Arab News scooped a Merit Award in the covers and jackets category for its front page The annual competition celebrates design excellence on a global scale LONDON: Arab News has scooped another international design award. The Middle East’s leading English-language daily newspaper was recognized in the international design awards run by “HOW” magazine for its iconic Women Drivers cover. The annual competition celebrates design excellence on a global scale — and every year honors entries from all over the world. “For Arab News to be recognized on a global scale with this award is a great honor. There were over 1,100 entries from all over the world so to win a Merit Award is a brilliant achievement,” said Arab News Global Creative Director Simon Khalil. Arab News scooped a Merit Award in the covers and jackets category for its front page which featured an image of a Saudi woman driving by “New Yorker” illustrator Malika Favre. It was commissioned by Arab News for the cover of a special souvenir edition on June 24 of last year and has since been shared around the world. The image, of a road reflected in a woman’s sunglasses, has become one of the most retweeted artworks celebrating women driving in the Kingdom. “As a champion of women for years through her unique creative style, Malika Favre was the obvious choice for our cover, and her illustration brilliantly captures the significance of this moment on the day Saudi Arabia changed forever,” added Khalil. “This award will inspire the whole team to produce even better design and content for our readers and we are very pleased the design community has recognized our efforts with this prestigious award.” This year’s awards attracted some 1,100 entries from around the world.