Success story of Times of Oman

Its excellent performance by Times of Oman in the 32nd edition of the SND's best of newspaper design competition.They expected three or four awards.But came out in flying colors by bagging 36 awards and placed second in the overall medal hunt



Design Editor Adonis Durado talks exclusively to www.newspaperdesign.ning.com on the success of Times of Oman


What's the general feeling in design room Adonis?

The Times of Oman & Al Shabiba design team is ecstatic about this achievement. We never really expect to be in the top five. We all thought that by just winning three awards would make us all happy. But to fold it 12 times is simply unbelievable.

And these are what my other team members have to say:

Antonio Farach, HEAD OF INFOGRAPHIC SECTION: “Very exciting to be part of a dream team!”

Waleed Rabin, SENIOR DESIGNER: “I was only introduced to the SND last year. And I really dreamt of winning the SND. This is a big shock of recognition.”

Lucille Umali, ILLUSTRATOR: “It’s so surreal! But it only means one thing – all efforts have been paid off. Nothing beats working with the best creatives. J”

Srinivasa Rao, CHIEF DESIGNER: “Anxiously waiting for the big day of announcing the final result. I hope my dream of winning the SND will come true.”

Osama Aljawish, SENIOR DESIGNER: “I hope we’ll win SILVER!”


Times of Oman design team after the selection of the entries










These are some of the pages Time of Oman and Al shabiba submitted to the SND competition.


What’s the secret of success?

1. Hire the best designers/illustrators in the market.
2. If possible, create a multi-cultural team. Our team comes from Honduras, Philippines, Syria, Indonesia, Chile, Egypt, Tunisia, South Africa, India and Oman.
3. Always inspire your staff. Show them great works.
4. Engage your team in a design dialogue. Train them how to articulate of what they're doing.
5. Of winning an award, teach them to dream.























These are some of the pages Time of Oman and Al shabiba submitted to the SND competition


What are the challenges your team now faces?
Winning this much number of awards is one thing; sustaining it is another.