2019 Winners & Shortlists

Background.

During Ramadan, people enjoy sharing celebratory messages with family and friends. Ramadan and Eid greeting cards are the top trending searches before, during and after Ramadan as people look for images to download and use as greeting cards. However, people don’t have a wide selection on the web, relying instead on forwarded images that are very hard to personalize, leading to a poor overall experience. Therefore, we launched Qalam from Google (g.co/Qalam) to create an opportunity for our users to make their own beautiful personalized 3D greetings which they can share with close ones. To create a unique creative experience, we worked closely with 9 calligraphy artists from around the world to curate over 30 bespoke Ramadan and Eid greeting cards using a 3D environment made possible by Tilt Brush, a virtual reality app from Google (www.tiltbrush.com). These cards are featured on Qalam for users to customize.

Describe the creative idea.

To enhance our users' experience in their search for greeting cards during Ramadan, we launched Qalam, a web platform that allows users to create custom 3D Calligraphy cards for Ramadan and Eid to share with family and friends. We introduced 9 world-class artists of Middle Eastern descent with a profound love for calligraphy to the Tilt Brush, which they used to paint calligraphy greeting messages in 3D space with virtual reality (g.co/Qalam). To drive awareness, we created a launch film to introduce Qalam with eL Seed, a calligraphy artist who creates remarkable canvases all over the Middle East (https://goo.gl/DPZRZK). To show how technology is able to preserve the beauty of traditional arts, we also filmed the journey of Soraya, a calligraphy artist (featured on Qalam) who travels to Istanbul to deliver to her Calligraphy teacher a piece which she created with the Tilt Brush (https://goo.gl/EA9SGB).

Describe the strategy.

Ramadan Kareem image sharing is one of the big needs for Muslims during Ramadan. We designed Qalam to contribute to the local celebration of art and culture and provide users with the ability to celebrate Ramadan and share greeting cards. On Qalam, users are able to find a library of beautiful 3D Calligraphy greeting messages done by renowned artists using virtual reality. Bringing together the tilt brush technology and local art allowed us to create an innovative experience for users. They are able to select their favorite card design, color scheme and personalize their greeting message. Users engage on Qalam by sharing the card with family and friends on social media platforms. Through tilt brush technology, the timeless heritage of calligraphy now has an online home on Google Qalam. By allowing users to navigate Ramadan using technology, we demonstrated local relevance and connected millions of users across the globe.

Describe the execution.

The initiative has three key components: Online Platform: Qalam was launched and marketed globally during Ramadan as a web platform where users can explore and customize 3D greeting messages. Qalam brings together art and innovative technology in the form of calligraphy designed in 3D space with virtual reality, allowing users to experience creativity within a digital space. The platform is live and continues to receive traffic during other celebratory occasions in MENA. We created a launch film to introduce users to Qalam and show them the technology and calligraphy artists who were involved in bringing this creative experience to life (https://goo.gl/DPZRZK). A short film which features one of our calligraphy artists on her journey to share her 3D art with her Calligraphy teacher. Soraya's story shows how technology is preserving the traditional arts and presents them in a different light, to be shared with all (https://goo.gl/EA9SGB)

List the results.

Over the period covering Ramadan and 6 months after, we were able to drive 11.4M page views on the Google Qalam web app. More than 2.7M users visited the site, creating over 1M artworks which were shared across different platforms. Furthermore, the launch film generated over 16M views.