Work samples from the Arabic lettering workshop
Arabictypography.com was present at the HSDA Annual Design Symposium in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on April 17-20 2011. This was our second participation in this event organized by the Dar Al-Hekma School of Design and Architecture. Our first participation happened 2 years earlier at the same conference which was called "Tawasol" back then.
A public lecture presented by Tarek Atrissi showcased significant historical design trends that shaped the status of Arabic Graphic Design today. The new arabictypography.com website was also introduced in the same talk.
The complimentary "Arabic lettering" workshop was probably the most interesting aspect of our participation in the event. A one day workshop was held for two consecutive days with two different groups of design students, focused on the process of designing the Arabic word. Eleven typographic approaches to Arabic lettering were theoretically presented to the students, alongside a unique collection of successful visual examples that best represented these approaches.
The theory was followed by a practical typographic design assignment in which each participant selected an Arabic word and worked on exploring its structure and design possibilities by hand sketching it in different media and approaches. Three lettering approaches were more thoroughly examined: exploring the geometric structural possibilities of the word, experimenting with the fluidity and natural beauty of the quick hand written scribble, as well as adopting a logotype approach by manually sketching the written word. After a series of individual feedback, each workshop participant selected their most advanced sketch and finalized it by digitally tracing it and by making necessary design adjustments.
The workshop results were varied, highlighting the unlimited possibilities of Arabic typographic design, particularly taking into consideration the limited time available. The showcased examples here, are selected samples from the lettering projects developed with the students of Dar Al-Hekma college. (Shown here from top to bottom, work by: Mozn Hamidaddin; Dana Affandi; Ghada Fadaag; Roaa Alrifaie; Hibatullah Jamal Al-Mouselly; and Salma Ghulman.
A more complete preview of the results of this workshop, as well as Arabic typographic design developed by similar workshops given in different Arabic countries, can be seen in our galleries section in the Arabic lettering workshops gallery.
