Transforming the Saudi construction industry for a new generation
The construction industry is not perceived as the coolest: it is a man’s world that women are slowly trying to integrate. It is extremely physical and specific.
Polywed, a family business founded in 1996 decided to challenge that.
Rabeh and Rawan, a brother and a sister who took on the challenge of creating an impact through their inherited company, asked us to re-imagine the packaging for their various product ranges.
In times where producing locally became essential, our goal was to shift the brand into becoming the coolest construction materials brand in Saudi and in the region.
Bringing together clarity with style
Immersing ourselves in the world of construction sites, we wanted to understand the function of every single product to be able to represent it at its best.
Once we were able to absorb the range of over 70 products, we developed an illustration style that brought together photography with hand illustration. The idea was to bring art with realism; accessibility with playfulness. We created a new graphic language in which a duotone photo treatment was superimposed with a hand drawn illustration to highlight the materiality and function of the product. As this industry comprises users from extremely varied backgrounds and educations, we made it a point to clearly portray what the product does from the illustration. To facilitate the visual recognition of the products, we developed a color coding system for the various product ranges.
Tri-lingual / modules of info
Polywed had the opportunity to differentiate themselves: variety in product ranges and accessibility, inclusivity.
To this end, we have developed a set of graphic elements and decisions to position it as such: modern, systematic and efficient. The Latin, Arabic and Urdu typefaces are geometric, elegant and complement the illustration style quite well. On a hierarchy level, and to allow flexibility across sizes and ranges, we have created modules of information; an easy way to find the relevant info for users, and a practical way for arranging modules across formats.
Empowering local production
This new cutting edge design in packaging positioned Polywed as a bold category leader in the construction field. In turn, several local companies decided to shift and work with Polywed to supply their materials locally. This pivot ended up empowering the brand and the ecosystem around it, which in turn enhanced local production of materials in Saudi Arabia.
