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The work experience of Hareem, a graphic design intern studying at Sheffield Hallam University. When I first started looking for an internship 5 months ago, I did not know what to expect. I was looking for advice from my professors and my family, searching online for design-related agencies. I was hoping to come across an agency where I could learn and grow in two areas: publication and packaging. Speaking from the experience that I gained during 3 months of my internship at Anisha, I would like to tell you about things that I learned as a graphic design intern. It’s a demanding job At Anisha, the learning scope was huge as there wasn’t a moment where I felt like the time was being wasted. I was always involved in work areas like packaging design for fragrances, production works, brainstorming, finding creative solutions with the senior team members, market research and I also brushed off my skills in presentations and various high level designing softwares that were used at Anisha. There’s plenty to learn Designing posters and books, any sort of publication seemed like the perfect job for me, as that’s what I did most of my university life. But the first project I was given as an intern was to design a box for a fragrance. I had never done that before and I had no other choice than to ask for advice, watch, learn, and then ask again. And it was perfectly normal and my co-workers were very supportive. I have been involved in designing perfume packaging, fragrance bottles, artwork for production, billboards, making presentations, PSD mockups for clients and evaluating market research. The team at Anisha is highly skilled, professional and always ready to counsel. Under my seniors I learned how to work in a dynamic workplace pressure and how to efficiently deliver results to the clientele. Learning Never Stops Graphic design, branding, design thinking — every field of design changes so quickly that there is simply no way to be up to date all the time. In reality, even experienced designers must learn. New tools and technologies arrive every day and they need to keep an open mind, embrace the new information, and experiment in their work. The best piece of advice I can give to an intern in this matter, is to watch and learn and ask questions. Sometimes your supervisor will learn from you as much as you learn from them. […]

Which are the noteworthy luxury Middle Eastern Perfumes? How are they capitalising on the growth of the local perfume market? The Middle East has been a market with high per capita consumption of luxury perfumes since time immemorial and the figures continue to grow. Euromonitor predicts Middle East and Africa perfume market growth from 5.7 billion USD in 2018 to 8.5 billion USD by 2021. The strong demand in niche luxury perfumery sales in this region has encouraged long established and new local perfumery brands to create new interesting perfume concepts. The Saudi, Omani and UAE markets are more traditional in perfume choice, whereas Kuwaitis are more experimental and enjoy East meets West fragrance partnerships. There are many more perfume houses targeting the Middle East market with oriental creations who are manufacturing abroad. Such as the House of Oud, Amouroud, Xerjoff, Sospiro, Memo, Nejma, Montale, and Frederick Malle, to mention but a few. Due to current consumption rates, the Middle Eastern perfume market continues to be a highly attractive proposition. In this blog post we focus only on the local oriental brands born and bred in the Middle East. It is surprising, given the relative size and consumption of the market, that the Saudi market has not developed any noteworthy luxury perfume brands. Arabian Oud is a noteworthy fragrance company making quality perfumes, however its activities have not yet been focused on the higher priced luxury market, more mid luxury. Ahjaar – UAE This is a product creation developed for Paris Gallery to sell exclusively in their luxury perfume retail chain. Its simplistic yet luxurious packaging approach revives memories of Guerlain’s Encens Mythique d’orient. Amouage – Oman Amouage is a long standing perfume house with the backing of the Omani royal family. Amouage has gone from strength to strength to place its brands in the most luxurious exclusive points of sale the world over over the last twenty years. At the early part of the 2000s Amouage was still very much a regional player with a very oriental approach in packaging and presentation. I recall buying Cristal Gold by Amouage in the late 1990s. Despite the beauty and opulence of the old style packaging, it is doubtful that Amouage would have achieved such wide appeal if it had not changed later to a simpler ‘East meets West’ style of packaging and presentation. The brand has managed to reinvent itself as a sleek luxury brand with sophistication and wide appeal thanks to the expertise of Christopher Chong who was their in-house marketing expert until 2019. Each new range has a clear story behind it and the fragrances have mostly oriental notes, yet are very popular the world over. Amouage has achieved great success from Russia to Australia, a success emulated by many. Arcadia – UAE Amna al Habtoor, UAE resident from a prominent local family, has recently launched Arcadia perfumes by Amna. The perfumes are based on oriental nostalgia and each perfume comes with a booklet explaining the story behind it. Anfas by Assim Al Qassim – UAE A creation of Assim al Qassim, a nostalgic approach to niche oriental perfumery, combining old trusted ingredients with some unexpected notes such as mango. The new collection WATAN (nation) is inspired by endless love. Designer Shaik – Bahrain The brand Chic Shaikh brand is only widely available in the Middle East region and some limited distribution in other countries. It has created truly innovative packaging unlike any perfume in the world, complete with perfume bottle refill stations at certain point of sale. One of the great things of the brand is that bottles are refillable and the luxurious packaging can be sent away for refurbishment to maintain its beauty. Ghawali – UAE This is a relatively new niche brand owned and launched by Chalhoub perfume distribution group with its own range of body care and perfumes. The products are largely distributed in their own bespoke retail outlets located in areas heavily frequented by local Arabs. The perfumes are based on Middle Eastern heritage using combinations of ingredients popular in the region to create unisex creations. Its simple packaging is elegant and understated. Kayali – UAE Kayali perfume is a recent entrant to the Middle East perfume market. Launched by the Kattan sisters of the huge Dubai based cosmetics company Huda Beauty, the brand has been launched exclusively in Sephora retail outlets. With fragrances such as vanilla, white flowers, musk and citrus, the perfume is based on layering principles, you need more than one to build up your fragrance and match your mood. Khaltat blends of Love – UAE This is a niche luxury perfume brand sold mainly in private luxury kiosks in the most popular shopping malls. It is the creation of the Mohamed Hilal group. Not satisfied with the success of its oriental oil perfumes – Hind al Oud, the Hilal Group has now entered the luxury spray niche perfume market. This brand will also be sold in the new luxury concept stores HOB where new colour cosmetics ranges will also be on sale. Majan Perfumes – Oman The packaging of the brand is slightly reminiscent of the Kuwaiti brand The Fragrance Kitchen, as all perfumes are housed in the same size round tall bottle. However, the decoration is more pretty and oriental than the Fragrance Kitchen which prefers a more modern, illustrative style for each bottle. Odict – Kuwait Odict is a collaboration between two friends of Saudi and Kuwaiti descent. Inspiration comes from typical Middle Eastern ingredients such as oud, frankincense, amber and saffron and are mixed with contemporary notes such as fresh smelling bergamot, orange blossom and grapefruit. The packaging is minamalistic and ultra modern. The brand has used the region’s heritage of pearl diving as a starting point for the creative inspiration of its brand imagery. Oman Luxury – Oman A relatively new entrant into niche luxury perfumery which was developed in collaboration with french perfumers and Hamid Merati- Kashani from Firmenich. The old perfume was […]

التصنيف: Uncategorized

Niche perfumery in Dubai

My Internship at Anisha International

The rise of the unisex perfume

Made in France – the 5 factors which reduced its dominance in perfumery

Competition time!

15 Luxury Middle Eastern perfumes