Dubai Design District 

Design transforms our world

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Project overview

Dubai Design District (d3) is a community built in Dubai to house the top local and international design brands as well as foster local talent. d3 also plays a key role in supporting the vision of Dubai to the development of a knowledge based economy. A bold vision with many people invested in its creation and success. And being designers ourselves, we were as excited as anyone to help build this regional and global brand.

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What we did

Our first role was to engage with all stakeholders in interviews and workshops; management, local and global partners, tenants and the broader design and art community. It was evident that everyone was passionate about the project and its possibilities, even if their interpretations of the project were not always aligned. The trick would be to use the brand as a platform to focus this passion. We ring fenced the key themes that would help to build a single compelling narrative that was both true to the essence of design and that also captured d3’s unique proposition. This was documented in a brand manifesto and formed the basis for the brand strategy and the design systems and visual language development.

True to the essence of design, the brand language was developed on a grid system which not only supported all design systems from print to digital to environment, but that also became the visual representation of the brand. Working with the idea that d3 is a platform for creative thinkers to prosper, the grid system manifested itself visually through simple (square or diamond) shapes. The use of only black and white for the brand created not only a powerfully simple and recognisable visual language, but in the spirt of d3, allowed the colours and diversity of the community to be the hero. The use of black and white also drew its influence from local dress and culture.

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PROJECT DELIVERABLES

Insights and research
Brand strategy
Brand architecture
Naming
Brand assets
Design systems
Environment design
Brand guidelines

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