Global recognition: Gulf News wins international design awards

It was 60 years of suffering, the story of generations waiting to return, of people who still hold dear "the keys to a home now occupied by Israelis".

It was the editorial marking of a human tragedy that resonates through the hearts and minds of the people of the Middle East.

Gulf News' special coverage marking Al Nakba or the Palestinian exodus was an effort to convey the invisible stories of the people an endeavour borne of passion, conviction and the need to present the truth.

It has won our newspaper the bronze award in the category of Best in Special Coverage by Wan-Ifra, an organisation comprising the world's newspapers and publishers.

It represents more than 18,000 publications, 15,000 online sites and over 3,000 companies in over 120 countries. The body was created by the merger of the World Association of Newspapers and Ifra, the research and service organisation for the news publishing industry.

The back story

Deputy Managing Editor, Gulf News, Mohammed AlMezel, who headed the Al Nakba project, gives the back story. He said: "The coverage was a real challenge. The Nakba happened 60 years ago. The Palestinian question has since gone into different directions, the latest of which is the political and security ones. The humanitarian questions, however, remain the most important because hundreds of thousands of people were uprooted from their hometowns and sent to refugee camps around the region.

"Hence, it was important to plan early in order to track some of the Nakba's first generation — people who still cling to the keys and deeds of their houses.

"The reports came out strong and told the real story of six decades of suffering, and the design was done early to reflect the issue, even the colour chosen for the background and the black and white pictures further enhanced the end result."

Manal Alafrangi, Opinion Editor, who managed the content flow and interaction with the design team for the project, said that Al Nakba was "a big event" and a lot of effort went into the planning, which was detailed. She said: "It is a bitter anniversary for Palestinians ... the aim was to highlight the experiences of the people who were there originally and to relate it to today's generation.

"We spoke to refugees; tracked down the people, assigned the stories … the toughest part was getting the right photographs. A lot of team effort went into its selection and usage."

Designer Seyyed de la Llata who helped create the visual package for this sensitive content worked hard to "reflect the depth of the human tragedy" with his design.

He said: "Manal came to me with the topic and we all worked to show the world the truth about this emotional issue, about the Palestinian people.

"There was a lot of discussion and we arrived at several options. We came up with the design concept of a single element that was representative — the key, which many of the displaced people still carry with them. "Also the front page on the day was designed to look like a poster … the colours, the pictures and design — all of it managed to transmit the real feeling to readers.

"Ultimately it was a team effort with Mohammed, Manal and Joseph Marques, who was working with the copy on the pages."

The planning and implementation took over two months of extensive work.

Harmony of effort

AlMezel said that the result was a "harmonised effort that looked like a beautiful piece of orchestra; every element complemented the other and contributed to the package".

Design Director Miguel Angel Gomez said: "We succeeded because there was such good synergy of content and design. The bronze awards are a good start; we want to keep moving ahead. There was a lot of conversation and planning for the Al Nakba special, which was also key to our second Wan-Ifra win for 2008. It was truly remarkable to be awarded in the category of infographics, a first for Gulf News."

The newspaper has received the bronze for infographics. The winning piece was by designer Ramachandra Babu on the UAE's Olympic gold medal winner in shooting — Shaikh Ahmad Mohammad Hasher Al Maktoum.

He said: "The initial story was written by Sports Reporter Alaric Gomes. We then planned the infographic. I met with Shaikh Ahmad and got all the information. He was very involved and checked all the content to ensure its accuracy.

"There was a lot of planning involved. It took about one and a half months. There was a lot information in it."

An incentive

The wins act as an incentive for the newspaper to continue pushing the boundaries.

AlMezel said: "Many in the region tend to tell the story, especially in the print media, in text. One has to read a whole lot of text. But most often, significant stories are highlighted when the story is told visually."

For the designers it is recognition of their department's pioneering efforts.

De la Llata said: "We have been forging new paths over the past decade. The competitors are making a concerted effort to follow us, especially the way we treat social issues. This is good; it just pushes us to be better.

"This is the first time work by me has won a Wan-Ifra award. I was in Chennai, India, to receive it on behalf of Gulf News. I really felt very proud at that moment."

Babu said that the Wan-Ifra award is acknowledgement among "our immediate peers".

He added: "It is the highest honour in Asia and we are based in the region, so the win is indeed a great privilege and inspires us to do more."