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Folio of Calligraphy, ca. 1540s-1550s, Kamal al-Din, Safavid dynasty, ink, opaque watercolor, and gold on colored paper, Herat, Iran (present day Afghanistan). This elegant folio is written in a script known as Ta`liq or “hanging,” notable for its great fluidity, which belies its highly sophisticated and strict rules.
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Arabic is used in 23 countries and is spoken by over 300 million people. For all the demographic differences of this population, it is fair to say that on some level, all these people are consumers of everything from sugar to luxury watches. Aware of the untapped potential of this market, more and more Western businesses have sought to expand brand recognition and convince speakers of Arabic that their brands are the best. Western businesses branching out into Arab markets has been going on for years, but in light of recent events and the accelerated rate at which information is transferred via the Internet the need for Western businesses being able to convert marketing campaigns so they are aesthetically appealing and culturally appropriate for Arabs has increased exponentially. As a direct result of these kinds of conversions, Arabic graphic design has also changed, now incorporating elements of Western graphic design.
The cross-hybridization of Latin and Arabic graphic design approaches is a process that can yield incredibly innovative, beautiful and successful results. On the other hand, however, without the proper knowledge of the cultural, religious and linguistic pitfalls of Arabic, advertising and marketing campaigns, not to mention the money invested in such efforts, can easily be lost. Language carries the identity of those who speak it and is a formative influence on how those people view the world around them. As the applications of a language change, so too do the identities of its speakers. From its inception as the means to transmit the word of God to its contemporary use to sell tires and stream real-time news across television and computer screens, Arabic and its speakers have entered an era in which they must achieve a balance between tradition and the realities of the contemporary world in order to better understand themselves. In turn, Westerners need to have a better understanding of the Arab world. Only through mutual understanding can progress be made.
Al Arabiya News Network
In the wake of September 11, Arabic speakers needed an international media outlet that could best serve the Arab community without totally discounting the international community. Al Arabiya News Network was born. As the world’s first Arab news channel prepared to launch, much consideration was put into the network’s corporate identity. At its core, Al Arabiya sought to facilitate a fair, evenhanded dialogue within various Arab communities and the Western world. The real challenge for the network was to incorporate graphic aspects of Western news culture without, as most Arabs saw it, the biased content that plagued much of Western news coverage.
The brief was clear and stated that the network required an overall design sensibility that accommodated all facets of reporting the news, both in print and through the low-resolution medium of television. Al Arabiya needed more than just a logo; it needed an entire typeface that could be used in all capacities of reporting the news from maps, to tables and graphs, to scrolling breaking news that runs across the bottom of the screen.
Commissioned from Boutros International through the London-based agency Lambie Nairn, both logotype and the unique Arabic typeface achieved this balance and perfectly demonstrated the need to incorporate traditional aspects of Arabic typography with graphic design elements of the contemporary global community. For example, the network wanted to stress its balanced broadcasting of the news in order to establish international credibility, thus the creation of the network’s clean-cut logo.
It was determined, after a great deal of research and testing went into the consideration of legibility, style and weight balance, that the typeface now conveyed internal consistency and harmony of type when compared to the equivalent Latin typeface. From a typographic point of view, this was accomplished through a geometric style that adhered to Arabic dimensions found in Arabic calligraphic style but taking into account the limitations of televised images. Rendering the created type as such gave it a cultural legacy and a direct link to the traditional Arabic heritage. The added modernity came to exemplify how new Arabic typefaces can be created in the context of the modern world enjoying an up-to-date look and high technical quality without forfeiting the essence of Arabic, maintaining a strong link to the culture.
Hence, the graphic appeal allowed ease of use by writers and reporters without the need for a graphic operator, providing faster on-air information delivery when needed. In addition, the typeface had to have relatively short ascenders and descenders since it had to sit within graphic layouts built to narrow strips of color. More than one weight of the font had to be developed since the aim was to emphasize the Arabic typography to create various impacts. And finally, achieving proper alignment of the Arabic text was another challenge since the electronic equipment used in the news room did not fully support the Arabic language.
The final result was one of simple distinguished style that fulfilled the network’s visual needs.
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