A series of unfortunate TVCs… and press ads!
Posted by fawzi | Filed under Arabic, Featured Articles, Print
It doesn't take a rocket scientist — or a design critic for all that matters — to frown at the entire range of TVCs that SEDAR has in its portfolio... all of which seem to have the lowest budget of production with the highest budget for media.. and for what..? Curtains!
When the Arabic voiceovers coupled with the tacky royalty-free sound loops are a disaster, they are nothing in comparison to the English versions which are obviously so bad that they come with English subtitles as well.. Karaoke anyone?! Read more »
No they didn’t!
Posted by fawzi | Filed under Arabic
So.. 4 years ago.. I shared a sample of an Arabic Nokia logo with my Iran client with the objective of showing what 'not to do'.. unfortunately.. this 'thing' came to light a couple of days ago in Syria.. on an outdoor... with the English slogan slapped onto it to make it even worse!
Forgive me Arab world.. for I have sinned!
Arabic album art covers
Posted by fawzi | Filed under Arabic
Some of the ugliest album art covers ever are the Arabic ones. We [Arabs] tend to take a picture, slap a headline with any available Arabic typeface and then (for a strange reason) add the Latin text vertically as if it's a cheap motel sign calling people to stop by. If Arabic music is noise according to some people, they shouldn't even attempt to look at these albums!
Bring on the comments!
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Why even bother?!
Posted by fawzi | Filed under Arabic, Online
Yeah sure, we'll do the digital banners in all languages for you. Arabic? uhmm.. why not!
That's the response everyone seems to be giving to clients before they figure out that working with Arabic online is not that easy. Correction. It's a pain in the ass!
What follows is a sample of what's out there staring right at you (if you happen to be one of those doomed with a Middle Eastern IP address)
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29 Broken Letters
Posted by fawzi | Filed under Arabic, Online
I had a request from my client not too long ago. ‘Can you do Chinese?’ she asked. She was referring to creating a website in Chinese. She assumed that, because we produce a website in Arabic. Why would Chinese be any different?
As silly as the assumption sounded—that a digital team in Dubai, practiced and fluent in Arabic should be able to easily transition to Chinese—the sad truth is her reasoning wasn’t far off the mark. Read more »