For the first time outside of the United States Contact High: A Visual History of Hip-Hop arrived in the Middle East. A journey through four decades of photographs, memorabilia, album and magazine covers that document Hip-Hop culture.

Manarat Al Saadiyat in collaboration with Sole hosted the exhibition in Abu Dhabi. We worked closely with the Sole team to bring the vision for the show to life developing the exhibition’s brand identity, show design and marketing materials.

The exhibition is curated by Vikki Tobak, creatively directed by Fab 5 Freddy and produced by Joseph Patel. Featuring over 200 images by 60+ photographers including; Janette Beckman, Barron Claiborne and Jorge Peniche. Photographs are displayed alongside original contact sheets. The contact sheets give an intimate look into the photographer’s journey during the shoot and unrivalled insight into the personality of the subject in front of the camera.

A highly engaging experience was developed in partnership with the Sole team. Lightboxes were utilised to highlight specific moments and unique displays designed to showcase some of hip-hop’s most iconic pieces. Minimal wall and floor graphics were used to enhance the overall experience and helped guide visitors around the show.

A range of marketing materials were created for the show from billboards, exhibition catalogues and flyers to a comprehensive social media and digital campaign.

Neue Helvetica Condensed is used as the main typeface, set in capitals. Arabic texts are set in 29LT Bukra.

Taqado - Identity

We were approached to design and create the brand for a new Mexi-Cali restaurant concept to be launched in the UAE. We worked with the client to define who they were and what they stood for. The manifesto formed the basis of the personality for the brand:

Taqado is a taste of Mexico. No, we’re not talking about sombreros and jumping beans, but Mexican cooking with fresh ingredients and colourful flavours. Our tone of voice is honest, descriptive (without going over the top) and always spoken with a smile. We try to paint a picture with our words so people can taste our sentences, but let’s not waste their time. Life is too short for long copy so let’s be fast, fresh and friendly.

The logotype was inspired by old luchador wrestling posters that use big, tightly stacked, woodblock-esque type. We found the Hoefler & Frere-Jones font Champion Gothic gave us the fantastic textural quality we were looking for. Visually we wanted to offset the type with a selection of Mexican inspired fun illustrated characters. We worked with the talented London based illustrator Robert Sae-Heng to create these. The illustrations are used to help support the overall positioning of the brand ‘A Taste of Mexico’. We wanted to create a textural experience at all touch points. With carefully chosen materials such as Mohawk’s Loop Antique Vellum Straw and biodegradable packaging. So much so the Taqado luchador’s (staff) stamp the take away bags themselves, street vendor style.

When it came to creating the ambience of the outlet we wanted to looked to define the essence of a street vendor cooking with authentic ingredients, just like you’d find at a sizzling kitchen in San Fernando, California. The uniforms, baskets of fresh fruit and vegetables, a chalk board menu, recycled bottle chandelier and hand painted nachos stands all added to the atmosphere.

We are currently working with the Taqado team developing 8 additional outlets for launch throughout 2013.

Taqdo - Brochure and Manifesto

Taqado - Website

Taqado - Competition Winner's Ticket

Taqado - 'Banco De Taqado' Loyalty Card

Taqado - Menu Board