Arabic Typography: A Mosaic of Cultures
An Interview with Graphic Designer Wael Mocros
Arabic typography is a meeting of cultures. TypeThursday sat down with Lebanese graphic designer, Wael Mocros, to discuss how he works with the arabic script typographically.
In NYC? Join us as we share work-in-progress letterform projects and grab some type swag from R-Typography. Proudly hosted by the Type Director’s Club.
September 22, 2016
6:00–9:30 PM
Type Directors Club
RSVP for Free
TypeThursday: Wael, thanks for being here for TypeThursday.
Wael Mocros: Thank you for having me.
TT: I’m very excited to have someone with very strong practice in Arabic type design here for TypeThursday. I’d love to hear what was that journey like, what was that process?;
Wael’s Development
WM: I grew up in Lebanon speaking Arabic and French. By the time I was 13, English was introduced as a third language. I went to a french school then I went to Notre Dame University, which was a graphic design program that is mostly in English. So I was brought up to think in multiple languages and to resolve polyglot design problems. That still frames my practice today. I then got involved with the Khatt Foundation on a project called Typographic Matchmaking. It questioned the idea of multi-script typography as a metaphor for different cultures coming together to create something new. But I think it was the first time that I saw myself as part of a bigger conversation and I realized there are more interesting questions to be asked. I came to the US for a two-year program at RISD then moved to New York City, which is a great example for multicultural narratives.
TT: So to summarize what you’re saying is, because when you grew up in Lebanon it was a very multicultural society with many different cultures put together.
Add to that the coexistence of over 18 religious sects in a country that’s only twice the size of Rhode Island.
Lebanon’s Cultural Impact
WM: Lebanon is an old land and has long been a crossway for empires that conquered and ruled it. Up until recent history we’ve been colonized by the French, and today we’re still under direct influence of the regional turmoil that characterizes the Middle East. Add to that the coexistence of over 18 religious sects in a country that’s only twice the size of Rhode Island. All this contributed to a creating a heterogeneous sense of national identity. The positive side to this is how the Lebanese people can easily learn and absorb other cultures and languages, adopt, adapt and change.
TT: It very much sounds to me like a mosaic of all these different aspects of time and place and identity and religion all coming together that create this kind of tension of identity. For yourself, this was an opportunity for you to be open to understanding different cultures and inform your practice and your curiosity as a designer. Would that be fair to say?
WM: I think so.
TT: What does the idea of language’s formal qualities mean to you.
Words have meanings. When you say a word it evokes a personal and subjective idea in your head. Words also have a form, they’re abstract shapes. I think there’s this place where the meaning and the looks come together through typography
Language’s Formal Qualities
WM: Words have meanings. When you say a word it evokes a personal and subjective idea in your head. Words also have a form, they’re abstract shapes. I think there’s this place where the meaning and the looks come together through typography. And I think this is where the excitement happens; where the shape of the word informs what that word would sound like if it was spoken, or who is is saying it and in what context.
TT: It does. You’re speaking about the idea that communication has two layers to it.
There’s the meaning behind words and then there’s the visualization of those words. Your interest is in the interplay between the two and how to use that to affect meaning.
WM: Exactly.
TT: That brings us to my next point. You’re interested in when communication fails and then how can you create new ways to reach out and tell stories. What do you mean by that?
There is a lot of uncharted territory in visual exploration, form making and in developing of technologies that Arabic type designers could use.
Wael’s Exploration into Arabic Typography
WM: This was one of the ideas I was exploring while at RISD. In one of the projects I was interested in how a lower resolution screen distorts the letters in order to better render the word. The algorithms at play are then active agents in what the end user sees.
TT: How do those considerations affect your practice as an Arabic type designer?
WM: It encourages experimentation: to not only do what’s right but to also consider what’s possible. I’m interested in the idea of making type and using type. I like a back and forth between working on the micro level of the letterform and zooming out to consider the context in which it performs, whether it’s creating a poster, a brand or even just channeling an attitude.
TT: What were some things that maybe you didn’t expect in your learning process, things you didn’t know before you started that you’ve learned from practice and working in the field?
WM: I didn’t expect Arabic typography to be that rich yet so underdeveloped. There is not enough research done and there is a big lack in typeface selection. There is a lot of uncharted territory in visual exploration, form making and in developing of technologies that Arabic type designers could use. Even related to design literature around the subject; the challenge is to write engagingly about Arabic type design without reducing it to a set of tricks. But this is all due to the history of the script, which, the Latin, it still has not found its decisive typographic form.
TT: So what does that distinction mean to you? How do you resolve that tension related to making Arabic typefaces in a typographic sense?
I don’t think there’s one definitive way of answering what is Arabic typography.
Making Arabic Typefaces in a Typographic Sense
WM: The jump from the serifed black letters of Gutenberg to the geometric sans serif took time. There is around four hundred years between the invention of the printing press and the appearance of the first “grotesque” typefaces. I don’t think there’s one definitive way of answering what is Arabic typography. It’s about designing critical typefaces and giving them the time to be instilled in public imagination. What becomes popular, what manages to capture the essence of the script and the cultural landscape of the time is what will be retained many decades later.
TT: And for you that’s probably the best reward out of exploring this practice, exploring this area of thought, is contributing towards that, right?
WM: Absolutely. Because it’s new, it has a lot of potential and it addresses a lot of problems that we encounter with Arabic type today that calligraphy alone cannot. There’s a certain dignity that comes with calligraphy because it’s personal and emphatic. It’s still married to the hand, written, but not drawn. But there’s also a dynamic range of emotion that is left unexplored.
TT: This has been a great conversation. So great to have you here on TypeThursday.
WM: Thank you for having me!
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