Kaf-Boom: Arabic Graffiti in Lebanon and the Arab World

I will be giving a lecture about Arabic graffiti in Lebanon and the Arab World (like Palestine, Jordan, Egypt…) on the 18th of November at 14:25 at Notre Dame University part of the City Street Conference.

Typographic Matchmaking 02 (sneak preview)

The Typographic Matchmaking 02: Type in the City project is half way in the making. The 4th workshop (after Amsterdam, Dubai and Beirut) was held in Friesland Holland end September.
Below is a sneak preview of the type work our team is doing.

Arabic letter “Thah”.

Beirut! 3alal Yameen.

“Beirut! 3alal Yameen” (Beirut! Stop on the right) is a self-initiated poster on representing Beirut in few items and words. The poster will be exhibited in the Icograda World Design Congress 2009 in Bejing.

Arabic Type-Bomb / lecture & workshop at AUS

I give a lecture on Arabic type at AUS (American University of Sharjah) on the 28th of April 2009. Design professionals and students from the UAE attended the lecture and participate in the Arabic type discussions that followed. A kufi workshop followed on the 29th and 30th of May for the seniors of AUS.

Mrs. and Mr. Kufi Monsters. ;)
Najla did the left pattern and Dina the right one.

Arabic Logotype Adaptation for existing Latin Logotype

Creating Arabic adaptations for existing Latin logotype is not a matter a copy pasting (chopped-up & collage) letter parts from the Latin to create the Arabic, but a real understand of both Latin and Arabic script and the ability to work professionally with both of them. The Arabic adaptation should be drawn from scratch keeping in mind the proportions and characteristics of the Latin logotype.

Mike, LAU Byblos — Sketches for Chaos Arabic logotype adaptation.

The First Arabic Script Printing Press in Lebanon

“Al-Shamas Abdullah Zakher” founded the first Arabic printing press in Lebanon in 1734. The press is located in “Deir Mar Youhana” in “Khinshara”. The printing press operated from 1734 till1899. It was the first Arabic script printing press in Lebanon, but it was the second printing press in general since in 1610 the first Syriac Script printing press was established in “Deir Mar Antonious” in “Quzhayya” near the valley of the saints in the North of Lebanon. The printing press of “Deir Mar Antonious” was the first printing press in the Middle East.

Lebanese Graffiti 02

After last year’s post of Lebanese Graffiti in 2007, the streets of Beirut were filled even more with new lebanese arabic graffiti. Below are some of the nice graffiti tags in the “Karantina” & “Gemeyzé” regions in Beirut.

My Mulsaq Project Entry “Ma7rousa ya 3arousa”

Ma7rousa ya 3arousa entry in the Mulsaq Project.
Cargo trucks in Lebanon and the Middle East are usually painted with Arabic calligraphy using vernacular Arabic words. The Arabic word “mahrousa” is literarily painted on every cargo truck in Lebanon mostly on the back of the trunk or above the back wheels.

MoreCult Summer 09 Collection. Arabic Kufi Patterns in Fashion.

MoreCult is a new Dutch based fashion design firm working on creating cross cultural designs for casual youth clothing.

Square Kufi Vinyl Cut Design on my Mini Cooper “witty” ;)

Being an Arabic Kufi Script freak, i have lately designed a modern Square Kufi pattern for my car. :)

Arabic Calligraphy & Typographic Layouts

Makram Daou (jawmas)

How to integrate Arabic Calligraphy into modern design layouts?
In the past few years the Arabic calligraphy was a comeback into modern logotypes and contemporary design layouts.

3D Square Kufi

3D square Kufi workshop at LAU [ Lebanese American University]

Square Kufi Cross

Square Kufi patterns are often used in mosques for Qur’anic verses or Islamic sayings. It is very rare to see square kufi patterns created out of Christian bible verses or Christian sayings…

Hybrid Arabic/Latin workshop

A small workshop in the “Type Design” course at NDU involving the creation of hybrid Latin words using basic letter components from Arabic letter-forms. English and French words created from Arabic letters.

Al Rouiya Arabic Type for “Al Rouiah” Newspaper in Kuwait

Al Rouiya is a corporate Arabic titling typeface for “Al Rouiah” newspaper in Kuwait. The font is exclusive for 5 years for “Al Rouiah” newspaper in Kuwait starting from February 2008. The newspaper needed a new, young and crispy type that will appeal to young readers.

Alef Pixel Caps Type for Alef Magazine

A Drop Initial Caps typeface for Alef Magazine. Alef Caps is a pixel font inspired from the arabesque “Msharabiyé” eight-star shape. It will be first in use in the 6th issue of the magazine. The magazine asked for a Roman Drop Intial Caps type inspired from Arabic culture. I worked on this type in collaboration with Huba AbiFares.

Arabic Movable Metal Letters

Movable Metal Letters are just amazing. [Especially for type lovers like me ;)]

idpure edition on type design

The 12th issue of Idpure Swiss magazine of graphic design and visual creation was dedicated on young type designers work in the glob. I was the young Arabic type design interviewed for the 12th issue of the magazine alongside Nikola Djurek, Kai Bernau, Anton Koovit, Christian Schwartz, Frederik Berlaen, Xavier Dupré.

Snap shot of two spread from my section in the magazine.

Kufi Workshop for non-Arab participants in Amsterdam

On the 28th and 29th of August I gave a workshop for non-Arab participants during the El Hema Exhibition at the Mediamatic Workshop area.

You can read more about the workshop in the following links:
Kufi Workshop in Amsterdam at Mediamatic, Amsterdam.
Brief intro of the Kufi Workshop

Giving some comments on the primarily kufi patterns.

Here are some pictures. Enjoy.

Arabic Glyphs Proportions and Guidlines

The following article is a brief description of systems and guidelines used in Arabic calligraphy and Arabic type design field to achieve proportional and harmonious Arabic letters. This article is intended for typography students and beginners in Arabic type design.

History of Arabic Type Evolution from the 1930’s till present.

1. BRIEF HISTORY OF THE TRADITIONAL ARABIC TYPE.
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1.1 The origin of the Arabic script goes back to the first alphabets which were created by the Phoenicians. The Phoenicians were living on the costal area of Lebanon, Palestine and Syria. Since the Phoenicians were business traders sailing the Mediterranean, the alphabet influenced all the Mediterranean nations. The location of the middle-east being in the center of the ancient world (between the east and the west) also played a part in the spreading of the alphabet. So that is why the Phoenician alphabet is the mother of the Latin as well as the Arabic script.

Typographic Matchmaking: Arabic type with a Dutch flavor.

The long awaited ‘Typographic Matchmaking’ Book will be launched at a symposium and exhibition at Mediamatic in Amsterdam on the 24th of August 2007.

The following text is written by Huda Smitshuijzen AbiFarès:

The project began with the idea of creating Arabic type with a Dutch flavor in order to bring the high quality of Dutch type design to the rather underdeveloped Arabic design tradition.

Lebanese Graffiti

(for more Artistic lebanese Graffiti, you can also link to the new posts Bombing Beirut and Lebanese graffiti 02 of the new tags that were drawn in 2008 after this post was written.)

Nearly all of the graffiti in Lebanon over the past years were either 1. political words & sentences or 2. signage for shops or places. However, last week I was driving to Beirut and I have spotted a new graffiti that did not have either a political connotation to any political party or it was a signage for a shop. It is a pure social graffiti done by young Lebanese groups to express their feelings about Beirut.

Vernacular Kufi Workshop

‘Vernacular Kufi’ is a new approach that I thought of in order to introduce the kufi workshop to the AUB Typography II students and make them interested in it.

Arabic calligraphy on the roads

Vernacular Arabic calligraphy in Lebanon is everywhere.
As signage for traditional Lebanese shops, on the walls, on trucks…