2020/2021 Winners & Shortlists

Background

Lebanon’s history since independence has been marked by many alternating periods of stability & turmoil, both political & natural. The Lebanese Army has lived by its motto of Honor, Sacrifice & Loyalty through thick & thin of what the country has been through. To commemorate its 75th anniversary, the Lebanese Army wanted to remind people that it is always up to the most difficult missions, committed to serving, protecting and caring for Lebanon and its great people.

Describe the creative idea (40% of vote)

For centuries, soldiers around the world have worn camouflage to hide from the enemy. To most people, the camouflage patterns are a symbol of war & hostility. On the 75th Anniversary of the Lebanese Army, we decided to transform the camouflage from being a symbol of war to that of peace & love. We introduced ‘The Peace Camo’: A new camouflage that showcases messages of peace, unity & love through patterns inspired from real-life moments of Lebanese people & army solidarity. We created new camouflage patterns with illustrations of people embracing, kids playing, couple holding hands and generations coming together. With PeaceCamo, we repurposed the camouflage’s objective to tell the people that the army exists to protect & serve them. We made a symbol of war into an icon of peace while still serving its purpose of camouflaging.

Describe the execution (40% of vote)

The creative process to design the pattern was not a standard one and it wasn’t easy. It took us about a year to find the right images and 2 weeks to create the illustrations for each picture. An interdisciplinary team of textile engineers, graphic designers, illustrators, tailors & army uniform producers came together to combine the fabric & the pattern. The PeaceCamo was presented during the Army’s 75th anniversary celebrations. On August 1st, 2020, soldiers marched the capital city of Beirut wearing the new symbol of peace. We didn’t want to shout out loud about our initiative and wanted people around the world to get to know about it on their own. We created a short documentary style film on the crafting & tailoring of the uniform, that was posted on YouTube.

List the results (20% of vote)

The story of our innovative initiative of changing the symbolism around camouflage spread quickly with many leading publications in the region & around the world covering the story. Many social influencers, designers & fashion enthusiasts created their outfits inspired by the PeaceCamo. Some people on social networks even proposed that the PeaceCamo should be given to foreign armies also, with the hope its message of peace would achieve a bigger scale. Our campaign was also featured as one of the top 20 campaigns of 2020 by Campaign Middle East.