This month, we celebrate one year of The Journey Map! Over the past 12 months, this newsletter has carried stories of how design and research can shape impact, from reimagining digital banking and fintech to advancing climate action, gender equity, and cultural heritage online. In this anniversary issue, we look back at the milestones, spotlight the partnerships that defined our year, and share what our team has been up to. Let’s dive in! 🚀

• Codesigning the Future of Banking: We continued our collaboration with Paysys to reimagine the visual design and user experience of the National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) by hosting a redesign review workshop in Karachi where we evaluated our design updates against NBP’s prioritized requirements and benchmarked them against other leading financial apps to ensure the right balance between innovation and familiarity. In parallel, we carried out follow-up interviews in Lahore as part of our feedback loop to keep user perspectives central as the redesign progresses.

• Shaping Conversations on Gender, Climate & Tech: On September 17, our Head of Service Design, Sehel Khandwala, joined Baithak – Challenging Taboos and the National Incubation Center Karachi for a feminist roundtable on climate, gender, and technology. The gathering brought together women activists, entrepreneurs, and global experts to exchange ideas, share experiences, and imagine possibilities for collective action around health, gender justice, inclusive technology, and policy. This roundtable was also part of the Women and Gender Constituency’s Draw the Line campaign, which mobilized 75+ gatherings across 25 countries in a single day, to showcase the power of dialogue and collaboration across borders.

• Innovation, Collaboration, and AI in Bangkok: Our Experience Designer, Aliza Syed, attended the GDG Southeast Asia & South Asia Frontier Summit 2025 in Bangkok, Thailand. As an organizer and lead of Google Developer Group Peshawar, Aliza joined community leads, technologists, and innovators from across the region to dive into the latest in Google technologies and exchange best practices. The summit connected GDG communities worldwide to strengthen networks across borders, and explore how AI can drive community-led problem-solving and the adoption of emerging Google technologies.

🎉 Celebrating One Year of The Journey Map

Over the past year, The Journey Map has explored our work spanning menstrual health, gender equity, and climate finance to reimagining fintech, digital banking, and cultural heritage in e-commerce.

Each story has spotlighted how design and research can build trust, unlock inclusion, and create growth across industries and geographies. As we mark one year, we celebrate the impact we’ve made with our partners, and the new opportunities we’re excited to shape together.

Visit ideateinnovation.com to see how we design digital and service experiences that lead to measurable growth and long-term impact for our partners.

🍿 This Month’s Top Picks

📖 Reading: Careless People by Sarah Wynn-Williams

📺 Watching: The Boy and the Heron

📻 Listening to: Design Emergency by Alice Rawsthorn and Paola Antonelli

📣 Community Shoutouts

Arabic Script Meets Global Design

This month, we’re spotlighting 29Letters Type Foundry (29LT), founded by Lebanese designer and educator Pascal Zoghbi. Since 2013, Pascal has been reimagining Arabic typography through innovative, high-quality multi-script typefaces that bring Arabic, Latin, and other global scripts into harmony.

29LT’s portfolio spans award-winning fonts like Idris, Ada, Bukra, and Zarid, alongside bespoke projects for global names such as Balenciaga, Swatch, RTA Dubai, and the Museum of Islamic Art. What makes Pascal’s work stand out is his ability to honor the traditions of Arabic calligraphy while creating contemporary type systems that respond to today’s design and market needs. Now based in Madrid, he continues to expand 29LT into a global multiscript foundry that explores the intersections of Arabic and Spanish cultures.

Explore Pascal’s work here: https://www.29lt.com/ 

📮 Let’s Work Together

At Ideate, collaboration isn’t just a value, it’s at the heart of everything we do. Whether you’re looking to collaborate or want to explore how human-centered design can help your work, we’re all ears. Let’s brainstorm together:

Ali Murtaza, Partner & Chief Design Officer - [email protected]

Or write to us on Instagram or LinkedIn! We're excited to see how we can work together.