Logotype for Aylat Rashid (Rashid Family) new 3D Cartoon

Aylat Rashid is a new cartoon series that will be showing in Ramadan. It is the second 3D cartoon after Freej and it could be even better! I was asked by ToonWorks (the producing animation company of the program) to created the logotype. Below is a brief look on the design process from sketching to final 3D visual.

The two final options for the logotype that will be used in the 3D cartoon program.

ALWatan Headlines Arabic Typeface

AlWatan typeface is a corporate Arabic headlines typeface for Al Watan newspaper in Saudi Arabia KSA. The font is exclusive for 1 year for the newspaper starting from 2009. The brief was to create a new, young and crispy Arabic type that will appeal to young Arab readers.

TypoMatch02 : Type In The City :: Amsterdam Dubai

This is the 3rd Team in the TypoMatch 02 project. Latin type designer Mr. Erik van Blokland, Architect Mrs. Joumana al Jabri and myself as the Arabic type designer.

Baseet Type for ContempArabia

Baseet is a hybrid Neo-Naskh / Modern Kufi geometric typeface. It is a mixture of straight vertical, horizontal and diagonal pen stokes incorporated in-between curved corners and edges.

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.

Bombing Beirut – Arabic Graffiti Workshop

On the 4th, 5th and 6th of November I took part of an Arabic graffiti workshop which was given by the German graffiti artist Mr. Don Karl. It was great to finally meet up with Lebanese graffiti artist and get to know the people behind the graffiti and tags in Beirut.

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 for Univers / Corporate Arabic Type

A modern simplified Naskh style corporate type.

“Deen Tight” Arabic Hip Hop Documentary Movie

I was asked to create an Arabic Hip Hop style title for the Deen Tight Movie. The title is spelled in English but it should reflect the Arabic Square kufi style and incorporate the Hip Hop look in it.

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…

“Bukra Extra Bold” Display type for Ibn Battuta Mall in Dubai

“Bukra Extra Bold” is an Arabic display typeface for “Ibn Battuta Mall” in Dubai. The English slogans and ads in the mall were done uses the Latin font “Futura Extra Bold”. They asked for an Arabic font that has the same feel and sturdiness as “Futura Extra bold”.

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.

Emarat Al Youm Newspaper

The New design of “Emarat Al Youm” newspaper in Dubai is out with its’ headlines set in “Imarat Headlines” typeface that i have created for them alongside “TheMix Arabic” which is used for the newspaper sections titles.

Happy New Year 2008

The two typefaces: 1. Arabic “Al Rouiya Headlines” and 2. Latin “Alif Arabesque Pixel” are my latest projects that i am working on at the moment. I will write more about the new typefaces when they are published.

Happy New Year and may 2008 be a fruitful and successful year to all.

Khatt Fonts Event (Art Lounge) & 29letters Lecture (AUB)

Through out November and December in Beirut, I had giving : 1. a lecture entitled “29letters” about my Arabic type project and type design process at AUB, 2. a presentation about EL HEMA project alongside the Arabic team (Wael, Kj, Maria & Raya) at NDU Zouk and NDU North, and 3. took part of the event, lecture and exhibition of the “Khatt Fonts: Matchmaking Amsterdam – Beirut” with Huda Abifares and the Arabic team.

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.

Imarat Headlines Arabic Type

Imarat is an Arabic newspaper type family consisting of “Imarat Headlines” & “Imarat Text”. “Imarat Headlines” is a display type for use in the headlines and titling of a newspaper, while “Imarat Text” is for the copy text of the newspaper. “Imarat Headlines” will be exclusive for 3 years for “Emarat Al Youm” newspaper in Dubai starting from 2008. The newspaper needed a new, young and crispy headlines type that will appeal to their young readers. You can see the font in use on the online e-paper version of “Emarat Al Youm” newspaper.

TheMix Arabic

TheMix Arabic is one of the five new Arabic typefaces that was included in the Typographic Matchmaking Project organized by the Khatt Foundation. Lucas de Groot and Mouneer Al-Shaarani initially designed TheMix Arabic, but when the type needed to be finalized and transformed into a proper Arabic type, I was asked by Huda AbiFares to undertake the font from this point on since Mouneer is a calligrapher and not an Arabic type designer, and Lucas does not know the Arabic script.