Cascading Arabic

Mirjam Somers
Type designer and a Developer of Font Technology

Play (27min)

Download: MP4

This is a talk about technically and aesthetically the most challenging Arabic type design projects: the slanted Arabic typefaces with cascading connections. It was exactly this challenge that brought DecoType into the typography scene in 1985 with the very first Ruqah computer typography. In 2011 a completely new Ruqah design takes its place. In addition to that, the award winning DecoType Nastaliq typeface in Persian style is very well received as the top typeface in WinSoft Tasmeem. A second nastaliq, this time in Pakistani style is under construction. All aspects of this work, such as the difference between Ruqah 1985 and Ruqah 2011, but also the minor and major Persian-Pakistani contrasts in the nastaliq style is the subject matter of this talk.