Harfometry book is a serious effort to help type designers to design a well-proportioned Arabic typeface by standardizing Arabic calligraphy rules and inventing design system and guides to make those rules digital-friendly.

The book involves the systematic measurement of the physical properties of the letters, primarily dimensional descriptors of letter size, shape, and proportions driven by calligraphy, but now it is digital-friendly. It contains six sections; the first three are an introduction, defining Arabic typography and its assets. The fourth explains the new system and guides the book followed. The fifth section is the letters and their parameters: Basic shape, Connect, alignment, and dots and diacritics. The sixth section is a template of measured characters.

Beginner Arabic typeface designers have hard times finding references in Arabic about typography. This causes individual efforts to be spent adapting calligraphy principles into typography instead of developing what others reached. Thus, few well-designed Arabic typefaces have been created with all these years of using technology.

The main reason for the slow development of Arabic typography is the scarcity of Arabic resources. That reason leads the designers to adopt Latin systems, which causes misunderstanding of letter structures that make distorted Arabic typeface.

This project is an attempt to, once and for all, make these issues disappear by standardizing calligraphy concepts. In this project, I aim for many objectives, first is to offer an Arabic resource that relies on Arabic rules for designing new typefaces. The second is to enrich Arabic content in the field. Last but not least, Increase the number of well-designed typefaces, providing variations that increase the quality of Arabic editorial design.

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Introduction: 

Beginner Arabic typeface designers have a hard time finding references in

Arabic about typography. This causes individual efforts to be spent adapting

calligraphy principles into typography instead of developing on what others

reached. Thus, with all these years of using technology, few well-designed

Arabic typefaces have been created. This research is an attempt to, once and

for all, make these issues disappear by standardizing calligraphy concepts.

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Thesis statement:

Reviving Arabic calligraphy rules by converting them to digital-friendly rules

is going to enrich the Arabic library regarding learning Arabic typefaces

basics and standards for designers, which will help solve the lack of well designed

Arabic typefaces.

 

Objectives

• Offer an Arabic resource that relies on Arabic rules for designing new typefaces.

• Enrich Arabic content in the field.

• Increase the number of well-designed typefaces, providing variations that increase the quality of Arabic editorial design.

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Target audience

The main target audience is beginner typeface designers. Also, it will be

helpful for:

Arabic typography teachers

Foreign designers interested in designing Arabic typefaces

Researchers in the same field.