Youth Studio, Publicis Groupe × Snapchat

Only 15% of regional youth feel represented in advertising.

Client: Publicis Groupe × Snapchat
Year: 2025
Where: Athar Festival, Riyadh
My role: Creative Director & Brand Designer

The Myth Market shelves at Athar, stacked with Vibe Ce-real boxes and Literal Noodles packs

Youth Studio is Publicis Groupe Middle East's hub for decoding Gen Z and Gen Alpha in the GCC, built with Snapchat. I designed its identity and created the booth that launched it at Athar: a supermarket where clichés about Saudi youth were cleared off the shelves.

Stop marketing to a meme of youth

Gen Z gets talked about as one global monolith. But Global Gen Z isn't GCC Gen Z, and UAE Gen Z isn't KSA Gen Z. Youth Studio replaces tired narratives with evidence — the Youth Unclichéd research series, live labs with real young people, and modules that rewrite briefs before they reach a creative team.

Every cliché is taken apart the same way: the Myth, the Signal in the data, the New Code behind it, and a Blueprint for brands.

Every myth has a shelf life.

One word, many voices

Gen Z wears many styles and speaks many languages, so the logo couldn't live in one typeface. Each letter of “youth” is set in a different face — Bunka, Tickerbit, Temeraire, Cooper, Gotham — diverse, yet one word.

The Y joins a Latin Y with the Arabic ي, so the mark is bilingual by design. A five-colour palette of black, acid green, electric blue, hot pink and yellow lets every series and lock-up carry its own voice.

Fig. 01The word youth set in six different typefaces

Fig. 02Latin Y plus Arabic Ya equals the Youth Studio Y

Fig. 03The Youth Studio logo annotated with its typefaces: Bunka, Tickerbit, Temeraire, Cooper, Gotham

Fig. 04Youth Studio logo variations in four colourways

Fig. 05Youth Unclichéd Series logo variations

Fig. 06Brand layout: youth tape graphics crossing a portrait

Fig. 07Brand layout: cropped Y letterform over a close-up portrait

Fig. 08Brand layout: the youth logo over a portrait against the Riyadh skyline

The Myth Market

Every myth has a shelf life. For the launch at Athar Festival, the booth became a supermarket where stereotypes were the stock: Vibe Ce-real, Literal Noodles and more, each one packaging a cliché — “Lazy Gen Z”, “Always online”, “Trends > values”.

Visitors shopped the myths, played the elevator game, stuck stars under the myth they wanted busted and left with the truth, plus totes, tees, pins and bucket hats.

Fig. 09Close-up of the Myth Market shelves with cereal boxes and noodle packs

Fig. 10Visitors at the myth vending machine under a neon PRICES sign

Fig. 11Visitor in a Youth Studio bucket hat and overthink tee in front of the shelves

Fig. 12Youth Studio tote bag and bilingual tee

Fig. 13Three visitors wearing Youth Studio bucket hats

Fig. 14The full team celebrating in front of the booth

Watch the film

Fig. 15Athar Festival wrap-up film

Fig. 16On designing the identity — interview at Athar

Results

The most visited booth at Athar Festival 2025
Launch covered by Campaign Middle East, Arab News and Communicate

What I did

Concept and design of the Youth Studio identity. Concept of the Athar booth, The Myth Market.

Press

Sound of Saudi