In February last year I was brought in on an exciting project at Siegel+Gale. We were tasked to rebrand Dubai Events Holding, which is an emirate decreed company responsible for enhancing Dubai as an event destination.

Despite various organisational problems such as the horrendous traffic on Sheikh Zayed Road, Dubai is a premium event destination. It offers world class entertainment and luxury shopping experiences for the moneyed. The new company was to arrange events to complement each other and orchestrate them holistically so that average stays moved from the one and two day mark to three, four and more.

We were very excited to present a concept represented by the brandmark above. Click the brandmark to go to the portfolio entry. It was designed as part of a whole brand identity system, lending itself to iconic celebratory symbols.

However, as is often the case with branding work in the Middle East, clients expect a logo parade and decide the fate of an identity based on the brandmark. And as there is still a macho and patriarchal approach to business in the region our proposal was found to be too feminine.

Without access to other decision makers, we were not able to transfer our enthusiasm or present a stronger case for the new identity directly. Another supplier was arranged to supply a symbol to accompany the new (extremely institutional sounding) company name of Dubai Event Management Corporation.

The result is a brand identity which stands diametrically opposed to the flexible and inviting celebratory system we were expected to deliver.