Initiatives paying off
By Talib Jariwala, Deputy Design Editor at Gulf News
"I have been with Gulf News for seven years now. These awards endorse our team effort — it shows that our initiative and efforts are paying off and getting appreciated internationally."

Click here to view Gulf News' award winning designs (pdf)

We have grown
By S.M. Arshad, Senior Designer at Gulf News
"I have been with Gulf News a long time and witnessed the change that the paper has undergone, in terms of both design and content. We have grown tremendously and will do even better next year."

Contribution adds value
By Dwynn Trazo, Infographist at Gulf News
"It feels great to be part of the SND recognition for Gulf News. It is fulfilling for me to be part of the effort that has won. Charts are often time-consuming and at times difficult to make but not necessarily very attractive. To have recognition in this manner shows that my contribution does add value."

I feel honoured
By Luis Vazquez, Illustrator at Gulf News
"I have completed almost a year in Gulf News. I feel honoured to be part of the team that has been awarded for excellence by SND. Recognition of this nature is a privilege and urges us to do better each time we put an idea to paper."

Case Study: Winner of Star Wars pullout poster
By Nino Jose Heredia, Illustrator with Gulf News

"The plan was to create a single poster with 30 memorable characters from Star Wars to commemorate the 30th anniversary. I worked on it with another designer.

"However for the single poster, I needed to illustrate 30 characters individually, from the six episodes of Star Wars.

"As the plan developed, it was decided that the individual drawings could be published separately, too.

"The designer did the layout, we hired a Star Wars expert from Mexico to supply the fact files, and I created the illustrations.

"It took me two-and-a-half months. The longest I spent was 16 hours on the poster of Queen Amidala/Padme, as it had two faces. As the need was realism, I had to be very careful with the proportions and details. I created each one using pastels on 50 by 60 centimetre foam boards.

"The reason I used pastels was because that was the medium used to create all the original movie posters for Star Wars. So I was carrying the tradition forward.

"I was happy and glad to be part of the project … it was a creatively inspiring process.

"I started specialising as an illustrator after joining Gulf News two years ago."