The Other Side

How to approach a topic as sensitive as the Israeli-Arab conflict?  It all starts by humanizing the problem, and by having people share their stories and experiences. The Other Side provides a platform where there is a healthy exchange of ideas that promotes the search for peace. The Other Side is meant to change the current perception of the Israeli-Arab conflict by provoking a positive conversation towards peace. It is a project that believes in the good from both sides and does not focus on the violence and aggression that is normally perpetuated through the media. It is project that informs and provides a place where once can learn about the conflict in the most un-biased way possible.

Research

The purpose of this research was to understand the best way to communicate the push for a positive dialogue. As it still an ongoing conflict the subject matter can be quite sensitive, the research led me to understand the best way to approach it without offending any culture or taking a side. 

Brand Identity

 The challenge was to find an icon that could best represent both sides. I played around with different combinations of letter forms and basic shapes. It was not until I realized the importance of dialogue within this project that I decided to use the quotation marks as the symbol to represent that without dialogue co-existence would not exist. The quotations marks are flipped as to face each other in dialogue. The symbol can be represented by two colors as to allude to the fact that both sides are different but that they can interact and co-exist peacefully. These marks can be used with or without the squares and can expand into a wide variety of colors. 

The color scheme was created by blending the green and the blue found in the flags of Palestine and Israel. The yellow is meant to represent the desert and the happiness that could be obtained from bringing peace into this area. The typeface Plume is a slab serif meant to evoke the middle eastern culture. Soleil is a sans serif typeface that was used because it is soft and approachable.