NYUAD Marhaba Week Identity

Welcome Week at NYU Abu Dhabi is called by its Arabic name: “marhaba!” It’s a time of  adventure and community-building as students from all over the world orient to what their life will be like on campus for the next four years. As the first introduction that new students have to the NYUAD brand, it is a key time for visual collateral to generate excitement and an immediate sense of belonging at NYUAD.

In 2012, sophomore student Erin (Meekhof) Collins designed an overall identity system for Marhaba Week that supports NYUAD’s official brand, using the same colors and typefaces with unique graphics and lockups. She applied it to specific pieces for Marhaba 2012, including a guidebook in "passport" form, a schedule and map, apparel, and banners. Keeping in mind her own freshmen experience at NYUAD, Erin designed a range of elements that made the logistical portion of the move-in process straightforward for the freshmen class and for the facilitating team, all while creating a celebratory feeling. In later years, the freshman welcome team expanded the Marhaba identity and adapted it to fit the needs of each new year's orientation, resulting in collateral like banners, backdrops, totes, pennants, flyers, wayfinding, and in the virtual Marhaba of 2020, video call backgrounds and Instagram stickers. The identity has provided a warm welcome of NYUAD spirit for eight years and counting.

Marhaba Week Identity was featured in DESIGN WORKS, a January 2019 exhibition in Abu Dhabi.

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