# Contemporary Arabic & Dual-Script Type Design

> A twenty-first-century type culture that redraws Arabic as a family matched to a Latin companion in weight, proportion and contrast, so the two scripts can share a page, screen or sign as equals. The Khatt Foundation's Typographic Matchmaking (2007) did much to launch it, and foundries such as 29LT and TPTQ Arabic carried it forward. It favours low-contrast Kufi- and Naskh-derived forms, a firm horizontal baseline and mirrored grids for identities, wayfinding and interfaces.

- Period: 2004–present
- Where: Middle East & North Africa, Western Europe, Global / networked
- Origin: The Khatt Foundation (Amsterdam, 2004), Dutch and Reading type-design programmes, and foundries and studios in Beirut, the Gulf and Europe
- Branch: Rational modernism
- Also known as: Arabic type modernism, Bilingual Arabic–Latin typography, Dual-script type design, Typographic Matchmaking
- Page: https://stylogeny.com/styles/arabic-latin-bilingual-type/

## Use it with care

Arabic must be set with correct contextual shaping and right-to-left direction; disconnected or reversed letters are a common and offensive error. Have every Arabic word checked by a fluent reader, avoid setting Qur'anic verses or the names of God and the Prophet as decorative texture, and commission or credit Arabic type designers rather than deriving Arabic glyphs from a Latin font.

## How it works

- Design the Arabic and the Latin as one family, matching weight, proportion, stroke contrast and colour on the page so neither script looks like an afterthought.
- Build the Arabic on low-contrast Kufi or simplified Naskh structures with a firm horizontal baseline, and reduce vertical stacking and ligatures for screens and signs.
- Give both scripts equal hierarchy by mirroring the grid for right-to-left and left-to-right text rather than subordinating one to the other.
- Develop the Arabic with native-script designers and calligraphers instead of deriving it mechanically from the Latin.
- Keep the system ornament-free and rational so the letters themselves carry a contemporary Arab identity.

## Its design choices

Defining choices make the style, characteristic ones are usual, occasional ones turn up now and then.

### Layout & composition
- [Column grid](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/column-grid/) (characteristic)
- [Modular grid](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/modular-grid/) (characteristic)
- [Isolated object](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/isolated-object/) (occasional)

### Space & hierarchy
- [Measured density](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/measured-density/) (defining)
- [Flat hierarchy](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/flat-hierarchy/) (characteristic)
- [Layered information](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/layered-information/) (characteristic)
- [Generous white space](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/generous-white-space/) (characteristic)

### Typography
- [Humanist sans](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/humanist-sans/) (defining)
- [Grotesque & neo-grotesque](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/grotesque-and-neo-grotesque/) (characteristic)
- [Geometric sans](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/geometric-sans/) (occasional)
- [Humanist & Garalde serif](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/humanist-and-garalde-serif/) (occasional)
- [Brush & pen calligraphy](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/brush-and-pen-calligraphy/) (occasional)

### Colour
- [Monochrome](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/monochrome/) (characteristic)
- [Limited spot colours](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/limited-spot-colours/) (characteristic)
- [Light ground](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/light-ground/) (characteristic)
- [Flat fields](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/flat-fields/) (characteristic)

### Form & shape
- [Rectilinear](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/rectilinear/) (characteristic)
- [Geometric primitives](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/geometric-primitives/) (occasional)

### Surface & texture
- [Flat](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/flat/) (defining)

### Ornament
- [Ornament-free](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/ornament-free/) (characteristic)

### Imagery
- [Typography only](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/typography-only/) (defining)
- [Icons & pictograms](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/icons-and-pictograms/) (occasional)

### Medium & production
- [Web & CSS](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/web-and-css/) (characteristic)
- [App & OS interface](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/app-and-os-interface/) (characteristic)
- [Architecture & signage](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/architecture-and-signage/) (characteristic)
- [Offset printing](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/offset-printing/) (occasional)

### Tone & intent
- [Rational & objective](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/rational-and-objective/) (defining)
- [Authoritative & institutional](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/authoritative-and-institutional/) (characteristic)
- [Utopian & idealistic](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/utopian-and-idealistic/) (occasional)
- [Technological & futurist](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/technological-and-futurist/) (occasional)

Avoids: Abundant decoration, Ornamented display, Tight setting, Painterly brushwork, Horror vacui, Painterly illustration

Palette: #f7f6f2, #141414, #8c8c8c, #c1272d, #0f6e6e

Typefaces: Frutiger Arabic and Helvetica Arabic (Nadine Chahine), 29LT UA Neo B and UA Neo N (after Nasri Khattar's Unified Arabic), Qandus (Khatt Foundation; Latin, Arabic and Neo-Tifinagh), Low-contrast Kufi- and Naskh-derived Arabic text sans

Known for: Khatt Foundation, founded by Huda Smitshuijzen AbiFarès (Amsterdam, 2004); Typographic Matchmaking (2007): Gerard Unger & Nadine Chahine, Martin Majoor & Pascal Zoghbi, Lucas de Groot & Mounir Al Shaarani, Peter Bilak & Tarek Atrissi, Fred Smeijers & Lara Assouad Khoury; TPTQ Arabic foundry (Peter Bilak & Kristyan Sarkis); 29LT (Pascal Zoghbi), UA Neo B and UA Neo N, revivals of Nasri Khattar's Unified Arabic (patent filed 1947, granted 1950); Nadine Chahine, Arabic versions of Frutiger, Helvetica and Zapfino for Linotype; Koufiya, an early simultaneously designed Arabic–Latin face

## Where it comes from, and what it’s close to

- Grew out of: [Corporate Identity Modernism](https://stylogeny.com/styles/corporate-modernism.md) (1955–1990)
- Influenced by: [Islamic Geometric & Calligraphic Tradition](https://stylogeny.com/styles/islamic-geometric.md) (c. 690–present)
- Influenced by: [Hurufiyya Calligraphic Modernism](https://stylogeny.com/styles/hurufiyya.md) (1949–present)
- Alike in its design choices: [GOV.UK Design (GDS Style)](https://stylogeny.com/styles/govuk-design-system.md) (2012–present), 76% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Total Design & Dutch Functionalism](https://stylogeny.com/styles/dutch-total-design.md) (1963–1990), 73% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [HfG Ulm Systematic Design](https://stylogeny.com/styles/ulm-school.md) (1953–1968), 73% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [International Typographic Style](https://stylogeny.com/styles/swiss-international.md) (1950–1975), 71% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Flat Design](https://stylogeny.com/styles/flat-design.md) (2010–2016), 69% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Newsroom Data Graphics & Scrollytelling](https://stylogeny.com/styles/newsroom-data-graphics.md) (2009–present), 67% alike

## Real works

- [Frutiger Arabic, type specimen](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Frutiger_arabic_mostra.png): Nadine Chahine for Linotype (typeface); specimen image by Paqribas, Typeface 2007; specimen image 2011, Wikimedia Commons
- [Khatt Foundation, Center for Arabic Typography: logo](https://web.archive.org/web/20191209071019/https://www.khtt.net/en/page/2283/khatt-foundation-logo): Khatt Foundation (image credited on khtt.net to Huda Smitshuijzen AbiFarès), By 6 August 2010 (date of the logo image on khtt.net), khtt.net, Khatt Foundation (Wayback Machine capture, 9 December 2019)
- [Fedra Arabic, early proof with corrections](https://web.archive.org/web/20151231032612/https://tptq-arabic.com/articles/fedra_arabic_10_years_later): Peter Biľak, with Tarek Atrissi (Typographic Matchmaking), 2005, TPTQ Arabic, 'Fedra Arabic, 10 years later' (Wayback Machine capture, 31 December 2015)
- [29LT UA Neo B and N, type specimen](https://web.archive.org/web/20260629050437/https://www.29lt.com/product/29lt-unified-arabic-neo-b/): Pascal Zoghbi (29LT), after Nasri Khattar's Unified Arabic, Typeface published 2013; specimen pages online by November 2019, 29LT foundry website (Wayback Machine capture, 29 June 2026)
- [Typographic Matchmaking in the City: Propositions for a Pluralist Public Space (book cover)](https://web.archive.org/web/20120103134920/http://www.khtt.net/page/27473/en): Khatt Foundation; edited by Huda Smitshuijzen AbiFarès (Khatt Books), 2010, khtt.net, Khatt Foundation (Wayback Machine capture, 3 January 2012)

## Sources

- Wikipedia, 'Khatt Foundation' (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khatt_Foundation)
- Typotheque, 'New book: Typographic Matchmaking' (2007) (https://www.typotheque.com/blog/new-book-typographic-matchmaking)
- Works That Work 6, 'Unified Arabic' (https://worksthatwork.com/6/unified-arabic)
- 29LT, 'Nasri Khattar' (https://www.29lt.com/designer/nasri-khattar/)

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From Stylogeny (https://stylogeny.com/), an atlas of graphic-design styles by Van Riel Online Services. How it is made: https://stylogeny.com/about/. Cite as: Stylogeny, “Contemporary Arabic & Dual-Script Type Design”, https://stylogeny.com/styles/arabic-latin-bilingual-type/