Arabic Typography
Liberation of Arabic Typography: An Exploration of the Latinization of Arabic Typography With a Study on Various Typographic Projects. Where does this leave the state of type design in representing a script, language, nation, and people’s identities?
2024 GMD graduate Jana Malaikah is a graphic and media designer, artist, and consultant whose work bridges creative disciplines to deliver thoughtful, innovative solutions. Based in Al-Khobar and London, she explores themes of identity, culture, and the environment while engaging with contemporary narratives and global design practices.
During her time at LCC, Jana committed to creating all her outcomes as bilingual projects and this is something she has been reflecting on recently:
Lately, I’ve been returning to the question of why I make.
What began as a search for grounding between languages, places, and ways of seeing has become the thread that runs through everything I do.
Studying and living in the UK made the Arabic script feel both present and distant. I became more aware of how it appears, disappears, is misunderstood, or is treated. That tension shaped my undergraduate dissertation into the Latinization of Arabic typography.
That work became a starting point. It continues to guide my practice today, as I expand my research into how Arabic type is held, displayed, and interpreted. It challenged and continues to challenge the way I think, make, and design. It has taught me patience, balance, and harmony”.
Liberation of Arabic Typography: An Exploration of the Latinization of Arabic Typography With a Study on Various Typographic Projects. Where does this leave the state of type design in representing a script, language, nation, and people’s identities?
Sinwaan: Sinwaan is an Arabic word which means multiple palm trees in one collective space. An Arabic experimental display typeface, inspired by the structure of the date palm tree, highlighting its bold and geometric form. It serves as a symbol for the significance and high value of the palm tree in Saudi Arabia. – Arabic Typeface Design. Type Specimen Foldable Pamphlets & Posters. Risograph Printed
Type Transformation: Sinwaan Stamped is an explorative journey of generative design outcomes utilising a specified set of letterforms and colours. – Workshop Design & Production. Design Outcomes Book Series. 5 Unique One-Off Editions, 148 x 210mm. French Fold Perfect Bound.
Palmscapes: The date palm, often perceived as a mere backdrop in the vast landscapes of Saudi Arabia, is re-examined through a series of artistic and analytical lenses. – Book Design, 300 x 300mm. Hardcover, Section-Stitched.
Palmscapes.
Call to Prayer.