I run a small coffee cart near Jumeirah. Cute idea, messy brand. My logo looked like a clip-art bean. Menus were hard to read. The Arabic text was off. I needed help, fast.
If you’re curious about the longer version, I also put together my first-person review of a graphic design company in Dubai that digs into every little design decision.
So I hired a small design studio in Al Quoz. Two designers. One project manager who lived on WhatsApp. Did they nail it? Mostly. And here’s what actually happened.
Why I picked them (and not my cousin’s friend)
I saw their work on Instagram. A shawarma place in Deira used them, and the Arabic logo looked crisp. Clean curves. Nice balance. I called. We did a short brief over Zoom. Nothing fancy. I sent photos of my cart, my weird logo, and three brands I liked. We agreed on scope, price, and a two-week sprint. Straight talk always helps, right?
Plenty of bigger agencies post up in the Dubai Design District (d3), but I wanted someone close enough that I could pop by if something went sideways.
I’d flirted with the idea of going global and hiring an offshore graphic design team, but for this project I wanted feet on the ground.
What they built for me, for real
- A new logo with a date palm + coffee bean icon
- English wordmark and Arabic wordmark, paired together
- A color set with two browns, one sand, and a mint pop
- Cup sleeves and sticker sheets for 8 oz and 12 oz
- A bilingual menu board (Arabic right-to-left, English left-to-right)
- Instagram post and story templates
- A small brand guide (12 pages) with do’s and don’ts
They worked in Adobe Illustrator and Figma. I got final files in AI, PDF, SVG, and PNG. CMYK for print. RGB for screen. No missing fonts. No weird exports.
Real examples that mattered
Here’s where it gets useful.
- The Arabic name looked wrong in my old mark. The tail on the “ي” was chunky. They fixed the kerning so the letters didn’t crash. They used Noto Kufi Arabic and Poppins for English. Simple pair. It reads clean.
- For colors, they gave me hex codes:
- Deep Bean Brown: #3E2B23
- Light Sand: #E6D5C8
- Mint: #9FDAC3
- Charcoal: #2A2A2A
I printed a test. The brown didn’t shift red, even under the noon sun. That desert glare is no joke.
- Menu board size came in 60 cm by 90 cm. They set margins so the Arabic lines didn’t hug the edge. It’s small, but it reads from a few steps back.
- For a Ramadan promo, they built three story frames with a crescent icon, soft mint gradient, and gold accents. Not tacky. They added “Maghrib to Midnight” in both languages. I posted. We sold out of pistachio cold brew on day three.
- Stickers were die-cut. One had the palm-bean icon only. Great for lids. Kids kept peeling them off and putting them on scooters. That’s a good sign.
- They sent a car-wrap mockup for my Nissan NV200. Left side carried the Arabic name. Right side carried the English. Consistent, and also helpful for traffic.
Small note: they remembered to flip punctuation rules across languages. That tiny thing made the menu feel legit.
The process (fast, then a little slow)
Week one was fast. Mood boards, sketch markups, and a shared Figma link. I added comments at night. They replied by morning. We had two rounds of edits included. We used both. Then I asked for a tiny tweak on the cup sleeve size. That counted as a third round. Fair enough. It added two days.
It reminded me of the pace you get when you rely on white-label graphic design memberships—except this time I could actually swing by the studio if things went sideways.
Costs and timelines (actual numbers)
- Brand refresh package: AED 5,800
- Extra sticker set: AED 450
- Rush on Ramadan posts: AED 300
- Total: AED 6,550
From kickoff to final files: 16 days. Printing was on me. I used a shop in Al Quoz 3. They sent files with crop marks and bleeds, so prepress was smooth.
What I loved
- They cared about Arabic type. No copy-paste. It looked thoughtful.
- Files were tidy. Named layers. No mystery fonts.
- They gave me a “street test.” We printed a draft and taped it on the cart. We watched people read it. A worker in a hard hat said, “Now I can see the price.” That made my day.
- WhatsApp updates were short and clear. Voice notes helped when I was pulling espresso.
- If you ever move project chats over to an anonymous messenger like Kik, it’s smart to brush up on best practices—Kik Safety Guide—this walkthrough shows you how to tweak privacy settings, spot scams, and block problem users so your creative files (and personal info) stay protected.
- Graphic identity lessons apply beyond coffee carts; lifestyle groups often need clear branding that signals inclusivity without being tacky. For instance, swinger communities rely on subtle yet inviting visuals to protect privacy while still helping new members find the right vibe—Johnstown Swingers offers a real-world look at how targeted design and careful wording create a safe, welcoming environment for couples and singles exploring the scene.
Sure, my coffee cart isn’t exactly Northrop Grumman-level design work, but attention to detail still counts.
What bugged me
- The first color test ran a bit dull in CMYK. They fixed it with a richer black mix, but it ate a day.
- The brand guide had a typo in the English page (an extra space). Small thing, but I saw it.
- Extra edits cost extra. I get it. Still stung a bit.
Did it change sales?
I track daily cups in a simple sheet. The week after launch, we were up about 18%. More iced orders, too. Was it the new look or the heat? Maybe both. But the cups and menu made us look real. People trust “real.”
Tips if you’re hiring a design team in Dubai
- Bring photos of your space in daylight and at night. Colors shift.
- Ask for Arabic and English set side by side. Not stacked as an afterthought.
- Research shows that 72% of consumers expect consistent Arabic and English branding, which makes bilingual consistency a non-negotiable if you want to build trust.
- Print a draft at actual size. Tape it up. Watch strangers read it.
- Confirm how many edit rounds you get. Two goes fast. I learned that lesson the hard way when I hired Michelle Chen in Irvine for a branding sprint; what felt like “unlimited” edits turned out to be three.
- Get files in AI, PDF, and SVG. You’ll thank yourself later.
So… would I use them again?
Yes. Not perfect, but very good. They respected language and space. They worked at a human pace. And they gave me a brand that feels like me, but grown up. You know what? That’s enough.
Final word: If you need a graphic design company in Dubai, find one that shows real bilingual work, asks about your light and your crowd, and sends clean files. Fancy mockups are nice. Clear menus sell coffee.
Need inspiration? Peek at Moon & Back Graphics to see how sharp bilingual branding and meticulous file prep can lift a small business.