Lantern speaks to Design Week about the new nation branding for the United Arab Emirates
"Only time will tell if the forward-thinking ambition is genuine": Our Director, Ryan Tym, spoke to Design Week about the new brand identity for The United Arab Emirates.
Written by Henry Wong
Read the full feature in Design Week
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has unveiled a new logo and slogan, as part of a wider brand identity for the country. Following the launch of the new identity, Design Week spoke to Lantern’s Director, Ryan Tym, about the new look.
As well as updating the country’s image, it is hoped that the brand identity will help unify the UAE’s seven sovereign constitutional monarchies, according to the newly-established website for the country’s “nation brand”.
Unusually, the logo has a time frame of fifty years. During this period, the country hopes to become a “global trade centre”, according to the website.
The logo had an unusual journey to development. Seven creatives from seven sectors — including graphic design, fine art and research — were chosen from each of the seven Arab states to develop the brand.
This committee of 49 was then divided into teams and given a timeframe to come up with three designs, according to the Ministry of Cabinet Affairs and The Future, the government department that oversaw the design process.
The three designs that emerged from that process — Emirates in Calligraphy, The Palm and 7 Lines (the winning logo) — were put to a public vote across various social media channels. The official website for the brand said that over 10m votes were cast in the competition.
The new logo comprises seven curved lines, representing each of the UAE’s sovereign constitutional monarchies. These seven emirates consist of Abu Dhabi, Ajman, Dubai, Fujairah, Ras Al Khaimah, Sharjah and Umm AI Quwain.
Only time will tell
“There’s no doubt that visually, the new logo is a progressive shift from the eagle motif which it replaces. For a nation endeavouring to position itself as a global centre for trade, innovation and opportunity, the latter was never going to stand the test of time — feeling archaic and regimental in design. The seven lines also provide an opportunity to clarify confusion around country’s makeup — a unified nation of seven emirates, rather than the common misconception of seven separate nations.
But a logo doesn’t make a brand, and there’s little evidence on the country’s slick microsite to suggest any broader visual or verbal rollout. Without this strategic depth, the result feels more like a stamp than a system.
The real test for any place or nation brand is whether or not the destination lives up to the promise it’s making. The new brand site speaks of five fundamental values for the nation: “Tolerance, coexistence, fraternity, openness and acceptance of differences” and of “a land where the word “impossible” does not exist”. The new strapline reinforces this, but these words feel shallow. Although “progressive” policies are beginning to emerge from the nation, these values mask a reputation and record on human rights that feels at odds with everything this identity is trying to signal. Only time will tell if the forward-thinking ambition is genuine”.