Narratives of Arabic Script: Calligraphic Design and Modern Spaces

Abstract

The histories and practices of Arabic calligraphy and Arabic typography are richly intertwined, and this paper explores the narratives in which Arabic letter designers situate their work. It highlights two sites of Arabic lettering practice: the design firm of Syntax Digital in Amman, Jordan and the Institute of Traditional Islamic Arts at al-Balqa’ Applied University in Salt, Jordan. In dialogue with site representatives, the presentation explores the relationships connecting practices of letter design with wider structures of information architecture and textual application. The increasing flexibility of design remains a key site of textual, material and communicative negotiation. As practices of writing continue to shift both in the Middle East and globally, the variety of visual conventions surrounding Arabie script ask us to reimagine written design.