Arabic Font Design

arabic font design ingy salama 25-1039 g01 graphic design

table of contents

01 018 030

Font Types Research 01 - 07

Font Approach «Topic, Brainstorming, Moodboard»

018 - 022

Final Font 030 - 041

08 023 042

Sound & Type Research

08 - 014

Font Trials 023 - 025

Applications 042 - 050

015 027

Various Sketches 015 - 017

Font Development 027 - 029

01

font types research 01- 07

01

arabic font research

arabic calligraphy Its an artistic practice of handwriting. this art form is based on arabic script which for a long time was used by all muslims. Arabic, Persian & ottoman calligraphy is associated with abstract arabesque motifs on the walls & ceilings of mosques. Contemporary artists in the Islamic world draw on the heritage of calligraphy to use calligraphic inscripts or abstractions in their work.

02

arabic font research

font anatomy While researching i found out that arabic fonts are different in many prespectives as the counter forms and tightness and stroke width and movment that is translated through the type. Also the arabic type x-height differs and not like the english stable it differs from font to font and from era to an era. I posted images of what i found according to this and to the counter forms too.

03

arabic font research

font evolution So as I continued researching I figured out many different types of arabic calligraphy through ages and eras that has many charactaristics that inspired many people in the Arabic font design industry nowadays.

kufic font Kufic is the oldest calligraphic form of the different Arabic scripts and modified form the old Nabataean script. Kufic developed around the end of the 7th century in Kufa, Iraq, from which it takes its name, and other centres. Until about the 11th century it was the main script used to copy Qur›ans. Professional copyists employed a particular form of kufic for reproducing the earliest surviving copies of the Qur›an; Used until almost the end of the 13th century. Kufic is mostly obsolete today because it is difficult to write any text of length. It is occasionally still used for titles of manuscripts or in architectural inscriptions.

Characters of font : *Distinctive character. *Angular letter form. *Short, broader vertical strokes & long horizontal. *Some early kufi fonts didn›t use vowels or dots. *Colored dots more sometimes used around the letters to aid pronunciation.

A comparison I did in my sketch

04

arabic font research

maghrebi font Korans in North Africa and Islamic Spain were written in a distinctive style known as maghribi, or Western script, which has undergone little stylistic change over time.

Characters of font : *Fluid lines. *Deep and open curves. *Diacritical marks. *Verse endings.

A comparison I did in my sketch

naskh font Naskh is a specific calligraphic style, thought to be invented by the calligrapher Ibn Muqlah Shirazi. The root of this Arabic term nasakh, which means “to copy”. It either refers to the fact that it replaced its predecessor, Kufic script, or that this style allows faster copying of texts. With small modifications, it is the style most commonly used for printing Arabic, Persian, Pashto and Sindhi languages. It is written using a small, very fine pen known as a cava pen, which makes the script eminently suitable for use in book production. Naskhi was used in copying Qurʼans and Hadiths. It was also used in commentaries on the Qurʼan (Tafsir) and in collections of poetry (Divan). It was and is a very widely used form of script.

A comparison I did in my sketch

05

arabic font research

diwany font Diwany font or “Sultany” is considered one of the most important arabic fonts till our modern day, it has the advantage of being soft and malleable yet away from affectation, capable of flow, spreading with dancing harmony froming a wonderful picture of beauty Diwany font is one of the fonts which were devised by the Ottomans. It is said that Calligrapher “Ibrahim Monuef” is the one who set its rules and scales. Diwany font was officialy known after Sultan “Mo-hammed ElFateh” opened Constantinople in 857 It acquired its name as it was used in “Governmental.“Diwans Characters of font : *Roundness with curves. *Thin endings *Confluence of letters. *Contiguity via horizontal lines. *Flexability in structure

A comparison I did in my sketch

06

arabic font research

andalous font Andalous Font is basically a refinment of the “Cyrene Font” but with a new twist of ductility that distinguished it from the rest. Some say the occurance of the Andalous font is considered an independence from the East Characters of font : *Geometrical propotion. *Curved. *Short and round characters. *Balanced within the empty spaces.

other fonts Along the way I found other fonts but couldnʼt gather much information about. So I made a little comparison in the stroke widths and ends and so on so that I get a feel of how they are formed and to understand the diversity and evloution between fonts.

A comparison I did in my sketch

07

arabic font research

latest evolution Nowadays the fonts are digitalized and the approaches designers take are endless to reach a design that suits the consumer considering arabic fonts. and the different looks of design always look distinctive and always stand out than others. though there was a great debate whether the fonts should be readable or decorative or a mix of both examples here shows modern approaches.

08

sound & type research 08- 014

09

arabic font sound & type research

atabaa The sounds in Atabaa area were too loud and vibrant due to the sellers in that area making noises saying the prices of what they sell. Also it was a very crowded area with many people shopping and all the shops are side to side next to each other.

010

arabic font sound & type research

atabaa The sounds in Atabaa area were too loud and vibrant due to the sellers in that area making noises saying the prices of what they sell. Also it was a very crowded area with many people shopping and all the shops are side to side next to each other.

011

arabic font sound & type research

downtown That area had diffrent types of shops, some sell books, antiques, travel agences, restaurants, cafes...etc. All of these places are very old and the typography there resembles the different and new approachs of design used back then. which is also reffred to as the romantic era of design.

012

arabic font sound & type research

downtown That area had diffrent types of shops, some sell books, antiques, travel agences, restaurants, cafes...etc. All of these places are very old and the typography there resembles the different and new approachs of design used back then. Which is also reffred to as The Romantic Era of design.

013

arabic font sound & type research

heliopolis Here we found a mixture between all types of fonts; some text was computrized and other was handwritten.

It was an area with crowded places and other less noisy and crowded.

And all that was shown in the confusion of typography that we saw there.

014

arabic font sound & type research

heliopolis Here we found a mixture between all types of fonts; some text was computrized and other was handwritten.

It was an area with crowded places and other less noisy and crowded.

And all that was shown in the confusion of typography that we saw there.

015

various sketches 015- 017

016

arabic font various sketches

017

arabic font various sketches

018

font approach 018- 021

019

arabic font font approach

topic choosen The topic I chose is “Handicrafted Font”, the reason behind my choice is my love of the aspect of decorative fonts yest i want my font to be readable. Iʼll try to get the look of a handwritten script font and introduce it to the degital world and make it readable.Handi crafted fos nowadays are used as tattoos, decorative walls, artistic way to write your name...etc. Which made the true value of type die along with the decorative usage of it. So I wanted to challenge myself and do it with a bit of movement which reflects handicraftness and making it readable at the same time.

020

arabic font brainstorming

Organized Future

Heritage Old Aspects Straight Lines

Diversity

Modern

Function

Consistant Alligned Unified

Cultural

Hand Crafted Font

Mixed

Geometric

Medium Thickness Strokes

History Morroco Exotic Cultural

Clear

Easily Readable

Width

Specified Curves

Straight Forward

Wall Old Kufi inspired Decor Ancestors Modern Readable

Islamic fonts

Understandable

021

arabic font moodboard

022

arabic font inspiration

I was mainly inspired by the curve at the end of the letters that is shown in the images above. I found it in the old kuďŹ fonts a lot and it resembles the motion of the callgrapher at the emd of each letter. I highlited the curves in the images for more clarity.

023

font trials 023 - 025

024

arabic font intial sketches

025

arabic font illustrated set

026

arabic font intial set trial

027

font development 027 - 029

028

arabic font font development

alignment Here I started to adjust the propotions and I used GESS2 as a guide for my letter forms. My font here is in black and GESS2 is the light green font over there.

After adjusting the propotions it was easier to read the font and made the form clearer and more appropriate for usage.

Then I used the same font to modify where the X-height resides which helped a lot to stablize the letter forms as arabic typography has many x-heights in comparison to the english typography.

029

arabic font font development

stroke thickness Here I modiďŹ ed the stroke thickness and the edges of the letter forms. using a circle and a rectangle with the same size and this created a better uniďŹ ed look to the whole font. Also it made it easier to decide how thick the font needs to be.

030

font development 030 - 041

031

font set

arabic font final font

032 alef

beeh

teeh

theh

arabic font final font

033

geem

haah

khah

arabic font

final font

034 daal

zaal

reeh

zeen

arabic font final font

035

seen

sheen

arabic font final font

036

saad

daad

arabic font final font

037

taah

daad

arabic font final font

038

aien

ghien

arabic font final font

039

feeh

qaaf

kaaf

arabic font final font

040

laam

meem

noon

arabic font final font

041

heeh

waaw

yeeh

arabic font final font

042

applications 042 - 050

043

arabic font scentences

044

arabic font mockups

045

arabic font mockups

046

arabic font mockups

047

arabic font mockups

048

arabic font mockups

049

arabic font mockups

german university in cairo

051

arabic font posters