Ithra Downtown:
The winter season of cultural activities
Category
Cultural
Type of work
Branding
Design
The Challenge Ithra — the King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia — needed a campaign identity for its winter season: a sprawling cultural programme spanning outdoor cinema, art installations, food markets, workshops and a bazaar, attracting both local communities and an international expat audience.
The Thinking The brief called for something with genuine cultural energy — not a generic events brand, but a living identity that could flex across a rich and varied programme. I developed the concept of Downtown: a visual language rooted in urban graphics and transit signage — zebra crossings, wayfinding systems, bold colour zoning — that felt immediately familiar yet distinctly Ithra. Three base patterns were created to form a modular system, allowing for expressive combinations of imagery, colour, and bilingual copy in both English and Arabic. In a second phase, the campaign extended into isometric district illustrations, bringing each activity to life as its own vibrant neighbourhood — deployed across static and motion assets throughout social media.
My Role I led the concept development, design, and art direction across both phases of the campaign — working alongside a team of designers and motion artists to deliver an integrated bilingual campaign from identity through to activation.
The Outcome A campaign system with genuine visual range — distinctive enough to cut through, flexible enough to serve a months-long programme, and culturally considered enough to speak to one of the most diverse audiences in the region.
Phase 1: Urban signage
Inspired by urban graphics and signage, such as zebra crossings and transit signs. Three different base patterns were created for a flexible system that allows the inclusion of imagery and the emotive expressions that resonates with a bilingual audience. All combined with a rich colour palette provides a great number of combinations.
Phase 2: Isometric districts
Under the same umbrella theme of "downtown", the campaign extension consisted of "districts", featuring a series of isometric illustrations that encapsulate the different activities on offer. Both static and motion assets were applied to an integrated bilingual campaign (english and arabic) that was particularly active on social media.
