2016 Winners & Shortlists

BEIRUT'S BEST KEPT SECRET

Short List
BrandOFF & ON
Product/ServiceWEBSITE
EntrantRÉPUBLIQUE Beirut, LEBANON
CategoryDigital & Interactive Design
Entrant Company RÉPUBLIQUE Beirut, LEBANON
Advertising Agency RÉPUBLIQUE Beirut, LEBANON

Brief Explanation

Off&On is a barbershop that caters to fashion-conscious, young men who want stylists that understand the latest trends in men's grooming. That's what Off&On is on the outside. To the privileged few in the know, behind the facade of the barbershop lies one of Beirut's best kept secrets: an underground after-hours club that welcomes those who have dug deep enough to know it exists. The duality of the venue is part of its concept: Off&On doesn't want to be Beirut's biggest club - it wants to retain its exclusivity for true music lovers looking to party until morning.

The Brief

While Off&On depends on secrecy to fuel its brand, it still needed a website in order to have online presence. The client came to us to create two websites, one for the barbershop and one for the club. We went a little further and hid one inside the other.

How the final design was conceived

Our first step towards designing the website was to figure out how to have both sides of the venue represented while also mimicking the real life experience at Off&On. We decided that the website had to be a site, within a site; just like people had to dig deeper in order to find the club behind the barbershop, they would have to find the club's site within the barbershop's site. We experimented with different ways the user journey would take them to the end result - testing out varying levels of difficulty when it came to accessing the club site. It was important the finding the club site became a task for the user, but not too hard that they would give up on the site altogether. Finally, we arrived at a solution that would be both engaging and playful - keeping the user entertained but at the same time involved. The hidden switch; became a tool that would represent the lights in the barbershop turning off to reveal the dark, mysterious world of the club. If you couldn't find the button alone, we added a riddle to help.

Indication of how successful the outcome was in the market

The final outcome of the website and its user experience and journey became an exact replica of the brand's real life experience on the ground. At first the user was welcomed onto the site by the barbershop, just has they are in the real world. Even navigating the site gave no indication that was anything else hidden behind the facade. However, for the curious and perceptive, they would notice that one place on the site didn't feel quite the same as everywhere else and if they were inquisitive enough to investigate, they would be rewarded with the door opening onto Off&On's alter ego venue.

Credits

Name Company Role
Fadi Mroue République Executive Creative Director
Sami Kiwan République Senior Digital Art Director
Jules Kassas République Digital Art Director