National Zakat Foundation

The National Zakat Foundation (NZF) is a UK-based groundbreaking initiative which aims to utilise Zakat funds and voluntary donations collected in the United Kingdom for the benefit of local, deserving recipients. Zakat is a form of obligatory alms-giving and religious tax in Islam. As one of the Five Pillars of Islam, Zakat is a religious obligation for all Muslims who meet the necessary criteria of wealth.

 As well as raising awareness of NZF a vital aspect of this campaign is to raise awareness about the obligation of paying Zakat, its great importance in empowering the Muslim community and the urgent need for Zakat distribution in the UK. Our aims are to increase awareness of NZF as an organisation, its services, Zakat payers, recipients and increase the numbers of NZF volunteers. The campaign is aimed primarily at Muslim individuals and families based in the UK.

Using the message a light hearted and engaging  message ‘Zakat Heroes’ was born. We created a contemporary comic illustrative style, coupled with simple messaging and call to actions, with a conscious effort not to look too childish.  Another creative consideration was the use of faces in the designs. Some sensibilities in Islam forbid the use of detailed faces in any reproductions. So we really had to look at stylise the drawings and gaining definition by using the minimal amount of line work, shade and tone.

A simple logo was created that paid homage to the latest super hero graphics.

A prerequisite was that any form of music could not be used in the animation due to some sensibilities. We implemented sonic markers to highlight key bits of information for the viewer.