(Insights)
Short notes from the studio on what we learn while we work. No trends, only what we have tested.
If the Arabic version is a mirror of the English one, it was never designed — it was flipped.
Arabic headings run longer, sit lower and need more line height. Numbers, prices and phone numbers stay left to right inside right-to-left text. Icons with a direction have to turn; icons without one must not.
We now sketch every key page in Arabic first. The English version almost always fits afterwards; the other way round, it almost never does.
The logo is the part people see. The decisions behind it are what keep a brand consistent for ten years.
Which colour is never used for text? How big is the smallest logo? What does the brand never say? A good guideline answers the questions a busy team will ask on a Thursday afternoon.
We write those answers into a short book and a live library, and we review them with the client after the first year.
Every movement on a screen asks for attention. If it has nothing to say, it should not move.
We give each animation one job: show where to look, show what changed, or show what comes next. Anything else is cut, and everything respects a visitor who asks for less motion.
The result is calmer interfaces that feel faster, because nothing is in the way.
“People should know it is us from across the street.” Everything we needed was in it.
A good brief names the person, the moment and the result. It does not list fonts or colours; it describes what should happen when someone meets the brand.
We now ask every client to write that sentence before the first workshop. It saves weeks.