press releases

twofour54 creative lab has entered into partnerships with two UAE-based businesses who are leading experts in their respective fields of publishing, Rufoof and Midas Consulting. Rufoof is the first-of-a-kind e-content store application, offering thousands of Arabic books and publications covering various fields. Midas Consulting is a twofour54–based publishing expert, working with some of the largest organizations in the field of international publishing. The partners will be working jointly on bringing several Arabic publishing projects to market. This announcement marks an exciting step forward into a new sector of the media industry for twofour54 creative lab, complementing twofour54 creative lab’s various other talent development initiatives.

This entry into the world of publishing, and the collaboration with Rufoof, means that twofour54 creative lab can provide talented Arabs with a digital platform to promote their literary ideas,offering creative lab projects a dedicated bookshelf, while Rufoof will benefit from exposure on twofour54 creative lab’s social media and online channels.The partnership with Midas Consulting ensures that commercially viable publishing projects are supported with industry publishing expertise and are represented to national and international markets in the best way possible.

The announcement, which coincides with the Abu Dhabi International Book Fair held between April 24 and 29, highlights twofour54 creative lab’s continued support of the broad range of talent needed for the sustainable growth of the media industries in the Middle East and North Africa, in the key field of writing, so important for the development of the creative industries.

Noura Al Kaabi, Chief Executive Officer, twofour54, said: “This is a great opportunity for us to emphasize the importance of instilling a culture of reading and writing in the younger generation and serves to remind us of the benefits reading and writing have on creating well-rounded and intellectual youth. Talented individuals in the UAE with literary passions need resources and outlets to showcase their ideas and creativity to the world. Our aim at twofour54 creative lab is to offer these talented writers all the support and mentoring required to develop their thoughts into books and e-books that can be read around the world.”

twofour54 creative lab’s first project with Rufoof is an Arabic e-book titled ‘Before Sunrise’ by Iraqi authors Jenan Alwan and Naba Abdel Amir. The book, which is about a group of young people trying to save the world from an evil force, was chosen by twofour54 creative lab for its fantasy literature appeal and for the authors’ potential to become known contemporary writers. The book’s cover was designed by Emirati illustrator and creative lab community member, Noura Al Mazrouie. ‘Before Sunrise’ is available for download on Rufoof and has already received 291 downloads since being uploaded in February 2013.

The next publishing project in partnership with Rufoof will be with Maitha Al Khayat, the well-known and bestselling Emirati author of ‘I Love My Dad’s Long Beard’ and ‘My Own Special Way.’ The new interactive digital children’s book titled ‘I Love My Mom’s Pretty Veil’ will show the beauty of different veils across the Arab world and will soon be available in English and Arabic on Rufoof. This is Maitha’s first e-book and was chosen for its ability to engage children interactively through its rhymes, colorful illustrated costumes and culturally relevant to young Arabs.

“The objective at Rufoof is to provide an enjoyable reading experience for Arabic content and publications digitally on our applications so that Arabs around the world can enjoy classics or contemporary works only a click away. Working with twofour54 creative lab allows us to continue expanding our offering by adding quality books to our existing library of 5000 publications,” said Mohamad Jamal from Rufoof.

twofour54 creative lab’s first project with Midas Consulting is the development of a boxed set of four inspirational children’s stories by Jordanian author Aroub Soubh. These will be produced through the participation of young cancer patients. The book, which Midas Consulting featured at the London Book Fair in the UK, will be published in Arabic and English and will be accompanied by an exercise book that allows children to create their own story books as part of this series. It hopes to instill in them a passion for storytelling.

The next project in the pipeline with Midas Consulting is a compilation of short stories from 10 different writers from across the GCC.

“Midas Consulting looks forward to working with twofour54 creative lab on developing and promoting Arab literary talent.  Supporting commercially viable projects identified by our partners at twofour54 creative lab with our expertise in publishing industry is exciting for us because of our genuine passion for building up the profiles of untapped and emerging talent,” said Tony Mulliken, partner at Midas Consulting.

To find out more about creative lab or to register as a member with the creative lab community, click here.

Follow creative lab on:

Twitter: @CreativeLabME
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/CreativeLabME
Instagram: @creativelabme
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/creativelabme

To download ‘Before Sunrise’:  download Rufoof for free from the app store, select the store from inside the app, select ‘Before Sunrise’ and download it for free.

Back to news press listing