Azza’s Cairo Presentation

The Hadath al Khatt conference consisted of presentations and discussions about calligraphy, lettering, and type design targeted to a young audience (mostly students). The conference itself was held for only one day, but the week before was dedicated to various lettering and calligraphy workshops.

Azza conducted a workshop with mostly design students or recent graduates that taught them how to match Latin and Arabic logos. They already had a good understanding of the different Arabic calligraphic styles and the contexts in which they are used, but most participants didn’t know how the contrast of Arabic letters should apply. Therefore, choosing a style for their logo was quite an easy task for them, while matching the weight and contrast of the Arabic to the Latin was challenging. Overall, the results were quite good for it only being a six-hour workshop.

The conference also held an exhibition about Arabic typefaces designed by students of the German University in Cairo (GUC), which additionally showcased posters with some of TypeTogether’s typefaces as well as other type designs.

Azza’s main presentation consisted of showing the Arabic typefaces she designed for TypeTogether. But since she did not want it to be a simple portfolio showcase, she conducted a deep-dive explanation of making Bree Arabic. Azza explained to attendees the decision-making that goes into the structure before even starting the design process. And for those who could not attend the workshop, she also talked briefly about how to visually match an Arabic typeface to a Latin one.

After her presentation, many students approached Azza to ask questions about typeface design in general. There seemed to be a real demand and eagerness in understanding more about the technical and conceptual aspects of this field, which we are always happy support.

Our thanks to Hadath al Khatt for a wonderful opportunity to share our knowledge at this conference!