Create Arabic type

Create Arabic type

Typeface designer Titus Nemeth guides you through a free-flowing project designed to add a Middle Eastern flavour to your work.

In this project I demonstrate how to create a decorative word in bespoke Arabic type, from the initial sketches of each letterform through to making digital refinements in FontLab.

Arabic is the second-most widely used alphabet around the world. It forms the basis of dozens of languages across a huge region stretching from West Africa to South-East Asia, including various co-official languages in non-Arab states such as India, Pakistan, China, Iran and Afghanistan.

This project explores some of the script's creative possibilities, offering a basic introduction to non-Latin typeface design. The word we analyse in the following steps illustrates many of the general features of Arabic, and means "two accountants" - a nice fit given the global financial crisis.

Don't have FontLab? You can get a trial version here.

Click here to download the support files (241KB)

Click here to download the tutorial for free

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