Friday, August 05, 2011

UAE Chronicled; A street's Tale {St. 24}

One of the other projects that I was working on before the summer back in May, was a graphically designed set of notebooks aimed to revisualise the country's urban sprawls. That's right, going to back my design roots, I collaborated with my colleague Bushra on creating a collection of products under the series 'UAE Chronicled'.


As I designer, I found that urban spaces and their experiences are an interesting and yet practical subject matter to represent. The project's first phase is dedicated to documenting Al Satwa, Dubai. One of the bustling areas of Dubai, Al Satwa is a far cry from Dubai's glitzy lifestyle, a community comprising of high density retail outlets; of fabric stores, tailors, cafeteria's and furniture shops.

The process of it all, hours under the scorching sun taking snapshots of every single detail in and around Satwa.

Intricately designed doors in bursting colors around Satwa

Blaring neon signs from every shop and store

Rundown sofa's on the sidewalk of houses

created an icon to use as a pattern for 'Satwa'. Our inspiration; the doors





Satwa is a very convenient area in Dubai, it hosts a large array of products and services. There is actually very little that you wouldn't be able to find in Satwa, yet there are no directories or maps of the area. A Street's Tale; Street 24 is a range of notebook designs depicting a visual narrative of Al Satwa, and most importantly incorporates a colour coded directory of the retail spaces. Al Satwa is basically one long curved street (Street 24) with rows of narrow buildings on either side, small shops and stores tucked around every corner.

So anyone in Dubai looking for some polka dot fabrics or hidden gems, head on to The Ara Gallery, email or comment to purchase a notebook for yourself. Believe me, once your in Satwa, the chaotic of it all can really get to you (so will our Sun), so having a directory will do wonders in getting you around. Here's a few pictures from the launch and the notebooks at The Ara Gallery.
 

Check out our blog www.tumblr.com/uaechronicled and follow @UAEChronicled for updates on the project and upcoming products. Would love to hear your comments or any thoughts you have.
Have a great day, and Ramadan Kareem to all. 


1 comment:

*Dream Weaver* said...

I think your project is awesome.