The Creative Union, a branding studio based in Doha, Qatar, created the brand identity and brand language for Scale7.

Scale7 is the first fashion and design business incubator in Qatar, founded by Qatar Development Bank (QDB), in partnership with M7, Qatar’s epicentre for innovation and entrepreneurship in designs, fashion, and tech, to serve as a platform to promote, develop, and foster the creative industry in the country.

Scale7 is a space where designers, entrepreneurs, and startups can find not only support but also inspiration on their journey towards becoming recognized, commercially viable businesses and brands.

Enabling Qatar to position itself as a major Fashion & Design hub, and ultimately contributing to the diversification of the economy in Qatar.

Our challenge was to create a dynamic and engaging brand that would attract designers and entrepreneurs to want to be part of Scale7.

To truly understand the requirements of the incubator, we held in-depth discussions with the Scale7 team and its stakeholders. Taking all information gathered and sharing with our team to begin the creative process.

After creating several design routes, we went back to basics and settled on the idea of using a grid as a major part of the brand language. The fundamental concept of the grid as the basis for the design process, it is there to keep the brand structured, working well with imagery and typography. Our grid is not rigid but flexible and dynamic, allowing endless variations of maximal and minimal design layouts.

For the ‘7’ icon itself, we drew inspiration from, and pay homage to, the traditional Arabic artform of calligraphy, with its sharp lines and soft curves. The ‘7’ is placed in a circle, symbolizing unity, commitment, and community.

We crafted a flexible, dual language logo lock up, using modern typography forms for the English and crafting the Arabic. Introducing a fresh colour palette, with the aqua blue used, being inspired by the waters that surround Qatar.

Complementing our grid, we created attention-grabbing stickers and graphic elements that depict areas of creativity that will flourish at Scale7.

The brand is flexible, strong, memorable, and portrays a strong sense of creativity. Scale7 is an important addition to Qatar’s ever-growing reputation as an art and design hub. Qatar’s capital city Doha has become the first in the region to join the UNESCO Network of Creative Cities as a Creative City of Design.