UAECreatives Directory Second Issue October 2023

Dear Reader,

Welcome to the second edition.

We continue with our regular features - UAE Market Insights, Featured UAE Creative, Entrepreneur of the Month etc. This time we have included a Book review, a Talent Corner featuring the latest works of some of our members and a Calendar of upcoming events - the Dubai Design Week and Mobicon is happening in November.

We would love to have your feedback. You can email it to feedback@uaecreatives.com

Sincerely

Umesh Ponnusamy Editor

UAECREATIVES.COM

David Alexander | Gerard Perera |

Malesh Ponnusamy |

Muthusankar Rajapather |

Remy Francis | Umesh Ponnusamy

Coca Cola joins in on the A conversation

“Bringing together artists from all across the globe, Coke cultivated a community of like-minded individuals to push the conversation forward by crafting unique artwork using AI tools and special Coca-Cola archive materials.”

Read the full report: https://www.highsnobiety.com/p/coca-cola-joinsin-on-the-ai-conversation/

UAE online purchases set to Dhssurpass 100 Billion this year

GlobalData survey finds that 88% of UAE consumers shopped online in 6 months

“E-commerce in the UAE has registered healthy growth in the past five years, mainly due to rising internet and smartphone penetration coupled with increasing consumer confidence in online transactions. Furthermore, the pandemic accelerated the shift in consumer preference from brick-and-mortar to online channels.

3 UAE CONSUMER INSIGHTS

Online shopping events such as Black Friday and Cyber Monday have also supported the growth of e-commerce,” he added

88% of consumers shop online in 6 months

According to GlobalData’s 2023 Financial Services Consumer Survey, 88 per cent of UAE consumers reported having shopped online in the past six months, while only 5 per cent indicated that they had never shopped online.

GlobalData’s survey also revealed that consumers prefer cards as a mode of payment due to the value-added benefits offered by them, including interest-free instalment payments, reward programmes, cashback, and discounts.

Link to full article: https://www.khaleejtimes.com/business/uae-onlinepurchases-set-to-surpass-dh100-billion-this-year

Free Wi-Fi

more important than food and legroom for air passengers: survey

International survey reveals plane passengers want free Wi-Fi ahead of food and legroom

Plane passengers consider free Wi-Fi connectivity onboard to be more important than food and drink and even legroom, according to a new survey.

Wi-Fi on planes is second only to price of a ticket for passengers, said global communications specialist Viasat.

Link to full article: https://www.arabianbusiness.com/industries/ transport/free-wi-fi-more-important-than-foodand-legroom-for-air-passengers-survey

Brothers

Yousuf Fidali, Mustafa Fidali

SpoilYour Wall.com

Congratulations on your successful venture “Spoil Your Wall.com” It’s an enterprise that has creativity at its core. How did this idea spark and how did you execute it?

“We’ve always aspired to offer creative and budget-friendly home decor options. That’s why we explored the concept of DIY, aiming to empower our customers by involving them in the creative process. Our wall decals are not only easy to apply but also incredibly cost-effective.”

SpoilYourWall.com: Brothers Yousuf Fidali, Mustafa Fidali

What has been your experience like in the UAE market?

UAE market being a fusion of west and east with over 200 nationalities is a great place to explore as customers here are open to new things, and we have something to offer to them all!

How is a business day at Spoil Your Wall like?

«Given the creative nature of our field, we constantly strive to innovate, offering extensive customization options. With the integration of AI, the printing industry continues to captivate and inspire us.»

What are your other hobbies and interests?

“Our interests and hobbies include cricket, ongoing industry research, engaging

in public speaking, attending seminars, enjoying rounds of golf, and horseback riding.”

What would your advice be for aspiring UAE entrepreneurs?

In the UAE market, where there is fierce competition and a growing new generation of consumers, it’s essential not to be disheartened by the rivalry. Instead, focus on delivering high-quality products or services, maintain ethical business standards, and surpass your commitments Visit www.SpoilYourWall.com

REMY FRANCIS

(Creative Director/TV Producer/3D-Animator Trainer) & Founder Rembrandz

Remy is a UAE based freelancer and has worked as a Creative Director, Author, Artist, Animator, Marketer etc.

You can learn more about her work on www.rembrandz.com

Exhibited in April 2019 at the Framers Gallery in London at the Jules Verne Exhibition.

Tell us about your journey as an artist. How did it begin?

It started as a lifelong hobby as a toddler-lifestyle. Then one contest led to another that the family encouraged me to take part in as a school kid to take part in inter-school, national and international contests that it became a part of my life even when I was studying in university in some other disciplines like Mathematics as precursor to being an engineer and business school. And then I realized before getting into a management job anywhere I knew I had to get to work from the lower ranks to understand how to one day manage any business and that would make me more empathetic to the team and circles/markets

I work within. To work mostly with inclusivity and tolerance.

What has been your experience in the UAE market?

In 1999, I got introduced to the UAE market through the

best employer one could wish for to understand the UAE market in the creatives and to stay close to government sentimentalities - ETISALAT.

How is a typical business day as an artist like?

It starts with writing down my ideas for a lifestyle video or content for a story or picture book.

5 FEATURED UAE CREATIVE

What are your other hobbies and interests?

(a.) World Economics & Politics

(b.) Nutritional Studies and research paper reports.

(c.) Art/Tech Software apps.

(d.) Subject of Dogs :o)

What would your advice be for aspiring UAE artists?

Be consistent with goals with focus and be prepared to define oneself to stand out every 3 months. As disruptions from technology and competition can get overwhelming if one does not stay competitive with their acquired skillsets they can get run-over.

Do tell us about some of your favorite or interesting projects.

I enjoy making illustration and animation on technology / technical themes. And training videos.

As a Creative Content Strategist | Content Creation Consultant across any industry one can name. I keep my passions hands-on taking pleasure in personally making and holding a unique blend of skills in animation, illustration, business dispute resolution writing, legal letter communication, article-writing and an author and publisher of over 60 books.

Website: https://rembrandz.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com /in/remyfrancis/

Highly recommended Film-Art professional skilled in Storyboarding for TVC and Feature film, Concept art, 2D Character Design, Traditional Animation and Gaming assets development.

Some sketches from a recent book illustration project….

Some people have very personal stories which they keep like precious jewels in their hearts. When a person is compelled by the heart to write, it really touches everyone around them.

It was my good fortune to do illustrations for Mei Ling Tan who wrote such a book , about the life and times of her father. Mei Ling was always supportive and gave me a lot of freedom to work on these sketches , maybe that’s why I value this journey so much !

Here are a few sketches from the project. Hoping to see a printed hard copy out in October’2023.

Digital Artist

Muthusankar Rajapather Designer &

Muthu as he is called among us industry folks is a talented artist, art worker and designer. He had composed the below layouts for an advertising campaign pitch in the UAE, including compositing the key visual displays his skills and talent.

To hire him, email him at muthusankar69@gmail.com

7 UAE CREATIVES DIRECTORY

Abdul Aziz

Listing Category: Animators, Interaction Designers, Product Designers, UI Designers, UX Designers

Portfolio Site: Portfolio • LinkedIn: LinkedIn

David Alexander Director, David & William Advertising Agency, Dubai, UAE

Art Directors, Creative Directors, Founders

Portfolio Site: Company • LinkedIn: Linkedin

Gerard – The IT Help Guy

Listing Category: Entrepreneurs, Founders, IT Support, Project Managers, Technologist

Portfolio Site: The IT help guy

LinkedIn: LinkedIn

Jacob John

Listing Category: Animation and Gaming Assets Development, Cartoonists, Character Design, Illustrators, Storyboard Illustrators

Portfolio Site: Portfolio • LinkedIn: LinkedIn

Muhammad Shahbaz

Listing Category: Developers, Frontend Developers, UI Designers

LinkedIn: LinkedIn

Muthusankar Rajapather

Listing Category: Art Directors, Artists, Graphic Designers

Portfolio Site: Portfolio • LinkedIn: LinkedIn

Palanisamy Arcot Loganathan

Listing Category: 3D Modeling, Animators, Creative Directors, Photographers, Software Training

Portfolio Site: Instagram LinkedIn: LinkedIn

Remy Francis Creation Strategist | Augmented Artist |

Illustration, Animation Direction |

Entrepreneur and Publisher

Portfolio Site: Portfolio • LinkedIn: LinkedIn

Machine Learning; What is?

In the early 2010s, the buzz about Machine Learning hit all the news channels. Being one of the branches of artificial intelligence, machine learning enables software to be completely self-reliant and perform accuracy and precision functionalities.

We have been developing machine learning that dates back to the 1940s. Chalkboard sketches of mathematical models of the human brain neurons and their interconnected networks and learning patterns were drawn and studied by neuro-physicists

THE IT HELP GUY

that evolved into establishing theories of how to develop artificial neural networks or ANNs.

In the 1960s, the research declined due to some researchers arguing against the methods used for ANN being not viable. However, in the 1980s interests in ANN rose, partly due to the development of computer algorithms. Algorithms are used to analyse historical data as input to predict new output values.

Innovation of digital computing and signal processing, we were able to build breadboard versions of simple ANNs. Although with limited learning capabilities, they were significant breakthroughs.

A breadboard is on where we try experimental electronics for testing.

In the mid and late 90s we saw rapid development of ‘soft computing’ such as

fuzzy logic, genetic algorithms, and expert systems. There were institutions like civil engineering and hydrology finding use for them. The 2000s deep learning algorithms led to the development of ANN’s complex patterns. Today ANNs are the centerpoint of all AI and ML in “applied” everything, whether scientific research, health care, innovation, industrial robotics, etc.

Machine learning is a powerful tool that can be used to solve a wide variety of problems such as Fraud detection in identifying fraudulent transactions, spam filtering in emails, malware detection,

automate tasks such as customer service, predictive and preventive maintenance in equipment performance, human behavioural patterns, etc.

Supervised machine learning is based on labelled data. The algorithm learns to associate labels with the data and use that knowledge to predict new output values such as in images where it can recognize the content in another image.

Unsupervised learning is based on unlabeled data. The algorithm scans through provided data for meaningful

THE IT HELP GUY

connections such as on a dataset of customer transactions, and then identifies clusters of customers with similar spending habits.

Reinforcement learning involves algorithms learning by trial and error methods. The algorithm is rewarded for right actions, and disciplined for incorrect actions such as in robotics training where a robot which walks in the right direction as desired would be rewarded, and disciplined for taking steps in the wrong direction.

Machine learning is a rapidly evolving field, and new applications are being developed every minute. As machine learning technology continues to improve, it will greatly benefit and impact our lives. I see Machine Learning as a much-needed tool to assist humans just as any other physical one. Our lives have become extensively busy in the past 30 years because of commercialisation and competition everywhere we look, and it will only keep

increasing rapidly. In such circumstances our physical abilities aren’t sufficient for survival. Without an arsenal of machine learning digital tools survival in this fast-paced modern human world for professionals will be catastrophic.

GERARD PERERA

is a Consultant & Systems Integration Designer at WITECON. With his knowledge and experience working in the field of Electronics Engineering for over 30 years, he does visualization, planning, and implementation of digital technology projects including enterprise automation, IT Infrastructure designing, Security, for global corporate clients in Telecommunications, Digital Media (Broadcasting), Financial institutions, Academic Institutions, Petroleum, and Construction.

Website: www.witecon.com

BRAINPICKINGS FROM A BUSINESS OR CREATIVE THINKING BOOK

Book Takeaways: Anthro Vision by

Gillian Tett

“The last thing a fish would ever notice would be water.”

—Ralph Linton

I just finished reading the book called “Anthro Vision”

by Gillian Tett

There are 5 broad takeaways from the book and here are 2, 3 & 4:

“Second, we must accept that there is no single “natural” cultural frame; human existence is a tale of diversity.”

Meaning, my way of living, customs and traditions are natural only to me, not to others. Besides, my own thoughts and beliefs could have easily been radically different, had my ancestors chosen a different set of rules to live by. Questioning this ‘natural’ way of doing things critically will help broaden our understanding about ourselves.

“Third, we should seek ways to immerse ourselves—repeatedly, even if only briefly—in the minds and lives of others who are different to gain empathy for others.”

Being in a culturally diverse place like Dubai, I constantly encounter opinions and points of view from friends that are unlike anything I have heard. As recently as last week, my friend Sean Crowdle said that in Ireland, the police are unarmed.

“Fourth, we must look at our own world with the lens of an outsider to see ourselves clearly.”

I have found that explaining some of my rituals to my friends from other countries helps me a lot. When they get shocked by some normal rituals, I realize how strange my normal is.

Analytics, Optimization & CRM Expert

All the tools that I know would be of no value if I didn’t understand business. So, here is the big picture related stuff that I love immersing myself in: e-commerce, omnichannel retail strategy, data strategy, digital transformation, economics (I love it - can make you fall in love too).

Fun Fact:

In my previous life, I worked as a software developer and wrote a crime novel. One of them went well.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/ in/gnanagurubaran/

HAPPENING IN THE UAE

Dubai Design Week 2023

07 - 12 Nov 2023

Dubai Design District, Dubai, UAE

“The Largest Creative Festival in the Middle East”

Dubai Design Week is a significant platform for regional creativity, fostering growth in the UAE’s creative community. The week-long festival offers free exhibitions, talks, and workshops for all visitors.

TAKE PART IN THE BELOW EVENTSScheduled Events

https://www.

dubaidesignweek.ae/opencalls-2023/ EXHIBITIONS

Entities and institutes looking to stage multidisciplinary exhibitions and showcases ranging from academic to cultural, as part of the vibrant programme, are welcome to reach out.

WORKSHOPS

Be part of the Maker Space, located at Dubai Design District (d3), which hosts a dedicated workshops programme designed to inspire and elevate skills across all design disciplines.

THE MARKETPLACE

A thoughtfully curated shopping experience, offering a variety of regional design small-scale brands, artisans and F&B vendors.

Further Information submissions@

dubaidesignweek.ae

Dubai Design District (d3)

HAPPENING IN THE UAE

MOBICON

A UNIQUE GAMING MOBILE CONVENTION IN DUBAI

MOBICON DXB is the biggest mobile convention in the Middle East. Its next convention will take place in Dubai in November 2023, during a 3-day event.

You’ll get the chance, for you, your friends and even your family to meet professionals passionate about their career in mobile gaming and the universe around it.

https://mobicondxb.com/

Editor’s note: There was a small write-up in September 8 Khaleej Times about this event. The write-up had mentioned that the event was happening on 7th and 8th October 2023. But their website above mentions November. Have written to them and awaiting their confirmation.