AfghanMark Logo Receives International Recognition as, "The Brand That Empowers The Women Who Make The Carpets Of Afghanistan”
The Afghan Women’s Business Federation’s (AWFB) brand logo design for the recently launched, socially conscious AfghanMark brand has received four awards in three national and international marketing and design competitions.
The AfghanMark logo is an internationally registered certification trademark for carpets made by Afghan women. The AfghanMark label on a carpet certifies a number of socially conscious objectives: that the women who made the carpet were paid 150% of the typical rate, in cash; worked in inspected conditions with access to health care and education, including literacy training; and, that the carpets are of “heirloom quality.” The AfghanMark brand was launched on February 13, 2007, with media and business events at the Rubin Museum of Art in New York.
“We are honored by these awards which provide recognition to the hard working women of the Afghan carpet sector, many of whom are war widows. Some of the women are the sole breadwinners for their families. Some are illiterate. We hope that American consumers will look for our AfghanMark brand when buying carpets in the U.S.,” said Ms. Latifa Abasy, director of the Afghan Women’s Business Federation, which owns the brand. “These awards recognize a program whose sole purpose is to aid and empower the hard working women of Afghanistan, who do not ask for charity, but only for the opportunity to work and earn an honest living by weaving beautiful, high quality carpets. “
The four awards include:
(1) The prestigious 2007 Galaxy Awards “Bronze Award” in the “Promotion: Brand Identity” category. The 2007 Galaxy Award winners for excellence in product and service marketing were chosen from a field of more than 460 entries from 16 countries.
(2) and (3) The “Award of Distinction” in two categories -- “Logo” and “Design” -- from the 13th annual Communicator Awards for “outstanding work in the communications field. The Award of Distinction is awarded to projects that exceed industry standards.”
(4) The top-level honor, Platinum Award, in the Logo category of the 2007 Hermes Creative Awards, which is an international competition for creative professionals. Hermes Creative Awards “recognize outstanding work in the industry while promoting the philanthropic nature of marketing and communications professionals.”
The higly graphic AfghanMark logo image depicts an Afghan woman in traditional head scarf in front of a field of black, red and green, the colors of the Afghan flag, with repeated decorative script lettering that reads “Made by Afghan Women” in the Dari language of Afghanistan. The ragged edge motif suggests the logo as a label to be sewn onto the underside of a finished carpet.
With the AfghanMark as their branding mechanism, women-owned and women-managed business of the AWBF seek to link Afghan carpet producers with American wholesale and
retail producers, while ensuring that the carpet weavers receive fair rates of pay in cash and are able to work with dignity in good health in a socially responsible, inspected environment.
AfghanMark companies and consortia are members of the Afghanistan Women’s Business Federation, an association supported by the Center for International Private Enterprise (CIPE), headquartered in Washington, DC. CIPE's partnership with AWBF is funded through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
