Ahmed Tellawi

Designer in Abu Dhabi. Creator of the thin stencil face Teto (2011) and the thin geometric family Arwena (2011). [Google] [More]  ⦿

Akhil Sutar

Graphic designer in Dubai. He had a go at the geometric counterless fad in 2010. [Google] [More]  ⦿

Andrew Paglinawan

Andrew Paglinawan is a self-employed graphic designer, working in the fields of logo design, print design, web design and branding with the majority of his time spent designing and implementing marketing promotions for small businesses such as logos, brochures, letterhead, business cards, and posters. Creator of the free simple sans family Quicksand (2008---see also the Google Font Directory). His Pagli Roman (2008) is a fantastic display type that crosses Bodoni and Pistilli Roman. In 2011, he published the free sans family Chiq, which was inspired by Optima. Andrew is based in Dubai, UAE.

Dafont link. Klingspor link. Fontspace link. Font Squirrel link. Kernest link. [Google] [More]  ⦿

DCD (or: Dubai Civil Defence)

Medium-sized truetype font archive run by the Government of Dubai. It has Thai fonts by Unity Progress, Farsi fonts, fonts for Arabic, many Microsoft fonts, and a basic starter set of Monotype fonts. [Google] [More]  ⦿

Edgar Jeronimo Navarrete Ureña

Originally from Mexico City (b. 1983), Edgar seems to be based in Dubai now. He designed the futuristic face Neutronium (2009). He created the experimental faces Kooler o Normal (2009), Naujoks Love (2009) and Edgarpiramide (2009) and the comic book face Jeronimo Cartoon (2009). Alternate URL. Additional link. [Google] [More]  ⦿

Elie Abou Jamra

Born in Dubai, Elie has worked and studied in UAE, Lebanon and Germany. He holds a BFA in Graphic Design from the American University of Beirut. He has also done his summer internship at Linotype, where he worked under Nadine Chahine, an award-winning Lebanese type designer. Behance link. Creator of an Arabic graduation typeface. He also created an Arabic typeface to match the Latin version for Solidere (a Lebanese company involved in the reconstruction of Beirut's Central District). The Latin version based on Slab Unit designed earlier by Bill Hill Design. [Google] [More]  ⦿

Emech Zeinali

Dubai-based creator of the octagonal paper fold face Yumm Sans (2011). [Google] [More]  ⦿

Graeme Stephenson

A graphic designer in Dubai, who created the fun display family Elementary (2010). Behance link. [Google] [More]  ⦿

Hiba Studio
[Hasan Abu Afash]

Arabic typography web site and font foundry established in 2007 by Hasan Abu Afash, an Arab designer living in Gaza/Palestine. Typefaces: HS Almohandis (2007-2011, Arabic display face), HS Alhandasi (2007 and 2011), Hasan AlQuds family (2004, a display face done with Mamoun Sakkal), Hasan Hiba, Hasan Enas (Arabic text typeface), Hasan Elham (2006, a modern Kufi art deco face), Hasan Ghada (2007-2008, based on modern Kufi calligraphy--first known in 2002 as KactTitle), Hasan Manal (2008, Kufi style), Hasan Aya (2007, Kufi style famaily based on Corel's 1992 face Bedrock), Kouffi Fatemic, Safwat, Amal. In 2008, Hasan Hiba and Hasan Noor (a classic squarish Kufi face) were upgraded to the DecoType font format for use in WinSoft Tasmeem which is now bundled with InDesign CS4---thanks to a cooperation with Mirjam Somers. Still with Somers, he upgraded the Basim Marah display face (2008) for Tasmeem. Basim Marah was drawn by Basim Salem Al Mahdi from Iraq and then digitized by Hasan himself. The same year, Hasan developed an OpenType project for Alinma TheSans fonts which are based on TheMix Arabic (designed by Luc(as) de Groot and Mouneer ElShaarani for Al Inma Bank, Saudi Arabia). Later he developed the OpenType features for Jumeirah Arabic which was designed by Pascal Zoghbi (29letters) and Huda AbiFares (Khatt) for Jumeirah International, UAE. He developed the OpenType layout features needed for the Arabic script system in the Seria Arabic fonts family which was designed by Pascal Zoghbi for FontShop International, as well as the Chams fonts family which was designed by Al Mohtaraf Assaudi for the redesign of the Shams Newspaper in Saudi Arabia and the Arajhi fonts for Alrajhi Bank. Since 2002 Hasan has worked and collaborated with Mamoun Sakkal in several projects, such as the Burj Dubai Shilia project, Sakkal Baseet and the Microsoft project which included the updating of the OpenType instructions for fonts such as Tahoma, Microsoft Sans Serif, Arial, Times New Roman, Segoe, Courier, Time New Roman, Ms Uighur and Majalla UI. In 2009-2010, he cooperated with Parachute to make DIN Text Arabic. Behance link. MyFonts link. [Google] [MyFonts] [More]  ⦿

Huda Smitshuijzen AbiFarès

Huda Smitshuijzen AbiFarès, was born in Beirut in 1965. Author of Arabic Typography A Comprehensive Sourcebook (Saqi Books, London, 2001), Experimental Arabic Type (Saatchi&Saatchi, Dubai, 2002), Typographic Matchmaking (BIS Publishers, Amsterdam 2007), Arabic Type Specimen Book (2008) and a number of articles on multilingual communication in the Middle East such as Arabic Type: a challenge for the 2nd millennium (1998). She holds degrees in graphic design from Yale University School of Art and Rhode Island School of Design, and specializes in bilingual typographic research and design. She has worked as a designer for a number of years, in the USA, Amsterdam, France and Beirut. She has taught typography and graphic design at the American University of Beirut. She was the Chair of the Visual Communication Department for three years at the American University in Dubai and founded the Khatt Foundation, Center for Arabic Typography in Amsterdam. She curates exhibitions, organizes collaborative design research projects between Europe and the Middle East, and is editor of the Khatt Foundation online network of Arab/Middle Eastern designers (www.khtt.net). She is currently pursuing a PhD at Leiden University while working between Europe and the Middle East as a typography and design consultant on projects of cultural relevance. She has art directed and collaborated on the design of several contemporary Arabic fonts for magazines like Aleph (London) and companies in the Gulf. Typefaces include Alef Caps (2008), done with Pascal Zoghbi. KHTT link. [Google] [More]  ⦿

James Mattison

British designer based in Dubai, b. 1978. Behance link. He created Schrofer (2009-2010), a lower-case only piano key stencil face, based upon an alphabet drawn by Bauhaus artist Jurriaan Schrofer, 1926-1990. Dafont link. [Google] [More]  ⦿

Khajag Apelian

Freelance graphic designer from Lebanon. Born in Sharjah, UAE, an Armenian with a Lebanese nationality. Graduate of the Type and Media program at KABK, 2009. There, he designed Arek, an Armenian typeface specifically designed to replace the typefaces currently used in school books. It is a fresh interpretation of the ancient Armenian script used in the old manuscripts. My ambitious plan for this project is to include a serif and a sans serif version, containing upright and cursive forms, with multiple weights, display versions and initials. However, currently the project includes only the serif upright, regular and black weights, in addition to the cursive and the initials. This face was awarded First Prize in the Granshan 2010 competition for Armenian text types. After graduation, he started freelancing as a graphic and type designer in Amsterdam. Partner at The Place. Other faces include The Chattam (2009, a Clarendon revival), Boujour (2008, an ultra fat deco face), Moudwi (2007, an experimental Arabic detached typeface inspired by the Unified typeface created by Nasri Khattar). [Google] [More]  ⦿

Kitabat Arabic Calligraphy and Typography Conference

Kitabat Arabic Calligraphy and Typography Conference was the first major conference dealing solely with Arabic calligraphy and type design. Held from April 5-8, 2006, in Dubai. Speakers included Nabil Safwat (keynote speaker), Ugur Derman (Istanbul, Turkey), Mohamed Zakariya (Virginia, USA), Dr Goeffrey Roper (London, UK), Mamoun Sakkal (Seattle, USA), Johannes Bergerhausen (Germany), Adil Allawi (Diwan, UK), Kamal Mansour (Monotype, USA), Bruno Steinert (Linotype, Germany), Mounir Al-Shaarani (Cairo, Egypt), Huda Smitshuijzen AbiFares (AUD, UAE / Khatt, Holland), Nadine Chahine (Linotype, Germany), Gerard Unger (Bussum, Holland), Tajelssir Hassan (Sharjah, UAE), Reza Abedini (Teheran, Iran), Tarek Atrissi (Utrecht, Holland), Ihsan Hammouri (Jordan/USA), Obeida Sidani (Dubai, UAE), Yasmine Taan (LAU, Lebanon), Aida Sakkal (Seattle, USA), Antonia Carver (Dubai, UAE), Zeina Maasri (AUB, Lebanon), Fawzi Rahal (Dubai, UAE), Nadine Touma (Beirut, Lebanon), Leland Hill (VCU, Qatar), and Petr Van Blokland (Holland). [Google] [More]  ⦿

Lara Assouad-Khoury

Lara Assouad Khoury was born in Montreal, and graduated from the American University of Beirut with a Bachelor in Graphic Design degree (BGD) in 1998. She worked as a designer at LeoBurnett (Lebanon, 1998-2000). After one year in Cairo, she moved to Dubai (UAE) and worked as a Senior Designer for Landor Associates (2001-2005) where she was involved in the design of extensive corporate identity projects for large Middle Eastern companies and institutions, such as the visual branding for the country of Jordan. She has graduated with an MA from the Atelier National de Recherche Typographique in Nancy (France), where she studied under renowned type designers such Hans-Jürg Hunziker, André Baldinger, and others. She has researched and is in the process of developing her own extensive Arabic Naskh font. She taught graphic design and Arabic typography courses, at the American University in Dubai. She is an independent type and graphic designer since 2005. She embarked on a project in 2005 with Fred Smeijers to make an Arabic sister, Fresco Arabic, for Smeijers' Fresco family. For this, she takes inspiration from calligraphic samples of the Maghrebi script. Fresco Arabic won an award at TDC2 2008. Her geometric experimental Arabic face Tabati (2010) won an award at TDC2 2011. [Google] [More]  ⦿

Maher A. Housn

Graphic designer and calligrapher who lives in the United Arab Emirates. In 2008, he created an Arabic typeface for Western Union. [Google] [More]  ⦿

Nadine Chahine

Nadine Chahine (b. 1978) is a Lebanese graphic designer with a special interest in Arabic type design. She started her research on Arabic typography, theory and practice, at the American University of Beirut and at The University of Reading, UK (MA in Typeface Design), where she designed Koufiya (2003). She is working towards a Ph.D. on legibility in the Arabic script. She spoke at ATypI 2003 in Vancouver on Arabic typography. She taught Arabic typography as a visiting lecturer at the American University in Dubai and is currently working at Linotype, Germany, as the Arabic type expert. In 2004, she started a coop project with Gerard Unger to develop Big Vesta Arabic, a companion of Unger's Big Vesta. Her Palatino Arabic (2007, with Hermann Zapf) won an award in the TDC2 2008 type competition. At ATypI 2008 in St. Petersburg, she ran the Linotype type design student workshop. She designed Frutiger Arabic with Adrian Frutiger and Palatino Arabic with Hermann Zapf, for which she won the Certificate of Excellence in Type Design from the TDC in 2008. For Palatino Sans Arabic, she won at TDC2 2011. In 2009, she published Neue Helvetica Arabic at Linotype. In 2011, she published Univers Next Arabic (with Adrian Frutiger, Linotype). Bio. Interview. Speaker at ATypI 2010 in Dublin, where her talk tackled psycholinguistics and type design. Speaker at ATypI 2011 in Reykjavik. [Google] [More]  ⦿

Pascal Naji Zoghbi

Lebanon-based Arabic type designer who runs the Arab type news and blog site called Arabic Typography. KHTT link. An ex-student of the KABK in 2006, he currently is a part time instructor of design and typography at Notre Dame University, Louaize, Lebanon, as well as a part time instructor of typography at the American University of Beirut (AUB), both since 2007. Home page called 29letters. At ATypI 2008 in St. Petersburg, he ran a workshop on the Arabic Kufi script. Speaker at ATypI 2010 in Dublin on the topic of political resistance and expression through graffiti in Lebanon and Palestine. His contributions to type design:

• Massira. He has embarked on a project with Martin Majoor to design some Arabic fonts that fit Majoor's designs. He writes: Massira is my graduation typeface at Type&Media postgraduate course at The Royal Academy of Arts [KABK] in The Hague. Huda AbiFares contacted me while I was finalizing Massira and presented the opportunity to collaborate with the Dutch type designer Martin Majoor to design an Arabic typeface, which is part of the Typographic Matchmaking 01 project organized by Khatt Foundation. At first I was a bit worried due to the fact that it would be my first professional type design work and that the due date was too close. However, after taking a closer look at Martins type FFSeria and analyzing its characteristics, I noticed that the treatment of the stroke and the structure of the letters shared similarities with Massira. In both fonts the use of sharp broken curves and crispy feel is present. Consequently, I grew confident in project and decided to use Massira as a starting point for the new Arabic companion of FFSeria. Echo, which is Sada in Arabic, is the repetition of a sound caused by the reflection of sound waves from a surface. Accordingly, Sada is the echo of FFSeria. The modifications on Massira consisted of making Sada perform like FFSeria. It had to have the same point size, line space, color, contrast and feel as FFSeria. Concerning the details of Sada and the inclined angle of the vertical strokes, it was derived from the FFSeria Italic. So Sada has the same feel as the Roman but is inspired from the Italic. More on the Sada project. In 2009, Sada was renamed FF Seria and published by FontFont.
• Another project of Zoghbi involves a type family being developed for newspaper headlines.
• In 2007, he created a 3-style Phoenician type family called Fniqiya.
• Alef Pixel Caps Type for Alef Magazine (2008). Done with Huda AbiFares. This is a Latin ornamental type family.
• Al Rouiya Arabic Type for the Al Rouiah Newspaper in Kuwait, 2008.
• Bukra Extra Bold display type for Ibn Battuta Mall in Dubai, 2008. Looks like Futura Bold.
• A corporate font under the heading, Arabic for Univers (2008). Zoghbi: An Arabic corporate typeface for a global shipping and transport company. The Arabic is intended to work with the Latin type Univers. Unfortunately, I can't mention the name of the company nor the design firm I did this Arabic type work for. I was the Arabic type consultant/specialist and associate type designer alongside Leah Hoffmitz. The font will used in all Arabic publications, ads and packaging for the company.
• Baseet (2009) 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.
• At FontStruct, he made Arabix 01 (2009).
• UAE Embassy Corporate Type (2010). This is a commissioned Latin typeface based on the same concept as of an Arabic font. Each of the 26 Latin letters has Caps, Initial, Medial and Final shape enabling the letters to connect as in the Arabic script. The drawing of the letters was all done using the Arabic calligraphic bamboo stick and based on the Naskh Calligraphic Style. Opentype help from Erik van Blokland.
• The Mathaf Corporate Arabic-Latin Font (2011). Mathaf Arab Museum of Modern Art opened its doors to contemporary Arab art lovers in December 2010 in Doha, Qatar.
• Nada Debs (2010): a contemporary geometric Kufi type commissionewd by Nada Debs.

Rollan Rodriguez

Dubai-based illustrator. Behance link. Dingblingz (2011) are (free) dingbats developed by dogboy for robotandspark. [Google] [More]  ⦿

Sally Alzaza

Dubai-based calligrapher and graphic designer who hand-drew some promising alphabets, such as this blackletter set and this calligraphic beauty. Home page. [Google] [More]  ⦿

Sfaranda
[Murid Rahhal]

Murid Rahhal (aka Sfaranda) works in UAE and in Messina, Italy. He used a grid and circles in the design of Geometry Font (2010, free).

Behance link. [Google] [MyFonts] [More]  ⦿

UAE Zayed

Big Arabic font archive. It carries AF_Abha-NormalTraditional, AF_Abha-NormalTraditional, AF_Tabook-NormalTraditional, AF_Tabook-NormalTraditional, AF_Tholoth-NormalTraditional, AL-Aser-Outline, AL-Aser, AL-Battar-Outline, AL-Battar, AL-Bsher-Outline, AL-Bsher, AL-Hor-Outline, AL-Hor, AL-Hosam-Outline, AL-Hosam, AL-Hotham, AL-Manzomah, AL-Mateen-Outline, AL-Mateen, AL-Mohanad-Bold, AL-Mohanad, AL-Qairwan, AL-Sarem-Bold, AL-Sarem, AL-Sayf-Bold, AL-Sayf, Al-Hadith1, Al-Hadith2, Al-Homam, Al-Mothnna, Al-Mujahed-Al-Anbobi, Al-Mujahed-Classic, Al-Mujahed-Free-2, Al-Mujahed-Free, Al-Mujahed-Gift-5, Al-Mujahed-Untitled, Al-Samsam, Alawi-Hashim-Bafageeh.., Bader, Bassam-Ostorah, Haettenschweiler, Household, Humanist521BT-Bold, MCS-Alhada-S_U-normal., MCS-Alsalam-E_U-3d., MCS-Alsalam-E_U-normal., MCS-Alsalam-S_I-normal., MCS-Alsalam-S_U-normal., MCS-Alsalam-S_U-normal., MCS-Andalos-E_U-3D., MCS-Arafat-E_I-3d., MCS-Arafat-E_I-normal., MCS-Arafat-E_U-3d., MCS-Arafat-E_U-normal., MCS-Arafat-S_I-normal., MCS-Arafat-S_U-normal., MCS-Badr-S_U-normal., MCS-Basmalah-normal., MCS-Diwani0-S_I-normal., MCS-Diwani0-S_U-normal., MCS-Diwany1-E_I-normal., MCS-Diwany1-E_U-3D., MCS-Diwany1-E_U-normal., MCS-Diwany1-S_I-adorned., MCS-Diwany1-S_I-normal., MCS-Diwany1-S_U-adorned., MCS-Diwany1-S_U-normal., MCS-Diwany1-S_U-round., MCS-Diwany1-S_U-round., MCS-Farisy-E_I-3D., MCS-Farisy-E_I-normal., MCS-Farisy-E_U-3D., MCS-Farisy-E_U-normal., MCS-Farisy-S_I-normal., MCS-Farisy-S_U-normal., MCS-Hashimy-S_I-normal., MCS-Hashimy-S_U-normal., MCS-Hijaz-S_I-adorn., MCS-Hijaz-S_U-adorn., MCS-Hijaz-S_U-normal., MCS-Hijon-S_U-normal., MCS-Jeddah-S_U-stars., MCS-Kofi-S_U-normal., MCS-Madina-E_I-3D., MCS-Madina-E_U-3D., MCS-Madinah-E_I-normal., MCS-Madinah-E_U-normal., MCS-Madinah-S_I-normal., MCS-Madinah-S_U-normal., MCS-Makkah-E_I-3D., MCS-Makkah-E_I-normal., MCS-Makkah-E_U-3D., MCS-Makkah-E_U-normal., MCS-Makkah-S_I-normal., MCS-Makkah-S_I-slim., MCS-Makkah-S_U-normal., MCS-Makkah-S_U-slim., MCS-Mamloky-E_I-3D., MCS-Mamloky-E_I-normal., MCS-Mamloky-S_I-adorned., MCS-Mamloky-S_I-normal., MCS-Mamloky-S_U-adorned., MCS-Mamloky-S_U-normal., MCS-Mamloky-S_U-normal., MCS-Mamloky-S_U-round., MCS-Masahif-S_I-normal., MCS-Masahif-S_U-normal., MCS-Omalgora-S_U-adorned., MCS-Ophor-S_U-normal., MCS-Taybah-S_U-normal., MCS-Tholoth-S_U-normal., MCS-mamloky-E_U-normal., MCSALHADADECO, MCSALMAALIMHIGH60, MCSALSHAMAL, MCSCLOCKFAT, MCSFARISYSPINED, MCSFREEDOM, MCSFREEDOMOUTLINE, MCSHALASHADOW, MCSISLAND, MCSISLANDHIGH, MCSKhaybarSUstriped, MCSQUDSDECO, MCSQudsSUnormal, MCSREDSEASPOTED, MCSRIVER, MCSROUND, MCSSAND, MCSSANDDECO, MCSSANDHIGH, MCSTALAYASPINED, Mcs-BookTitle1, Mcs-BookTitle2, Mcs-BookTitle3, Mcs-BookTitle4, Mcs-BookTitle5, Mcs-BookTitle6, Mcs-Hadeith1, Mcs-Hadeith2, Mcs-Honor, Mcs-LetterWord1, Mcs-LetterWord2, Mcs-LetterWord3, Mcs-LetterWord4, Mcs-LetterWord5, Mcs-Quran, Mcs-School1, Mcs-School2, Mcs-SwerAl_Quran1, Mcs-SwerAl_Quran2, Mcs-SwerAl_Quran3, Mcs-SwerAl_Quran4, Mohammad-Annoktah, Othmani, Pen-Kufi-Shadow, Pen-Kufi, Quran-1, Quran-2, Zokrofi. [Google] [More]  ⦿

Wics

Sidus Micro Technology from Dubai, UAE, is involved in OpenType font development, for Arabic and other languages. Contact: Waiel H. Ali. [Google] [More]  ⦿

Wissam Shawkat

Iraqi calligrapher. Born in Iraq, Basra City 1974, started practicing calligraphy in 1984, when the primary school teacher Mr. Muhammad Ridha Suhail and his parents guided and encouraged him. and since that he became passionate to the art of Arabic calligraphy till he started his career as a professional calligrapher and graphic designer in 1990. After his graduation from the Civil Engineering Department from Basra University in 1996 he carried on self-taught by closely observing and studying the calligraphy of the masters of this art in Turkey like Sami Efindi, Mohammed Nazif, Hamid Al Amadi and Halim Efindi. A winner of many calligraphy competitions. Currently, Wissam works as a senior designer and consultant, specialized in brand identity and Arabic typography with global branding and advertising agencies in the UAE and abroad. In Dubai, his most noticeable works include a calligraphy wall at the Cultural and Scientific Association, the design of the Calligraphy at Mr. Majed Al Futtaim Mosque and the Calligraphy and design of the wall graphics at the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC). [Google] [More]  ⦿

XAzooozX

UAE-based designer of El Font Gothic (2008). [Google] [More]  ⦿