Arabic For Designers

An inspirational guide to designing with Arabic script, for native and nonnative speakers alike The Arabic-speaking world is growing in political and economic power, but for nonnative speakers, using Arabic script in graphic design can be daunting. This visual resource book, written by a designer-typographer from the Middle East with extensive experience working for Western agencies and type foundries, considers the challenges and pitfalls of producing work for a Middle Eastern audience, from cultural misunderstandings to the finer points of font design. Using vibrantly illustrated case studies, from logotype conversions for European and Middle Eastern television networks to websites and printed media, the book shows the importance of cultural knowledge to good design and demonstrates the evocative power of Arabic script. An introductory volume, the book presents a brief history of Arabic calligraphy and modern type design. Two chapters are devoted to typography and logotype design, followed by a substantial section of case studies that give real-world examples and the lessons learned from them. The only accessible book on the subject, Arabic for Designers will open up a new world of possibilities to students, practicing designers, and art directors, guiding them to a greater understanding of how to produce the most effective and enduring design solutions.

The first-ever book-length history of Arab graphic design PROSE AWARD WINNER, ART HISTORY & CRITICISM Arab graphic design emerged in the early twentieth century out of a need to influence, and give expression to, the far-reaching economic, social, and political changes that were taking place in the Arab world at the time. But graphic design as a formally recognized genre of visual art only came into its own in the region in the twenty-first century and, to date, there has been no published study on the subject to speak of. A History of Arab Graphic Design traces the people and events that were integral to the shaping of a field of graphic design in the Arab world. Examining the work of over eighty key designers from Morocco to Iraq, and covering the period from pre-1900 to the end of the twentieth century, Bahia Shehab and Haytham Nawar chart the development of design in the region, beginning with Islamic art and Arabic calligraphy, and their impact on Arab visual culture, through to the digital revolution and the arrival of the Internet. They look at how cinema, economic prosperity, and political and cultural events gave birth to and shaped the founders of Arab graphic design. Highlighting the work of key designers and stunningly illustrated with over 600 color images, A History of Arab Graphic Design is an invaluable resource tool for graphic designers, one which, it is hoped, will place Arab visual culture and design on the map of a thriving international design discourse.

Nearly 200 examples exhibit the wide range of Islamic art, including hexagon and octagon designs, combinations of stars and rosettes, and many variations on other geometric patterns. Twenty-eight examples from traditional sources in Cairo and Damascus include sanctuary doors, openwork windows, and inlaid marble pavements and ceilings.

In the twenty-first century, the widespread integration of computer technologies has brought text-based information into many facets of everyday life. This has caused an ever-growing interest in typography across many fields of visual communication, where text and letterform play a central role in disseminating social trends and reflecting the spirit of the times. Arabic Typography takes the reader through a comprehensive study of Arabic letterforms, starting with a concise historical overview of their development and styles, and proceeding to the latest design and technological advances. It attempts to establish the foundations for Arabic type-design by drawing lessons from past practices and aesthetic conventions, in order to retain the enduring traits that are of relevance for improvement and innovation in future type-design creations. Going beyond the historical facts to discuss current design issues pertaining to the creation and production of letterforms, it presents Arabic typographic design as an essential communication tool that should marry functionality and legibility to aesthetic delight. This book will serve as a valuable reference on Arabic typography, and as an educational guide for design students, professionals and anyone who uses Arabic type and enjoys the visual appearance of this language and its letterforms.

This fully illustrated bilingual guidebook on Arabic type design is the result of a series of workshops organized by the Khatt Foundation, and hosted by Tashkeel in Dubai, in 2011 and 2012. It presents step-by-step instructions on the design principles and tools of Arabic type design, with detailed tutorials by some of the most renown specialists in the field of contemporary Arabic type design and calligraphy. In addition, it showcases the creative process through nine case studies of the fonts produced during these workshops, presenting them as sources of inspiration and examples for new and experimental Arabic typefaces.

Mourad Boutros, author of Arabic for Designers, enlists his professional peers to examine the global context for Arabic design and typography. The thematic thread that runs through every article, case study and illustration in Talking About Arabic is how technological advances have furthered, and changed, the use of Arabic throughout the world, whether in print or online. Detailed accounts of how advances in font technology have permitted digitized Arabic to accurately represent the Arabic calligraphic tradition provides a discourse for non-Arabic speakers to consider the language's cultural, religious and aesthetic issues in a 21st century context, including teaching Arabic in a global context, the development of contemporary Arabic fonts and multilingual Web design.

Arabic script remains one of the most widely employed writing systems in the world, for Arabic and non-Arabic languages alike. Focusing on naskh—the style most commonly used across the Middle East—Letters of Light traces the evolution of Arabic script from its earliest inscriptions to digital fonts, from calligraphy to print and beyond. J. R. Osborn narrates this storied past for historians of the Islamic and Arab worlds, for students of communication and technology, and for contemporary practitioners. The partnership of reed pen and paper during the tenth century inaugurated a golden age of Arabic writing. The shape and proportions of classical calligraphy known as al-khatt al-mansub were formalized, and variations emerged to suit different types of content. The rise of movable type quickly led to European experiments in printing Arabic texts. Ottoman Turkish printers, more sensitive than their European counterparts to the script’s nuances, adopted movable type more cautiously. Debates about “reforming” Arabic script for print technology persisted into the twentieth century. Arabic script continues to evolve in the digital age. Programmers have adapted it to the international Unicode standard, greatly facilitating Arabic presence online and in word processing. Technology companies are investing considerable resources to facilitate support of Arabic in their products. Professional designers around the world are bringing about a renaissance in the Arabic script community as they reinterpret classical aesthetics and push new boundaries in digital form.

Thirty illustrations feature dynamic combinations of interlocking floral designs, rendered in the distinctive style of Islamic art. Colorists and crafters alike will be inspired by the hypnotic appeal of these original motifs.