Antoni Gerges

  1. Dubai Health Authority · identity and launch · Dubai, 2008

    Eight agencies. Four on the shortlist. One vote.

    Dubai had made a new health authority, and it needed a mark. Eight agencies were asked, several of them multinationals. I led ours.

    The Dubai Health Authority star: three pieces, the lower-left quarter open.
    The mark that was chosen.

  2. Three weeks

    Four presentations in three weeks.

    30 December, 2 January, 10 January, 20 January. Six of the routes we drew on the way. None of them is the star.

    A route not taken: a green circle holding a face in profile, with the letters DHA.
    A route not taken: a green and teal swoosh round a figure.
    A route not taken: a red and green leaf, like a heart.
    A route not taken: a figure with its arms up and leaves growing.
    A route not taken: the letters DHA drawn as blue brackets.
    A route not taken: a red stroke and a green arc.

    Symbols from our presentation boards, December 2007 and January 2008.

  3. The vote

    Almost a thousand of its staff voted. They chose the star.

    “Dubai Health Authority unveiled its new logo on Sunday, a star, after almost 1,000 staff voted for it, out of four options.”

    Gulf News, 13 April 2008

    The Dubai Health Authority logo: the star beside the name.
    The logo, 2008.

II

What it means

Each agency had to show what its mark meant. This is what ours meant, as we wrote it into the manual.

  1. Getting inspired

    It began as light, and a pair of wings.

    The light is the future, seen from here. The wings are clear: nothing is hidden. The shape is the two together.

    Three photographs of the sun, each with the shape of its light traced over it in magenta.
    Finding the shape of a bright light.
    The shape of the light, simplified to a grey four-pointed star.
    Simplified.
    A girl in a field wearing clear wings, one wing traced in magenta.
    Transparency, as clear wings.

    From the brand manual, 8 March 2008.

  2. Four readings

    The sun. A flower. Wings. A butterfly.

    People read it their own way. We wanted that. A shape many people can own is a stronger mark.

    The sun in a blue sky.
    A green flower held in two cupped hands.
    A boy on a beach with his arms out like wings.
    A blue butterfly resting on a stethoscope.
    The star.

    Photographs from the manual’s imagery page.

  3. The open corner

    Three shapes, one open corner. The name completes it.

    The manual says it in five words: “DHA will complete the picture.” Working together is in the three shapes. Transparency is the clear diamond between them.

    The manual’s own vectors · quarter turns only

    Five drawings: finding the best angle; the shapes meeting on a diagonal; designing the cut out; an incomplete shape; DHA will complete the picture.
    Identity development, from the manual.
    The logo: three pieces of a star, the lower-left quarter open, the name sitting in the open quarter.
    The logo, from the manual’s own vectors.

III

The voice

A mark is seen. An authority is mostly heard. So we wrote how it should speak.

  1. One word

    From a paragraph, to a sentence, to one word: future.

    Mission at the base, vision above it, five values above that. Everything points up to one word.

    A pyramid in four bands: mission, vision, values, and the word Future at the top.
    The brand pyramid, from the manual.

  2. The line

    Your health... our future.

    “You” and “our” were chosen on purpose. Health cannot be separated from the life of a city, so the line puts the authority and the people in one sentence.

    The line: Your Health... Our Future.
    As set in the manual.

  3. Tone of voice

    Governmental, with a personal touch.

    “Deliver the message with a warm smile and a caring hand.” Our own note on the launch copy said it shorter: authoritative, yet warm and caring.

    • Confident
    • Knowledgeable
    • Helpful
    • Effective
    • Stimulating growth
    • Does it sound like an agency that is clear in its purpose?
    • Does the tone sound knowledgeable and warm?
    • Does it feel as though the information is helpful?

    From the manual’s tone-of-voice pages, and our launch copy of 10 March 2008.

IV

The system

Then the manual, so that anyone in the authority could use the mark well.

  1. Colour

    Green for growth. Turquoise for knowledge.

    Black for authority. Calm colours, taken from nature, because a hospital should feel clean and a patient should be able to relax.

    Three panels: growth, with soil in two hands, on black; purity, with water, on turquoise; health, with a leaf, on green.
    Colour rationale, from the manual.
    • Green
    • Turquoise
    • Black

  2. The manual

    Sixty-two pages, so anyone could use it.

    Construction, clear space, versions, the kit of parts, colour, type, pictures, voice, stationery, advertising.

    Manual: the brand pyramid.
    Manual: getting inspired.
    Manual: brand language, the kit of parts.
    Manual: brand language, frames.
    Manual: Pantone colours.
    Manual: imagery style.
    Manual: tone of voice.

    Seven of the 62 pages. Brand Identity Manual, 8 March 2008.

V

The launch

After the vote we were given the launch. It is still the largest campaign I have led.

  1. Teaser · from 30 March 2008

    First, no name. Only the shape, drawn in the picture.

    A boy’s arms. A butterfly’s wings. A light a baby reaches for. Black and white, the line, and no logo.

    Teaser: a boy and a man on a beach with their arms out; two pieces of the star are traced along the boy’s arms. Black and white.
    Teaser: a butterfly on a stethoscope; pieces of the star are traced in its wings. Black and white.
    Teaser: a baby reaching up to a light in which the star is drawn in outline. Black and white.

  2. Revealer · April and May 2008

    Then colour, and the name.

    Your health, our smile. Your health, our care. Your health, our future.

    The same picture in colour, with the headline Your Health... Our Smile and the logo.
    The butterfly in colour, with the headline Your Health... Our Care and the logo.
    The baby in colour, with the headline Your Health... Our Future and the logo.

    Launch campaign artwork, 2008.

  3. In print

    A false cover. An envelope round the newspaper. Full pages.

    Gulf News, Al Khaleej, Al Bayan, Emirates Business 24|7, and eight magazines. Four of the pages as they were printed.

    A newspaper page: the star drawn in the rays of the sun, no name.
    The “Future” teaser.
    The front of Emirates Business 24|7 with three advertisements round the masthead.
    Emirates Business 24|7, the front.
    A full page: the boy on the beach in colour, with the logo.
    Revealer, full page.
    The butterfly teaser printed on pink newsprint.
    Teaser, on pink newsprint.

    Scans from the media agency’s evaluation report, 9 June 2008.

  4. In the street · spring 2008

    Garhoud Road. Jumeirah Beach Road. The road to the airport.

    I set the campaign on unipoles and lamp-post banners. The media agency photographed them as they stood.

    A lamp-post banner with the butterfly and the line Your Health, Our Future; a mosque behind.
    The butterfly, with the line.
    A billboard over a busy road: the butterfly and the line Your Health, Our Future.
    The unipole on Garhoud Road.
    A lamp-post banner: the boy on the beach in black and white, with the line Your Health, Our Future.
    The teaser, on the street.
    A lamp-post banner beside a road, far off.
    One of many along the road.

    Photographs by the media agency. Tone corrected for haze; nothing added or removed.

  5. Measured

    More than eight adults in ten saw it.

    In print alone, from 1 March to 22 May 2008. Measured by the media agency, MediaEdge:CIA, not by us.

    83.4% of local and Arab adults

    84.1% of expatriate adults

    UAE print media only. Adults of 25 and over. Data: IPSOS-Stat.

The record

I led the agency whose mark became the Dubai Health Authority’s logo, chosen by a vote of its own staff, and then the campaign that launched it.

For
Dubai Health Authority, Government of Dubai
When
First presentation 30 December 2007; final presentation 20 January 2008; manual 8 March 2008; launch campaign March to May 2008; logo unveiled 13 April 2008
Where
Dubai
My part
Creative Director and Producer, through AntBrush, my agency: the pitch, the identity and its manual, and the launch campaign.
The selection
Gulf News reported on 13 April 2008 that almost 1,000 staff voted for the star out of four options. That eight agencies were asked, that four were shortlisted with one mark each, and that each showed its mark’s meaning on film, is my own account. The film we showed has not been found.
With
The AntBrush team. MediaEdge:CIA, who placed the campaign and measured it.
Made
The mark and its bilingual logotype; the line “Your Health... Our Future”; a 62-page brand manual, with tone of voice; stationery; leaflets; teaser and revealer advertisements for newspapers, magazines, unipoles and lamp posts.
Measured
Reach of 83.4 % of local and Arab adults and 84.1 % of expatriate adults, 25 and over, in UAE print media, 1 March to 22 May 2008. MediaEdge:CIA, from IPSOS-Stat data.

Sources: the Brand Identity Manual, 8 March 2008; the Logo Rationale sheet; the presentations of 30 December, 2 January and 10 January; our launch copy of 10 March 2008; MediaEdge:CIA’s creative rotations and performance report, 25 May 2008, and its evaluation and outdoor reports; Gulf News, 13 April 2008. Private preview. Nothing here is published.