Design services in Dubai: working out which one you actually need
Branding, graphic design, UI and print are separate jobs. How to tell which you need, how to brief it, and what files you should receive.
Read the articleA new UAE company needs less branding collateral than most agencies and printers suggest, but it needs the right pieces in the right order. This branding collateral checklist puts the work into three waves: what you cannot trade without in the first week, what earns its place once there is a real reason, and the handful of items that carry legal requirements in Dubai and across the UAE.
In short: in week one, get a complete set of logo files, an email signature, a letterhead and invoice template, business cards, and correctly sized images for WhatsApp Business, your social profiles and your Google Business Profile. Brochures, presentation templates, signage, packaging and uniforms come later, each when a specific job calls for it.
Key points
- Order collateral by when it is used, not by what comes in a package. Most of the first week’s kit is digital.
- A complete logo file set, in vector and raster formats, colour and single colour, is the foundation every other piece is built from.
- Google, Facebook and LinkedIn each publish their own image sizes; profile images are cropped small and often into a circle.
- The FTA sets the contents of a tax invoice, and the Consumer Protection Law requires consumer advertising to be in Arabic, with other languages allowed alongside.
- Documents with legal weight should carry the company name exactly as licensed, with any brand or operating name handled deliberately.
Week one: the branding collateral a new company cannot trade without
The first week after licensing is when a company opens a bank account, sends its first proposals, sets up WhatsApp and starts to appear online. A week one branding collateral checklist is built around those first meetings, and most of them happen on screens.
- The logo file set. A folder of formats and versions, covered below, because everything else depends on it.
- Email signature. Your team sends more emails than any other piece of collateral. An email signature design in clean HTML with live text travels better than a pasted image that some mail apps block.
- Letterhead and invoice template. Banks, landlords and clients ask for letters on company letterhead early, and the first invoice follows soon after. Build both as editable documents first; see letterhead design.
- Business cards. Card exchange is still normal at meetings in the Gulf. Order a modest first run of your business card design, because details change in a company’s first year.
- WhatsApp Business profile. For many Dubai customers this is where they first see your brand. WhatsApp’s own guidance says the business profile should include a description, email, website link and address, and it can carry a catalogue of products or services. Your logo goes in a small circle beside every chat, so it needs a version that reads at that size.
- Social avatars and covers. Profile and cover images for the platforms you will actually use, plus a few post templates from our social media design service.
- Google Business Profile photos. A logo, a cover photo and real photos of premises, products or services. Google notes an exterior photo helps customers recognise a location they visit.
Brochures, signage, banners and gifts are missing on purpose; none is needed before you have customers to give them to. The business stationery guide covers the paper pieces and the company stamp in depth, so this branding collateral checklist stays at the level of the whole kit.
Logo files in the formats each job needs
The costliest gap on a branding collateral checklist is a logo that exists only as one JPG. Within weeks someone needs it on a dark background, as a favicon or for a signage maker, and the file cannot do it. Ask for a structured set at handover from your logo design work.
| Format | What it is for | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| SVG | Websites, email signatures hosted online, digital tools | Vector, scales without blurring; check text is converted to outlines |
| PDF or EPS (vector) | Printers, signage makers, embroidery and engraving suppliers | The file a supplier means when they ask for “the vector” |
| PNG with transparent background | Documents, slides, social posts, profile images | Export several sizes; transparency lets it sit on any background |
| JPG | Photo based uses where transparency is not needed | Never use for a logo that must sit on colour |
| Square icon or mark only | WhatsApp, social avatars, app icons, favicon | A version designed to read inside a small circle |
Across those formats you also want versions: full colour, single colour black, single colour white (reversed) for dark backgrounds, and, if your brand runs in two scripts, the Arabic and English lockups as separate files. Record colour values in CMYK for print, RGB and HEX for screens, and any spot colour. A branding collateral checklist should also include that one page note of colours and typefaces, which often helps future suppliers more than a long brand book.
Profile image sizes the platforms publish
Each platform crops and shrinks a profile image differently. These are the sizes their help centres recommend as of October 2026; check again before a large batch of exports.
| Platform | Profile or logo image | Cover image | Format notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Google Business Profile | Photos recommended at 720 by 720 pixels, minimum 250 by 250 | A cover photo is supported; Google may not always show it first | JPG or PNG, between 10 KB and 5 MB, in focus and well lit |
| Facebook Page | At least 320 by 320 pixels, cropped to a circle | Recommended 851 by 315 pixels, minimum 400 by 150 | PNG suggested where the image contains a logo or text |
| LinkedIn Page | Recommended 400 by 400 pixels, minimum 268 by 268 | 1512 by 256 pixels | PNG or JPEG, up to 3 MB |
Facebook notes that covers are cropped differently on desktop and phone, so keep text away from the edges. A horizontal logo with a long name rarely survives a circular crop, which is why the square mark on your branding collateral checklist matters: it appears beside every review, comment and chat. If you are setting up your listing now, our Google Business Profile setup guide covers the rest of the profile.
The regulated items on a branding collateral checklist
Most branding collateral is a matter of taste. A few items are not, and a new company in Dubai or elsewhere in the UAE should treat them as requirements to confirm before design starts, not details to fix after printing. This is general information, not legal or tax advice.
Tax invoices, if you are VAT registered
The Federal Tax Authority’s guide to tax invoices lists what a valid full tax invoice must show. That includes the words “tax invoice” clearly displayed, the supplier’s name, address and TRN, the recipient’s name and address with their TRN if registered, a sequential or unique invoice number, the date of issue, a description of what was supplied, and for each item the unit price, quantity, VAT rate and amount payable, with totals and VAT shown in UAE currency. The FTA also allows a simplified tax invoice in defined cases, with fewer fields, and says a tax invoice must be issued within 14 calendar days of the supply.
The template must hold every field legibly from the start. Our post on tax invoice VAT requirements goes field by field for online stores; confirm your own case with your accountant.
Arabic in consumer advertising
Article 26 of Federal Law No. 15 of 2020 on Consumer Protection says data, advertising and contracts related to the consumer must be in Arabic, and that other languages may be used alongside Arabic. Article 18 of the same law requires a provider to obtain a prior licence from the competent authority before promoting goods or services or advertising general discounts. If you sell to consumers, your branding collateral checklist should mark Arabic as required on flyers, signage, packaging and advertising, and you should ask your licensing authority which permits apply before ordering.
The company name as licensed
Your trade licence fixes the legal name, and documents with legal or tax weight, such as invoices, letterheads, contracts and the stamp, should carry it exactly, including the legal form. The DMCC name reservation rules published on the UAE Government portal note that company names are phonetically translated rather than literally translated, so the Arabic name on your licence is a transliteration you should copy rather than retranslate. The same rules describe an operating name as an option that lets a company use its brand or short name legally. If your brand differs from your legal name, ask your own licensing authority whether that option exists for you before the brand name appears on formal documents.
Rules differ between mainland licensing and the various free zones. Treat the points above as a list of questions to ask your licensing authority and accountant, not as the final answer for your company.
Bilingual layout notes for the whole kit
Make these decisions once for the whole set rather than piece by piece:
- Decide where Arabic leads. Consumer facing items need Arabic; international B2B pieces may not. Record it per item.
- Pick paired typefaces early. An Arabic typeface licensed for print and web that sits well with your Latin one.
- Choose a layout pattern. Back to back usually suits cards; side by side columns suit letterheads and invoices.
- Fix numerals and names. One numeral style per document, and the licensed Arabic company name everywhere.
- Have a native reader proof everything, including mixed lines such as an Arabic address that contains an English building name.
These are summaries; the Arabic and English brand guidelines checklist covers typography, mirroring and lockups in full.
Branding collateral that can wait for a real reason
The second wave of a branding collateral checklist is real collateral, ordered when a specific job appears so it is designed for that job.
- Company profile or brochure. Order when prospects ask for one and you have real work to describe. See brochure design.
- Presentation template. Order before the first pitch or tender where several people build slides. See presentation design.
- Signage. Order once the lease is signed and you know what your landlord or authority permits. Consumer facing signs bring in the Arabic and permit questions above.
- Packaging. Order when the product and supplier are fixed, because dielines come from the manufacturer. See packaging design.
- Uniforms and staff wear. Order when there is a customer facing team; embroidery needs the single colour logo.
- Event and exhibition material. Order when an event is booked; a roll up banner design covers most first stands.
Collateral ordered for a specific job is designed for that job. Collateral ordered in a package is designed for nobody in particular.
The full branding collateral checklist in one table
Use this branding collateral checklist as a working document. Tick each item when it exists in final form, in every format listed, in a folder the company owns.
| When | Item | Done means |
|---|---|---|
| Before anything | Logo, colours, typefaces | Approved, with a one page note of values and fonts |
| Week one | Logo file set | SVG, vector PDF or EPS, transparent PNGs, square mark, colour and single colour versions |
| Week one | Email signature | HTML signature tested in the mail apps your team uses |
| Week one | Letterhead and invoice template | Editable files; invoice fields checked against FTA requirements if VAT registered |
| Week one | Business cards | Small first print run with confirmed details |
| Week one | WhatsApp, social and Google profiles | Square mark, covers at platform sizes, description and address filled in |
| When asked for | Company profile or brochure | Written around real services and work |
| Before the first pitch | Presentation template | Master slides with layouts and styled charts |
| Once premises are confirmed | Signage | Permits checked; Arabic included where required |
| When products are fixed | Packaging, uniforms, event material | Built from supplier specifications |
When any piece goes to a printer, the print ready file checklist covers bleed, colour and proofs.
How Digital Marketing Dubai can help
Our team designs branding collateral in Arabic and English for companies in Dubai and across the UAE, from brand identity design to each piece on this list as you need it. We supply print ready files for the printer you choose and build tax invoice templates around the required fields, asking you to confirm details with your accountant.
If you tell us what you have been licensed to do and who your customers are, we will tell you which items on this branding collateral checklist you need now and which can wait. You can browse the full range on our design services page; a written fixed price proposal follows within 45 minutes during business hours, with no obligation.
