The encyclopedia · Product & Design · Product decision · 2024–2025
Bank Al Etihad's touchable Ramadan calendar for blind Muslims won the Design Grand Prix
Ramadan runs on visual cues blind people can't see, so Bank Al Etihad turned the Imsakieh into a tactile bracelet: 80% felt more independent.
Bank Al Etihad
The solution
Ramadan's rhythm is built on visual cues: the sighting of the new moon, and sunrise and sunset times printed on the Imsakieh calendar. For blind Muslims that means relying on sighted family members to know when to start and break the fast — an experience of exclusion in a month about belonging.
Bank Al Etihad and VML Jordan rebuilt the Imsakieh itself: a set of 30 wearable bracelets, one for each day, carrying tactile moon phases and Braille times for sunrise, sunset and fasting. For Ramadan 2025 the design grew into a family booklet in Arabic and Braille, handed out through schools and centres for the blind.
The need was real: 75% of users understood the moon's appearance for the first time, 80% reported greater independence and 94% expressed gratitude for the bank's focus on inclusion. The work won the Design Grand Prix at Dubai Lynx 2025, took Jordan's first-ever D&AD Pencil and picked up further regional honours.
Why it worked
- It treated a religious ritual as a design problem rather than an ad message, so the product itself carried the brand story.
- The tactile calendar gave a neglected audience real independence, turning a bank into a symbol of inclusion.
- The object was newsworthy and shareable, so the idea travelled from Ramadan to award juries on its own merits.
What can be applied
Redesign the ritual, not the message: turning a visual calendar into a tactile object gave blind Muslims independence and made the bank the face of inclusion.
Aftermath
Blind Faith returned for Ramadan 2025 with the family booklet, and Bank Al Etihad folded accessibility into its wider agenda — accessible ATMs and barrier-free branches. Its Dubai Lynx Design Grand Prix and Jordan's first D&AD Pencil made it one of the region's most celebrated inclusive campaigns and pushed the conversation about accessibility during Ramadan.
Sources
- Bank Al Etihad Empowers Visually Impaired Muslims to Explore Ramadan with Greater Connection
- Blind Faith
- All the 2025 Dubai Lynx Awards
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