Arabian Business  June 03, 2009  by Jeff Roberts  

 
AYA is broken down into two divisions: Experience and Communications. Each division draws upon different sets of skills depending on the specifications of the project.

Put simply, the former provides an emotive way to experience a brand, while the latter provides the means by which that experience is communicated to the public.

In a nutshell, the Dubai-based company—which began as an advertising & communications agency in Montreal in 2002—has become one of the region’s most sought after firms for architects and developers looking to package, market and sell their projects.

Drawing on the creative pulse of its birthplace, AYA enjoys exclusive partnerships with Montreal’s Alpha Vision Studio, pure and Meduzarts. Without delving too deeply into the group’s intricate corporate structure, the Alpha Vision Group is made up of world-class CGI artists and technicians and is leader in creating high-end imagery for real estate marketing; pure is made up of architects and designers and is a smaller boutique design studio specialising in ultra-premium photo-real imagery; Meduzarts is the group’s cinema division—which was created with Jesse Veilleux, an award-winning matte painter—that was created to attract Hollywood-quality talent to architectural projects.

While AYA is the face of the partnership in the Middle East, it has the authority to speak for the Group within the region, and more importantly, to harness the Group’s myriad skills and resources for its clients.

“We often show our cinematic projects to potential clients, whether they’re architects or developers, because we apply a lot of the techniques reserved for cinema in what we provide them,” explains Micha Grundman, managing director of AYA Experience. “Whether its matte painting, camera projection or concept art, using cinematic techniques gives us an advantage by creating something that doesn’t exist and giving it the emotion it needs to be authentic.”

Fadi Abu Ghali, managing director of AYA Communications explains the capabilities of the communications side of the business: “The best way to understand it is if you take a developer for example. We tell them, ‘We’re going to develop your brand for a project. We’ll develop all your renderings and animation for the projects too. From the renderings, we’re going to start developing the advertising and communications to complement the brand. Then, we’ll help you launch the project by doing a large VIP event, during which, your guests will be allowed to experience and immerse themselves in the project in a way that is unparalleled.”

Offering what clients need

Because it is headquartered locally, one of AYA’s biggest advantages is that it can offer regional clients local project management. Everything related to project management is done in the Middle East, which means all of those CAD files, finishing schedules, colour and point-of-view reviews that are necessary for a large-scale project are only a short drive, flight or phone call away.

“It’s crucial to our clients that we transmit the essence of their brand,” explains Grundman. To that end, AYA provides a selection of programs to help its clients achieve a higher ROI on the technology investment. The Group offers what it calls a ‘Digital Sales Assistant’, which is a software platform that packages all of the assets—renderings, animations, corporate profiles, corporate videos, 3D floorplans, 2D floorplans, project-specific sales information—and allows developers and architects to engage with potential buyers.

“When we go in, we go in as an integrated experiential communications company,” continues Grundman. “Even if we only end up providing renderings and animations in the end, we have a broad understanding of branding, sales process, communications, advertising and so on.”

Grundman, Abu Ghali and executive creative director, Kal Dreisziger, often emphasize the importance of listening to clients’ needs and providing bespoke solutions. “We wouldn’t necessarily produce a highly-detailed image for an architect in the first round of concept stage,” explains Dreisziger. “It doesn’t make sense to create a photo-real rendering when the design is still in progress, the details haven’t been defined yet or the image is intended for internal use. It completely depends on what stage they’re at and what they’d like to use the imagery for.”

How good are they?

The likely question brewing in readers’ minds is probably some variation of ‘So, just how good are these guys?’ For a group that provided portions of imagery for visually arresting films including 300 and Sin City, this is a question that has come to be expected by the AYA directors.

One example of their level of expertise is a well-known image of a chandelier inside one of Dubai Pearl’s luxury apartments that took the CGI industry by storm. “In that chandelier, there are enough polygons to model all of Dubai,” explains Grundman. “The detail in that particular image is truly cutting-edge. There was a tonne of discussion in industry chat rooms when we launched that one.”

In its premium products, the level of photo-realism is so detailed in many cases that the creative teams need to spend a considerable amount of time making the images less perfect. “They’re often too clean, too precise, and because of that, they look unrealistic,” says Grundman.

Adding droplets to a window, leaves to shadows, dishes to a sink or clothes on a couch are types of subtle details that can make an image “dirty”. According to Grundman, adding random imperfections to the images makes them look authentic and makes the space look lived-in.

When it comes to exteriors, some of the most basic landscape elements present the largest hurdles for creative professionals. “Recreating water is one of the most difficult. The Group has had someone working on just water for the last 10 years,” explains Grundman. “Making grass look authentic is incredibly difficult as well. To make all the pieces move independently takes an enormous amount of time and effort. Water, fire and grass—if done incorrectly—are areas where things can start to look very tacky, very quickly.”

While the artistic proclivities of the company’s artists and technicians are clear, what is also clear is that some of the largest players—throughout the UAE and the region—enlist the help of AYA for their own communication strategies.

A healthy diversity of projects and clientele is one of the most exciting benefits for Abu Ghali. “One day we’ll produce a fashion show for Gucci; the next day we’ll help launch the Dubai International Film Festival with a huge event; then we’ll do labelling for Danone; then we’ll do some work for Abu Dhabi Police or Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation,” he explains. “That’s in addition to the work we do for developer and contractor clients, which include Dubai Pearl, IFA Hotels & Resorts, Mubadala, Capitala and Dubai Contracting Company.”

A common misconception

While it may seem that the Group would present formidable competition for design architects—especially considering it designed parts of the interiors and exteriors of Dubai Pearl from a floorplan—its group of directors insist that nothing could be further from the truth.

“The renderings we do are done by people with architectural backgrounds so they’re sensitive to the basic architecture design—the architect’s programme and vision—so in cases like that, our work overlaps with the architect,” explains Dreisziger. “But there really isn’t a conflict. I mean, we could be the architect’s best friend in terms of being able to package and sell his or her work but we could never replace or compete with the architect.”

“We’re not looking to replace the architects in the process,” adds Grundman. “We’re looking to offer a visual solution that strengthens the architect’s vision. We can mobilise and produce high-quality imagery very quickly, but because of that, we’re not designing projects to be 100% architecturally accurate, we’re creating a set. We’re not looking to build the project; we’re looking to create the essence of it.”

To that end, the Group works very closely with its in-house architects to ensure feasibility in all aspects of design. “Our background allows us to communicate very well with [architects] and deliver according to their schedule, but we don’t challenge the design,” assures Grundman.

As an illustration of how the Group can complement rather than compete with architects, Grundman offers a recent project in which the Group was in discussion with a client, while the client was in simultaneous discussion with the architects.

“The architect was proposing a solution that the client didn’t fully understand,” explains Grundman. “In essence, the client thought one was better than the other, when in fact, we were proposing the same design. We were able to use our images to give very strong visual support to the idea that we were all on the same page.”

What the future holds

Because of the advances in technology, the line between fantasy and reality is already being blurred and, according to Dreisziger, that means exciting things for architects of the future. “The future isn’t just bricks and mortar; buildings will increasingly become the screens for myriad types of entertainment and experiences. That will be fun.”

Meanwhile, architects and developers of the present might do well to align themselves with the AYAs of the industry, especially considering the vast sums of money invested during the boom years.

It is not inconceivable to imagine that, as a result of the recession, several of the region’s developers are sitting—uncomfortably—on scores of vacant properties.

It would seem a hard-target branding and communication strategy might be an effective way to distinguish one’s properties in a very competitive buyer’s market.

For the time being, AYA is content with its level of work. It is considering expansion into other regional markets, but any expansion, regardless of market potential, needs to be carefully considered.

“We have to be careful of spreading ourselves too thin,” expains Dreisziger. “We’re a small team that requires a lot of talented individuals. And, because of that, we’ve got to be careful in choosing the right time and method by which we expand.”

“We’ve always been active in Dubai and Abu Dhabi but Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, Jordan and Saudi Arabia are still very much ‘in development’. We’ve done some work for clients in those countries, but we’re not to the point of opening satellite offices,” adds Grundman.