The Utilization of Arabic Calligraphy to Inspire Modern Arabic Type Designs

Arabic calligraphy is one of the greatest achievements of Islamic art. The visual form of Arabic calligraphy is the primary means of presenting ideas and messages for expressive communication in Arabic typefaces. Emerging computer technology with calligraphy is essential for effective visual designs; however, traditional typefaces are insufficient in number and quality to fulfill the requirements of the current Saudi industry. Thus, this research investigates the processes followed by graphic designers to create modern Arabic type designs inspired by Arabic calligraphy, and presents the characteristics of Arabic calligraphy. The research implemented a mixed experimental and descriptive method, exploring 10 typefaces designed by professional graphic designers; 1) Hudhud font; 2) Thuraya font; 3) Greta Arabic font; 4) Fedra Arabic font; 5) Mishmish font; 6) Muzakhraf font; 7) Arabic@Cooper; 8) Arabic Handwritten; 9) Jude font; 10) Arabic Didot. The font analysis includes the criteria: 1) details about the designer; 2) the font inspiration; 3) the font style; and 4) uses. As a result, the research presents a set of guidelines for the designers to develop modern Arabic type designs inspired by Arabic calligraphy.


Introduction
Arabic calligraphy has long been considered one of the highest forms of artistic expression in Arabic and Islamic art. Calligraphy is considered a holy practice (Zeyad, 2004), because it is used for writing the Qur'an, the holy book of Islam, and the unique way it expresses the identity of Islamic culture. Traditional typefaces are more suitable for small size type. However, Zeyad (2004) proposes that the number and quality of typefaces created specifically for display purposes (e.g., commercial art, television, and advertisements) are insufficient, for the demands of the current Saudi industry, including advertising, graphic design and desktop publishing. In order to develop modern digital Arabic typefaces, one option is to modify traditional Arabic calligraphy to meet contemporary aesthetic preferences and to technically alter Arabic letterforms to meet current industrial requirements. Thus, this research aims to investigate the approaches followed by graphic designers to develop modern Arabic typefaces.

Aim and Objectives
This research aims to investigate the processes followed by graphic designers to create modern Arabic type designs inspired by Arabic calligraphy. In order to achieve this aim, the research objectives are as follows: 1. To explore the styles graphic designers, draw inspiration from to generate modern Arabic typefaces.
2. To propose a set of guidelines to help Graphic designers develop modern Arabic type design from Arabic calligraphy.

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Calligraphy is defined as: elegant writing art with created with a pencil or a brush on a paper or ideographic equipment arranging the spaces between the letters according to significant aesthetic and design rules. Mohamed and Youssef (2014) argue that Arabic calligraphy comprises and integration of written language with geometry. The history of calligraphy, like much of the history of the arts, is cyclic in nature; a new writing style emerges, is developed and after time loses popularity and 'dies', only to be rediscovered and reinvented in a contemporary form. 3.2. Typography Turgut (2013) defined typography as a dimension of art and design encompassing the use of writing to enhance meaning and one of the most effective tools to transfer feelings and ideas in graphic design. . While, Mohamed and Youssef (2014) note that typography can be letter forms or single characters, words, shapes, or symbols; type positioning includes the choice of typefaces, point size, line length, line spacing, deciding the spaces between groups of and also deciding the space between pairs of letters. According to Yadav (2014) the choice of typography is integral to successful expressive communication through typeface. Thus, typography has a dual function: to represent a concept, and to show a visual form, and a full understanding of typographic implementation will guide the designer in choosing a suitable typeface to effectively convey the intended message. Each typeface has its own unique aesthetic and expressive qualities, as evidenced by the visual features of its letterforms. Mohamed and Youssef (2014) propose Arabic letters have the following features: 1) The Arabic alphabet contains twenty-eight letters.

Characteristics and Features of Arabic writing
2) It's a complex text language, with bi-directional script; letters are written from right to left in contrast to Latin words that are written left to right, but numbers are written from left to right.
3) The Arabic writing system is a unified script and may contain up to four-forms of a single letter. 4) Many letters change their form depending on whether they appear alone (in isolation), or at the beginning, middle or end of the word.

5)
Letters that change form are always connected in both hand-written and printed Arabic. Therefore, Arabic script is cursive, as in traditional English handwriting. 6) Only three long vowels are written. Azmi and Alsaiari (2014) argue that Islam boosted the Arabic language because it was the language used to write the Qur'an. During the early period of Islam there were no rules for the drawing of letters in Arabic writing. Since Islam prohibits the depiction of human form, Islamic art was heavily influenced by decorative geometric patterns, and calligraphy, with the latter especially revered as it was the primary means for the preservation of the Qur'an. Although the art of calligraphy has often been dominated by men, there were also famous female calligraphers some of whom were known to have scribed the entire Qur'an. Among the most notable master calligraphers are Ibn Muqla and Yaqut Al-Musta'simi. Al-Musta'simi is believed to be responsible for Arabic script reaching its peak. Arabic writing became a unique art form with specific features and rules that must be adhered to in order to satisfy the requirements of an Arabic calligrapher. Azmi and Alsaiari (2014) propose several characteristics of and rules for Arabic script: 1) Cursivity: Arabic is only written in a cursive form generating four diverse forms for the same letter. 2) Ligatures: Arabic script is highly rich in ligatures. Some ligatures are compulsory while others are optional and exist only for aesthetic reasons, legibility or justification. 3) Diacritic Dots: these are a measurement unit marked by the stroke of the calligraphy pen.
Certain letters are characterized by the presence, number and the positions of these dots which are also used as a measurement unit to order the dimensions and the metrics of glyphs. 4) Diacritic Signs: (or short vowels) are markings added above or below the letters to help in proper pronunciation of the text. The diacritic signs take different heights, not only with respect to basic glyphs but also according to other contextual elements. 5) Allographs: these are the different graphical forms a letter can have while keeping its place; initial, middle, final and isolated based on the neighboring letters and the presence of kashida. 6) Kashida: is a link between Arabic letters; it is not a separate character but a curvilinear connection with the prior letter mainly used for emphasis, legibility, aesthetics and 1) The Kufi script: first placed in vertical pages, it is characterized by its large size and rough vertical strokes that were often slanted to the right. The is Kufi script used in Quran, architectural decoration, textiles, carpets, ceramics, and metalwork. 2) The Naskh script: a cursive script, was designed to fulfill the requirement for a clear unambiguous alphabet. Naskh is used in writing manuscripts, ceramics, and tiles.
3) The Thuluth script: one of the first cursive styles; created in the 7th century during the Thuluth, has a unique attribute. Sometimes the alphabet has joined letters with one letter cut off from the following one, and the style includes large and complex lettering movements and its own unique cursive flow. Thuluth is distinguished by its sophisticated flexibility and a remarkable artistic complexity. It is used in Quran, architecture, metalwork, ceramics, and manuscripts. 4) The Nastaliq script: has a more recent history as it was developed in Persia in the 16th century. The word Nastaliq combines the words Naskh and Taliq, Naskh and Taliq are Arabic words; the former means a copy while the latter means hanged or displayed. This script was used for the transcription of Persian poetry, epics, and other literary texts. It is also used in album pages, textiles, and carpets. 5) The Diwani script: created in Turkey by Housam Roumi (1520e1566); it has an Ottoman form rooted in the Shikasteh writing style (16th century to early 17th century). It was named Diwani because it was used in the Ottoman government (Diwan in Turkish) (Saberi,2016; ;Ekhtiar and Moore, 2011).

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Whatever the final purpose of the type design, a visual rhythm is attempted based on the harmonious interaction between letterforms and the blank spaces that surround them. Abdalla (2015) proposes constructivism as a design concept and inspiration source for Arabic typeface design, allowing designers to take from traditions and through constant transformation create simple forms through exemption or abstraction. These can be implemented as follows: 1) Creating forms acceptable to the spirit of the contemporary style.
3) Selecting the right shapes that deliver clear and simple recognizable features. 4) Contrasting the typographic treatments in order to emphasize the content. 5) Choosing a proper measurement scale for the diverse purposes. 6) Creating harmonious balance between space and for visual resding , with recognizable structure and geometric organization.

Methodology
The researcher conducted a mixed method study to collect primary data through experimental and descriptive methods. The researcher analyzed 10 professionally designed typefaces; these are: 1) Hudhud font by Maha Akl. The Hudhud font combines two font styles: Naskh and Maghribi. It adopted the expressiveness, playfulness and rounded nature from the Maghribi style. It has a wide calligraphic touch, leading to an increase in stroke thickness and contrast which exhibits the spirit of Al-Qandusi's calligraphy (Akl, 2019). The Naskh style gave the Hudhud font its simple structure and letter proportion along with the fluidity of overall text form. The author's opinion is that the Hudhud font distinguishes itself by integrating the round bold start of the stroke and the slender clean end in the same letter.  ........................ ........................

2) Style
The characteristics that define Thuraya as the completely curved baseline, the horizontally slanted letters and the extended character set including ligatures and alternates, crucial to the harmonious calligraphic flow and some letters connect vertically. The researcher sees that the font interpreted the Diwani style in a modern form and it was adapted digitally with harmony.
Additionally, it has a balance between the vertical connections with dots and the horizontal slanted baseline with letters.

3) Uses
The font is mainly intended for lettering purposes, headlines, logotypes and short texts (Sarkis,2011). See figure 6 for Thuraya font application.  ........................ The Greta Arabic font sits on the baseline creating a clear reading line, giving it the ability to respond well to text justification which is vital to newspaper typography. Like its Latin counterpart, the Arabic family (especially in the Light and Bold) has a strong character that makes it suitable for use in display sizes. Greta Arabic is available in 39 styles, and creates visions in Arabic type, and can be used for complex typographical needs in Arabic or Latin (Sarkis.2012). The author's finds this font to be close to the Naskh form with similar features. It is easily read, which makes it suitable for long scripts, and its variety makes it a strong font that can be widely used.

2) Style
Biľak's (2015) found Arabic handwriting in some ways very similar to Latin handwriting. He was able to create a highly readable font by isolating the key features needed to make individual characters recognizable. The result was Fedra Arabic, a dual-script typeface system for contemporary publishing of Latin and Arabic texts. Only the Latin characters can be serifed or not while Arabic glyphs have higher contrast between the thick and thin strokes, and more detailed end strokes. The 'Sans version has lower contrast of letterforms. The researcher's finds that the wide rounded bottoms of the letters make the typeface friendly and comfortable to the eye, which achieves the designers' aim, while the different strokes of the two variations add a unique feature to the Arabic font without losing the original characteristics of the design.

3) Uses
This typeface is ideal for creating logos with initials or texts that are based on specific letters such as monograms or wedding logos, but it is also very useful for branding or for creating packaging, graphic patterns, posters, tattoos or any visual language material. Muzakhraf typeface is also a great font to use in motion graphics or animations due to its nice mix of traditional calligraphic material combined with a very simple graphic framing of it. See figure 17 packaging with Muzakhraf font.  .......................... Tarek Atrissi designed The Arabic@cooper typeface. This font is described as a one weight display font initially intended to be used for the large titles used in exhibitions (Atrissi ,2014).

Font Analysis 1) Inspiration Arabic@cooper is the Arabic adaptation of the Cooper Latin font,designed in 1922 by Oswald
Cooper; by the early 1900's German type designers had developed more expressive styles which led to the aesthetic that became dominated by Cooper Black ( Heck,2017).

2) Style
Arabic@cooper has a simple geometric form that compliments the calligraphic details expressed in the letter's forms and is harmonious and easy to read. The researcher's viewpoint is that the font celebrates the traditional Arabic calligraphy; however, it has a modern curved closed ending which gives it a solid form. Also, the combination between the thick strokes and thin edges adds a unique value to the font.

2) Style
This font is available in both small and large font sizes. The design was inspired by a Sharpielike stroke written by hand, and was created to fill the market demand for a typeface that resembled handwritten notes. The font is available in three weights, Light, Regular and Bold. It supports the Latin and Arabic script and is ideal for bilingual uses such as Arabic-English or Arabic-French (Atrissi, 2014). The researcher observes that the font's random forms have an equal thickness which makes it looks like realistic handwriting, and the placement of the letters on the baseline gives a hint of fast written notes.

3) Uses
Atrissi (2014) proposes this font as ideal for usage in retail and corporate context, but it is also appropriate for use in any graphic or advertising material that demands handwritten Arabic typography. The Qatar 2022 FIFA world cup committee was one of the organizations that used the Arabic-Handwritten typeface in their marketing campaign. See figure 22 for Arabic Handwritten font application. ........................... The Jude font borrows from classic Kufic, but also it has some influence from Diwani and Thuluth which can be seen in some letterforms. There are some specific characteristics inspired by the Maghrabi script as seen in the circular end strokes. It is also heavily influenced by modern type-design.

2) Style
Al-Alam argues that the font's unique characteristics are the thick ascenders that rapidly turn into curving wispy thin strokes. The researcher's opinion is that the font has extraordinary proportions in its letter forms and that it has adapted the Kufic script in an attractive modern way. The font's thick and thin contrast and the red color shows a rhythmic display that is suitable for many projects.

3) Uses
The Jude script was selected to best accompany the animated and dynamic modeling from Halima Aden during the 'Contemporary Muslim Fashions'photo shoot exhibition at de Young Museum in San Francisco. The final result is an amazing exposition of color and movement ( figure 24). Also, the font is ideal for logos, posters and many other projects that require a unique calligraphic font.   ........................ 2) Style Al-Alam ( n.d ), "the typeface features the striking contrast between the extremely thin hairlines and thick strokes." The researcher's observation is that the font adapted Didot successfully while creating its own divergent style. The combination of wide strokes and tender edges with circular dots makes it a friendly font display. However, it is a modern design with unique and new letters structure.
3) Uses: The Arabic Didot is suitable for design projects such as posters, logos, animation and more, in addition to bilingual purposes as the style transfers between Arabic and Latin letters. See figure 27 for Arabic Didot application.

Discussion
The main aim of this paper is to gain insight into the process used by graphic designers to create modern type designs inspired by Arabic calligraphy. The researcher found that there are some graphic designers, both Arab and non-Arab, who are producing modern Arabic fonts. The methodology was to choose ten fonts designed by professional graphic designers with modern features that suit the contemporary movement and then analyze them based on inspiration, style and uses. ...........................

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The discussion highlights the importance of the designer's concept or inspiration behind creating the font because each font tells a different story. The designer should be able to transform letters into a design that speaks and expresses ideas. This requires the designer to know the characteristics of Arabic calligraphy and have the drawing or sketching skills to generate an outstanding design and turn it into digital font. The analysis confirms that there are many sources for inspiration. One source is to be inspired by original Arabic scripts which is the case for most of the fonts. A second source is to adapt from Latin fonts. Additionally, fonts were inspired by Arabic calligraphy and by Islamic art; for example, the Muzakhraf font was inspired by ornaments and arabesque. Furthermore, some fonts were created by exploring new approaches such as taking inspiration from handwriting from different regions and cultures like the Fedra Arabic font. Some other fonts required in depth research to meet the desired aim. The process of developing fonts inspired by original scripts included changing the weight and contrast to produce new contemporary forms that retain the same spirit. The adaptation process was to form Arabic letters from Latin letters taking the Arabic writing rules into consideration. The research suggests that to create a good design trial and error is required through sketching, reviewing the work of others, and gaining feedback from peers in order to reach the best result.

Conclusion
The first objective was to explore the styles abstracted from by graphic designers to generate modern Arabic typefaces; this was achieved through the font analysis. The second objective was to propose a set of guidelines to help graphic designers develop modern Arabic type design from Arabic calligraphy. Thus, the researcher proposes the following set of guidelines: 1) Determine the needed characteristic in the font and build a strong concept through related research; 2) Examine original Arabic scripts and choose the one most related to the concept; 3) Sketching: the designer should begin sketching new forms and developing his or her own style while adhering to the Arabic rules; 4) Finally, develop different weights and styles to develop a professional design and then customize it digitally. ........................... Moreover, future studies could examine Arabic calligraphy applications in order to generate designs that express the Arabic culture in a modern style. Also, it could be beneficial to explore Islamic art to enhance knowledge about this rich civilization as a source of inspiration. Furthermore, studies could consider the adaptation process from Arabic typefaces to Latin.