Nawras branding gone wrong.

As'salam Alaikom,

I know it has been ages since I last blogged. Apologies. I've been busy organizing PechaKucha Night - Muscat, which was held on the 21st May. www.Pecha-Kucha.org.
If you're into creative visual designs, you're invited to the next one in August.

Nowadays, I just have quick short comments on ads I see around me in Muscat that I place on my twitter account @omanadvertising.

Anywhooo, lets move on to what I have in store for you today; Narwas branding (a telecommunication company).


First let me explain what is branding? 

"To understand branding, it is important to know what brands are. A brand is the idea or image of a specific product or service that consumers connect with, by identifying the name, logo, slogan, or design of the company who owns the idea or image. Branding is when that idea or image is marketed so that it is recognizable by more and more people, and identified with a certain service or product when there are many other companies offering the same service or product."

Nawras Logo in full colour

On Wednesday I attended TEDx. One of their main sponsors this year was Nawras.

On each chair there was this giveaway bag; a recycled bag filled with goodies. YAY! Who doesn't like free stuff?! Sa7?

Below is the bag. All clean and white with a green Nawras logo. Why the monotone?! Clearly, because it's cheaper this way. One colour printing is always cheaper than four. Fine. Whatever. It's not like its going to cost you fortunes or you can't afford a 4 colour print, Nawras! You should create a first impression, grab attention with the beautiful colours that already exist. I carry this bag to work every day as my lunch bag. Imagine how many people look at it!! and yeah, you're welcome :)


We all know Narwas' logo is bright and lively. You just killed it here and flattened it.

Moving along... Let us see what's inside the bag...

Trying not to judge a book by it's cover, Narwas, I'm giving you a second chance to impress me. I'll look inside the bag. You might've used your brand colours wisely.

In the bag I got:

TEDx' programme card,

a Nawras note pad,

a Narwas USB,

and a Nawras pen.

This is a group picture of the goodies. Let's check them now one by one:

The Programme card. Nice! Everything in place.

The Nawras logo is in full colour, but then this wasn't produced by them, so no credits here.

The note pad. Nice! the guidelines are implemented. 

The logo is in full colour.

PASS

And now the nightmare:

The complicated pen. 
Some ink cartridge and instructions sheet tucked under the pen. 
At the top end of the pen there a highlighting pen.

The logo is in black. 

Question: Why didn't you stick to green like the bag to remain consistent? or blue to match the below?

FAIL

The WTF USB case:

1. The USB compartment is wayyyyy bigger then the USB.

2. The case has the logo in navy blue!

3. The logo on the USB is in white and the background is gold! Huh?
Can't the background be blue to match the case? *common sense shwaya?*

Someone explain to me why the mashed potato idea here? How does your marketing/branding manager allow such thing to be distributed to hundreds without checking the brands consistency and guidelines? or are your existing and potential costumers not worth the hassle?

EPIC FAIL when you can't reflect a decent image of your company.

After all this mash up of colours and dog food, I would like to ask Nawras:

Was this done in a rush?

Did you just throw other events left overs in a sack over night?

Do you know the importance of first impression/branding/marketing?

Seriously, are you colour blind? or are your clients simply not worth it?

Allah yahdeekom,

Rating: Zero for the pen and sack,

-1/5 for the USB case (yes! minus one),

4/5 for the spiral bound note pad and programme card logo implementation. 

With design, SF.

3aib.

It's a shame (3aib) when a college of design (and other majors including English) produces such booklet to showcase their portfolio, facilities, courses and programmes.

Lets go through it before I start talking in details. It took me almost 3 weeks to blog this specific booklet out of my chest. Every time I sit infront of my laptop trying to put my river of thoughts into words; my hands shiver, smoke comes out of ears and my face turns into a red balloon filled with anger and frustration ready to explode! Maybe because it isn't only about this booklet, but its the whole experience, from landing a foot on the college grounds to running back to my car. The experience also has to do with the college's dean who asked me - when I went to apply for a job as a Typography teacher - he asked "What do you mean by Typography?" (!!!)  I felt like a bucket of cold water got poured over my head. I instantly thought to my self "Is this really where I want to work?"

For those who think.. Oh common, not everyone knows what Typography is, I totally understand if you're anything but a design college dean!

Lets showcase the bilingual college representative AKA booklet.

Arabic font is 16 throughout. Talk about little copy big fonts to fill up pages. Not just that.. Look at the design, layout and font. Overall, heart breaking, really! 

The two splats used behind the Arabic titles (Mission and Vision) are brushes set by default on Photoshop & Illustrator. So, basically no effort put into this. The whole booklet is designed in no longer than 1.14 hrs. I would say that, because there is a chart somewhere inside. Otherwise, a total of 53mins is more than enough.

Paper choice? What other than the cliché Matte Art paper that everyone uses even Salsabeel water flyers. Its the standard paper in Oman and the cheapest. Why does a design college go for the "default settings"? Shouldn't they stand out? Show their skills? Blind us with their overwhelming creativity? oh! and not to forget the cliché glossy covers.

See, this all wouldn't bother me for a second if it was designed for any company out there, but what ticks me off here is that this is a "design" college. There must be at least one teacher assigned to supervise the whole project and outcome. 

You know, I wont even be surprised if this was executed by some guy at the printers. Pay 20 rials extra and voila! Done in a jiffy. No soul, no life, no warmth into the booklet thats supposed to welcome many potential designers out there.

Oh! Just before moving along.. Note that the english side of this booklet has different information than the Arabic side. Confusing? Yes. On the English side "the mission and vision" pages don't exist. You jump straight into the programmes or is it programs or wait! it also could be programe!! According to this fascinating booklet (yes! I'm being sarcastic) there are many ways to spell the word and to impress everyone, they couldn't make up their minds, so, they just left it for you -the reader- to decide! 

Did I also mention there is no dean's welcome message? not that its important, right?!

Just count with me; how many different ways of spellings the word "programme" are there?

American, British, French???

Talk about the English course they provide, huh?! useful much?

Students work at the back of the booklet.

Alright.. So, the far left ad created by some graphic design student says "The best juice you can TEST." Do you mean taste? Ok, so obviously the student made a mistake, fair enough. But the question is, with this mistake, is it the best piece of work to feature in the booklet? If the design teachers english isn't so good, where's the proof reader? Didn't they acknowledge the fact that this mistake could jeopardies their marketing strategy (if they had one) or reputation?

Lets not talk about the fonts chosen, because as we've already established, typography is not in the Graphic Design major curriculum because it's only the MOST important design element (sarcastic, again!)

Lets have a look at the bottom ad here. It's by a student created for ROP (Royal Oman Police). It says "Don't cut it unless it's green"Ok i get it. Don't GO unless the traffic light is green, but why apples? (I'm getting into concepts now) just because apples were created in 3 different colours that match traffic lights, it doesn't mean I can use them for this purpose. 

Why can't I can't cut the apple when it's red? why not when its yellow? why only green?! It tastes good when its red. It also tastes good when its yellow! 

See, its just not related. The only connection is colour. Effective? No. Creative? No. Convincing? No. Concept? Zero.

I can go on about this 8 pages booklet for hours. However, I'll end it here for my health sake to start with!

Secondly, I would like to advise parents out there to check what you're paying for. If you have no background in design, it is ok, ask around, get opinions, compare college booklets, but don't let these colleges rip you off, because honestly they are not giving your children back the proper international education standard/quality you're paying/hoping for. 

I, personally, have worked with many graduates from this college and another, it has been a struggle. They don't know the basics of design such as kerning, leading, image resolution, difference between RGB and CMYK... etc. I DO NOT BLAME THEM, but for whoever is responsible, I say "3aib".

With design, SF.

AMBIENT... Welcome to Oman!

Hala!

Putting my 'ambient advertising' hat on for a change. We don't see much of ambients in the GCC as much as we do overseas, maybe 'cause we have alot of restrictions or maybe 'cause Arabs don't interact as much. People are not exposed to such things, and are a bit hesitant to go and ask or be part of, but nevertheless, this ambient idea kicks ends!

So, What's Ambient advertising? Ambient advertising slowly started making itself known towards the late 90's. It refers to all advertising that is out of home and non-tradtional - it is exciting, fun, targeted and engaging. 

Alright, moving along.. This ad is for General's New Super Cooling (Super Wave/Super Power/ Super Quiet)

Features:

5 speed control

30% improved powerful airflow

15m Long-reach airflow.

(Excuse the quality of the pictures.. I only have those two crappy ones. I got caught by security. No pictures are allowed to be taken inside the mall - MCC)

So anyway. At the main foyer area of the mall there is this huge transparent tent (10m long) that has an air conditioner at the end of it. As you can see, there are those coloured ribbons hanging from the tents ceiling. The long-reach airflow reaches all the ribbons across the 10m, which makes them move/flow.

So it's a really simple concept. You basically go in, feel the breeze, the power and the quietness, then just leave. You can stand as far as 9m away from the A/C. You don't have to go all the way in unless you want to see the A/C upclose.

The most important thing in the tent is the ribbons part. Without those ribbons you can't really tell how strong General air conditioner air-flow is compared to other brands. 

I like the colours of the ribbons. They stand out and you can clearly see the motion from far away since the tent is transparent and the back is white x white.

I asked the promoter, if this has been working well for them,

- Yes! we are selling. People come to me and ask what's it all about, but unfortunately, they don't go inside the tent for the experience. They just let their kids run back and forth not knowing the concept behind this whole thing.

= So it says on the leaflet that the airflow reaches 15m, but your tent here is only 10m long. Why?

- Well, it was hard getting a permission from MCC in the first place to put up a tent here. So we are happy with the 10m space we got. Something is better than nothing :)

= I love the concept. Is this done locally?

- Oh yes! A company called Imagine Technologies owned by Warith Al Kharusi, they came up with the idea and executed it for us. We are surprised ourselves that such idea came from a local company! 

= For how long will the tent be here?

- Until the 18th of Sept.

That's all from my side. I'm happy to see ambient taking place in Muscat. Things are taking time, going extremely slow, but they'll get there eventually. (Inshallah)

See! the security man is coming towards me! ahhhh,
 but the tent is right behind the kids there. Can you spot that transparent thing?

With design, SF.

Arabic Laziness!

Hello,


Went to Carrefour the other day for some grocery shopping. Found this roll-up banner on the way out.
Not bad. The msg is clear. The design is simple. The font is....... WHAT?!

Ok guys, I gave you credits for the design, clarity, legibility, and concept overall, but why isn't the Arabic font matching the English?
The English and Arabic copy are acting as a unit, which is great! Shouldn't the English and the Arabic fonts be the same in design since they both convey the same msg?


The English font is fantastic! You used some handwriting font on a post it, BRILLIANT and makes complete sense, but couldn't you copy the same for Arabic? It's easy to do on Illustrator; outlines the selected font, then start drawing those 1/4 hatches!


Nothing else to say. Obviously the main design concept was executed in English then the Arabic translation was added to it. "Call us we'll answer" is another example at the bottom of this same banner! The Arabic is just a passive font. Not as friendly and inviting as the english active font.


Bottom line, DETAILS MATTER.




With design, SF.

On/Off.

Salam and Happy Eid to all,

Right! So, went Eid shopping with my sister and entered a shop called Jeans West. 

She started trying on some jeans, while I was seated on the chair besides the changing room handling her different sizes, and so, I noticed this...

While the door was locked, she had her Denim Off

And while the door was unlocked; she had her Denim on, so it was fine to open the door.

Now seriously, how cool is this idea?! I absolutely LOVE IT! Although the production was cheap; it was printed on some home A4 paper and Impact was the font used, but who cares right now!? I'm fascinated by the idea and the way it was delivered; simple, clear, creative. 


Sometimes you don't need all the extra graphics and bits. Using your guideline's colours with some simple smart copy, makes a great attention grabbing design. 


Enough said. This made my day. I'm happy!

With design, SF.

"Just to provoke"

Hello all,


The whole mall is on sale. Isn't that wonderful news?! I can look for something new. Something new like SALE signs, window displays, ads, danglers... whatever! :D


Terranova is an Italian brand gone international for Clothing and shoe fashion. They have branches in London and France to name a couple.




Terranova is owned by some Lebanese in Oman. They've decided that this is the best way to go about their shop sale display design. According to what he said, they know exactly how to promote themselves.
Fair enough. Hands down. Now lets see what they did.

As you can see in the pic above. The owner was staring at me wondering why the hell was I taking pics. Then he approached me and asked, EXCUSE ME. WHY?!
- I criticize ads

= From what magazine are you?

- No magazine. I do this for my personal blog.

= Website?!

- Yes. website! Your window display is intriguing! 

= *chin up, very proud* Yes I did that on purpose. 

- but you're telling people not to enter!

= YES! I want to provoke people! 

- *confused face*  Aha! and did it work for ya? did it attract more customers? (knowing that the shop has always been empty with or without the sale sign!)

= *hesitant* Yes. Doing well. Yes.

Obviously not. The shop looks like its closing down soon. No one's buying anything that's why he's waiting outside.. Forget about buying. No one is IN the store to start with... errmmm, maybe coz the ad said DO NOT ENTER??

Ok YES! it is provocative.. That worked. It stopped me to take pics, but WTH man? Seriously, you should invite people in. Maybe  put sample of the clothes in the window? maybe UP TO 70% without the do not enter? 


Bottom line.. Just pay a few bucks for a proper ad, people!






With design, SF.

Rating:

Layout over all:  1/5

Colours: 2.5/5

Font: Legible but old fashioned 3/5

Concept: 1/5 

Execution: 0.5/5

Now available in Arabic but in English!

Salam,


Ok... Lets look at this then start analyzing

I'm speechless.


This so called "ad" has been done in an hour, ermm maybe less - to be fair ya3ni.
Do you see a concept?? Done done and over done with the phone msg trying to tell the reader something.


But the funny part is that this ad has been running in an English newspaper while the message is targeting Arabic readers. "our mobile banking services are now in Arabic".. Hmm?? I'm not saying that Arabic readers can't read English, but if they can read English why would they be applying for this service?


Design wise. No comment about the red swashes and jumping out text with black shadow.


BankMuscat *buzzer*, your new HQ is quality and so should be your advertising!

Rating:

Layout over all:  1/5

Colours: 1.25/5

Font: Legible 2/5

Concept: (Is there one?) 

Execution: 1/5 (for applying the guidelines only)

With design, SF.