Asmar Typeface

Asmar Typeface

Asmar

Arabic Display Type face

Arabic typeface inspired by the Naskh script, Single weight, used in Dsipaly and titles

Asmar in Arabic means brown, or dark

Letters Set.

Closer look. In use.

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Introduction

welcome.

About Two years ago, I was lucky enough to attend a workshop with Mr. Munir Al Shaarani one of the most brilliant masters in the field of calligraphy & typography.

The topic of the workshop were about the oriental kufi. On the sidelines of the workshop, I spent some time with him inquiring about the structure and anatomy of Arabic typeface and their relationship to classical Arabic Scripts.

Months ago, I met him several more times to talk about the same topic, thanks to him, I started drawing my first complete typeface, «Asmar».

It started after MR. Munir›s return from Cairo to Damascus, so the typeface may contain many mistakes, but it was necessary to start with this introduction.

*Sketch by Munir Al Shaarani.

«Asmar» was almost completely drawn on paper before starting to Vectorize on Programs.

Drawing on paper makes the Letter more logical, and resembles the natural movement of the hand with pen when drawing letters in the Naskh Script.

After drawing, I transferred the Sketches to transparent paper to refine the shapes of letters and make them clear.

Transparencies also help to repeat some parts of the letters, such as the head of the letters «waw» and «qaf».

I am not the best painter.. but it always works.

As a reference, I used a booklet by Munir al-Shaarani, who had given me a copy of it, and some videos of Ibrahim alArafi, so that I could understand the details of the Naskh script & its standards.

I type most of the letters in the traditional way using a 3.8 mm parallel pen.

Letters Set.

Ligatures

form and many more.

Eastern Arabic numerals

Usual Islamic words

Usual Islamic words

Closer look.

Nodes at extrems.

To get a consistent character with the fewest number of nodes, & get it streamlined when it is converted into an outline.

Repeated parts.

Repeated parts to get a consistent letter set.

In some cases there is a small adjustment to preserve the hierarchy of the overall shape.

Pen simulation.

The path of the letter depends on the actual movement of the pen on paper.

This makes the legibility better and helps in the balance of the letter.

Counter size.

symmetric space inside the letters is applied to the entire font.

Uniform thicknesses.

The same thickness in all parts of the Font.

Unified eyes.

The space inside the closed letters is similar in size and shape

Equal spaces

The gaps resulting from the connection between letters are similar,

there are three groups of gaps that depend on the shape of the letter and the letter after it.

Multiple options

Multiple alternatives of letters, some of them automatic(Ligatures) and others manual (Stylistic sets).

high legibility

Wide gaps and thick letters make the letter legible in most cases.

Perfect companion

with serif typefaces, I used Larken-Bold›s font for this example.

As you make your breakfast, Think of others

More sketches

all drawn on actual paper, which I later modified to fit the presentation style.

More sketches

all drawn on actual paper, which I later modified to fit the presentation style.

In use.

In vintage style