategoryTypography
Entrant Company TBWA\RAAD Dubai, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
Advertising Agency TBWA\RAAD Dubai, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

Brief Explanation

In the MENA region, traditional media is saturated with content, so much so that it's hard to be heard, especially when it comes to social causes. To break through the clutter, we needed to create something that would stand out and at the same time grab the highest amount of attention possible, in the shortest amount of time possible. The objective was to make something that could live both online and offline, and was in of itself, a medium that could be used to communicate.

The Brief

We wanted to create awareness of the gradual reduction of Palestinian lands since 1948 in a way that would be unique yet striking, and which would move past traditional media, even past social media, and that would bring an immediate amount of attention to the plight, and in turn help raise funds for the Palestine Children's Relief Fund.

How the final design was conceived

After watching a slew of Palestinian films from the 1940s and 50s, we noticed that the slab serif used to subtitle these films was quite unique in form. We wanted to keep its integrity, and so used it as our base for a typeface that quite literally disappears before your eyes, just like the Palestinian map. We created 3 font families, each representing the state of Palestinian land in 1948, 1967 and 2014, so that the viewer experiences the immediate gravity of the situation, in a unique and thought-provoking way.

Indication of how successful the outcome was in the market

The Gaza typeface has been uploaded onto dafont.com, where it raises donations for the Palestine Children's Relief Fund. It has also gotten the attention of another NGO, which will be using the typeface to create a subscription based mobile app in the coming months.

The client, the Palestine Children's Relief Fund, is a non-profit organisation, so this project had no budget. It was created entirely after hours and during weekends to make the vision a reality. PCRF's audience is the mass public. Its aim is to first, educate on the plight of Palestine's displaced children, and then find ways to make their every day lives better.

Credits

Name Company Role
Rohan Young TBWA/RAAD Executive Creative Director
Deger Ozkan Cotelioglu TBWA/RAAD Creative Director
Ajsa Zdravkovic TBWA/RAAD Graphic Designer
Dana Silwadi TBWA/RAAD Senior Copywriter