Emirati company Wild Arab West is going to present a ‘kindness’ vending machine for Dubai Design Week 2021.

As the Dubai Design Week is about to commence in a week, design experts have already started to pour in with their creative proposals. One such creative outcome is from Emirati company Wild Arab West that is going to present a ‘kindness’ vending machine for Dubai Design Week.

The event, which is an annual week-long festival celebrating design and creativity in the UAE through an extensive programme of free-to-attend exhibitions, installations, engaging activities, and pop-ups, talks and workshops, will begin from November 8, 2021.

The company, which was born during the Covid-19 quarantine with an Instagram platform, has grown to have more than 50,000 followers.

Started by Emirati friends Hessa Ali Alechla, 29, and Iman Al Midfa, 28, the ‘kindness’ vending machine will promote kindness at the upcoming Dubai Design Week.

The duo also took part in Dubai Design District in 2020, wherein they had their own exhibition and even launched a line of merchandise, including clothes, iPhone covers and stickers, with more to come soon.

The birth of the kindness machine began to post the pandemic as there was a lot of focus on mental health and being nice to everybody. “We thought that the vending machine would not only enrich other people’s lives, but it’s also in line with what we stand for as a brand – we like to lighten people’s moods, get them to have fun, enjoy themselves, [and] share content that’s relevant to their friends as well,” shared Ali Alecha to The National.

The duo, who have rented the vending machine will stand outside Building 7 throughout the event will offer visitors compliments and motivational sayings. The offerings are for free. All the visitors have to do is press a button, and a box with a quote, in either Arabic or English (depending on your choice), will fall out.

For the machine, more than 3,000 sayings and compliments have been printed so far, and are based on demand during the event, are poised to whip up more if necessary.

Most of them are based on the pair’s Instagram posts, those that were most popular with their audience, plus plenty they’ve come up with for this specific installation.