From Dubai to Damascus

If you go to Souk Al Hamidiyeh in Damascus you feel that you're transported 50 years back in time. I was amazed by the simplicity and humbleness of the place and the people and the amount of colors and textures and light in this wonderful old market. Living in Dubai, I long for this kind of authenticity and true tradition. The Arabic typefaces used for shop signs are all based on the traditional cursive scripts. Some signs are handwritten calligraphy. I could identify the Naskh, Thulth and Ta'aliq scripts. 

Pictures alternating between Syria's old Souk and Dubai highways

Teachers on the wall

When it comes to outdoor advertising in Jeddah, many people choose the DIY way to promote themselves.
Among these are self promotional ads for teachers, laser hair removal clinics, and even dental clinics. 
These ads violate the walls but add a human touch to them. They also add a sense of time to the city. Some "decompose" with time while others get vandalized by new ads stuck on top of them. Layers and layers of eroded letters and papers. Some ads are printed therefore use typography while others are handwritten. Some even combine printed and handwritten type used for adding comments or correcting typos or even retouching what's been lost due to wind and dust. The main script used is Naskh and the Ruq'aa script is often used when indicating the telephone or mobile number.

Photography credits: Ahlam Bin Safrah

Arab Airlines logos

The following are the logos of the national carriers of Arab countries.

Comoros and Western Sahara don't have national carriers. 

While most of the logos are bilingual some are English (Somalia and Lebanon MEA) or French (Algeria).

In case of the Middle East Airlines, their logotype is often accompanied by "Middle East Airlines" in Arabic, English or French (Air Liban) under it.

Emirates airlines have a logotype as well; the Arabic word Emirates is their main symbol since they adopted a calligraphic decorative version of the word. Whereas the rest of the airlines' logos are combination marks: a pictogram or symbol with the title written in Arabic and English under.

Different Arabic scripts and typefaces are used, hence different styles and feelings for the logos. While Royal Jordanian use the Diwani script, Kuwait  and Sudan Airways use the Farsi or Ta'liq. Royal Air Maroc use a kind of Naskh that I personally have never seen before, probably because I haven't been to Morocco. Libyan Airlines use the Thulth script and the rest use Kufi, Modern Naskh and more contemporary typefaces mainly based on the Kufi script (Iraq, Oman, Syria).

Beirut Street Type

I was walking in Hamra street when I saw these messages on the walls. They mostly represent social messages with a sarcastic tone. Compared to what I see in other Arab countries, Beirut visual identity is a more humanistic one. It involves more emotional and symbolic messages than religious or informative ones.
Lebanon is a rather tolerant country when it comes to freedom of speech so you always realize that artists are involved with the political and social causes and are not afraid of displaying their unique sense of humor when dealing with such issues.

Smile 

The owl has negative connotations in the Lebanese culture, it's a symbol of negativity and bad temper.

Salutation from my heart to Beirut, extract from Li Beirut, a famous song by Fairuz.

Childish doodles, Nizar Kabbani.

Title of a poem by renowned Syrian poet, Nizar Kabbani.

Lebanese expression meaning there's going to be a fight.

Renowned Egyptian singer Oum Koulthoum, symbol of classic oriental music singing "bous el wawa", a "pop" song by Haifa, the sexy diva, symbol of sex and plastic surgeries.

  

We miss you Beirut.

Sarcastic criticism of blinding political slogans filling the street walls.

Same Top

Under woman's illustration: Sylicon = Art

Arabic speaking countries

Arabic is the official language of 23 Arab countries, and one of the official languages in 2 non Arab countries namely Eritria and Chad. Here are the flags of these countries.

Calligraphic Sculptures in Saudi Arabia

In Jeddah, if you need to give route directions you will surely need roundabouts as reference points. Each roudabout is usually named after what it physically represents. 

You have the fist roundabout, which is a huge golden sculpted fist, the flying carpet, the history roundabout, the geometry roundabout, the ships roudabout, and many more.

Other than the roundabouts there are typographic sculptures along the coastline walk and the highways. They represent verses from the Qur'an, poetry, proverbs or abstract non-narrative calligraphy. 

Verse from the Qur'an on the shape of a ship using the Diwani script.

Square Kufi or Geometric Kufi composition representing a verse from the Qur'an.

Verse from the Qur'an using the Kufi script.

Abstract composition using Arabic Indic and Western Arabic digits

Poetry verse

Verse from the Qur'an
Photography credits: Dalia Al Qurashi

On the future of the Arabic alphabet

What is Arab? Who is the Arabic man? 

Who is the Arabic woman?

Who is the Arabic letter? Ask these questions to any Arab person and you will get answers diverse beyond imagination.  The Arabic alphabet, as the Latin alphabet, originated from the Phoenician alphabet. It took a long journey filled with grace and passion. It got dignified, mystified, personified, and then mutilated. The six original cursive scripts, Riqa’, Tawqi’, Muhaqqaq, Rayhani, Naskh, and Thulth, highly appreciated for their elegance, beauty and sophistication are being gradually replaced by Arabic rigid “sans serifs”.  To understand the recent development of Arabic typefaces and logotypes, one should take a look at the history of the Arabic script, its usage, and aesthetics. As graphic design and advertising are more and more integrated in the Arab society, whether in the Gulf, North Africa or Levant, different typography disciplines are emerging. Typefaces are undergoing “latinization”. They are enduring drastic changes to suit the English letters when used in bilingual projects, hence breaking all connection with their own history and origins.

Arabic words are written using Latin letters for digital usages. Some missing phonemes are being replaced by numbers.

What’s the duty of an Arabic designer? 

What’s the future of the Arabic Alphabet?