Barnbrook Bible cover -
Barnbrook Bible, book cover
"Jonathan Barnbrook’s new book, Barnbrook Bible, ranks amongst the most ambitious personal projects undertaken by any graphic designer. It is a 330-page monograph bursting with dazzling refinement. Throughout the entire book there isn’t a clumsy or unrefined typographic gesture — not a line that hasn’t been weighted to perfection. The effect is like being in a Parisian patisserie — everywhere you turn there are mouth-watering options." — quoted from the Design Observer.
Barnbrook Bible, sample spread
Now if that isn't praise to highest level then I don't know what is.
What caught my attention though is that the cover has a very nicely hidden translation of the title in Arabic at the top right-hand corner, and it looks like the road signs commonly used in most Arab countries....
It is interesting that the 'enfant terrible' designer, who liked during his career to shake up things in typographic design. Questioning aesthetic values and design approaches, he constantly designed and redesigned Latin alphabets to prove his case, and yet when it came to using Arabic text - like on the cover of his recent book - all his experimental spirit seems to have evaporated. He just goes with the flow and like most Arabs chooses the most conservative script.
I am confident that had he been aware of the recent developments in Arabic type design, his pick of Arabic font for his book cover would have been quite different. I am sure if Jonathan can see our newly developed Khatt set of Arabic fonts, his mouth would be indeed watering and he would've liked to use them for his cover.
Maybe for his next book.
Read more about this book and article at the Design Observer site
Barnbrook Bible
I do not necessarily agree. His mouth might water but I wouldn't change his original choice.
I beleive that if it was up to him the 'enfant terrible' would probably design his own font or create an adaptation of an existing one but as he does not have the necessary tools to do this it is more modest of him to use an exisitng arabic font. Concerning his selection, if he was to choose one of the khatt fonts or create an adaptation, I think the fact that those are initially based on Latin fonts would not work to his advantage - it would blend in too smoothly and completely kill what he has achieved with this. I love the way the arabic title is so striking.
I think the font might be AXT Advertising or Manal which are used in road signs, newspapers...(body text - titles - subtitles...). I am not sure which font it is but the point is it does not really matter. It is generic and very available to all. It is not 'designed' and that is why it stands out on the page. This 'passe partout' font, disregarding how well it works or not in other contexts, serves its purpose well in this case...on this note it seems purposely ironic to use it on a bible especially when one thinks of the content of Jonathan Barnbrooks work.