For this second Khatt Foundation Type Design workshop at Tashkeel the proposed program will cover the complex process of Arabic typeface design, from the creative inception phase, to drawing the letterforms, to learning font authoring tools and producing a digital Arabic font.
Curator and workshop coordinator: Huda Smitshuijzen AbiFares, Khatt Foundation
Workshop leaders and lecturers: Wissam Shawkat, Majid Alyousef, Lara Assouad Khoury, Pascal Zoghbi, Khajag Apelian, Yara Khoury, Kristyan Sarkis, Huda Smitshuijzen AbiFarès.
The Khatt Foundation Type Design Workshop 2012 will consist of a series of 5 3-day workshops that break down the process of type design into 5 stages. Each workshop is conducted by one or two renown specialists from calligraphers to renown Arab type designers. Each workshop will kick off with a public lecture on the first evening of the workshop.
W1—Workshop on Arabic calligraphy
Majid Alyousef & Lara Assouad-Khoury
Date: 6—8 November 2012
Timings: 10 – 12 am & 1 – 5 pm
This first workshop will be a practical exercises on Arabic calligraphy and the rules and structure of some of the main Arabic calligraphic styles: Naskh & Kufic
W2—Workshop Arabic lettering
Lara Assouad-Khoury & Majid Alyousef
Date: 9—11 November 2012
Timings: 10 – 12 am & 1 – 5 pm
This second workshop will take the design process to the second step, will focus on translating the calligraphic exercises into lettering, and digitally drawn letterforms in Adobe Illustrator and FontLab.
W.3—Workshop on Type Design 1
Yara Khoury & Kristyan Sarkis
Date: 12—14 November 2012
Timings: 10 – 12 am & 1 – 5 pm
This third workshop carries on from the second workshop, will focus on working in FontLab, improving the letterforms, learning how to kern and properly space and refine the font.
W.4 —Workshop on Type Design 2
Pascal Zoghbi & Khajag Apelian
Date: 19—21 November 2012
Timings: 10 – 12 am & 1 – 5 pm
This fourth workshop carries on from the third workshop, will focus on finalizing the font and generating an OpenType typeface with all its intricacies and necessary programming.
W.5 —Workshop on Typography
Huda Smitshuijzen-AbiFarès & Lara Assouad-Khoury
Date: 22—24 November 2012
Timings: 10 – 12 am & 1 – 5 pm
This fifth and last workshop, will put the fonts to the test. Using the format of the artist/process book, the fonts and the design process will be presented. The fonts will be used to create sample specimen sheets, objects and a book.
A book and exhibition will be produced after the workshop, documenting the work produced.
There are 4 alternative tracks that are possible to follow, to accommodate those that cannot follow the whole workshop series:
1. Track 1: Arabic Lettering track consisting of:
—W1–Arabic calligraphy (6—8 November 2012)
—W2–Arabic lettering (9—11 November 2012)
2. Track 2: Arabic Type Design track consisting of:
—W1–Arabic calligraphy (6—8 November 2012)
—W2–Arabic lettering (9—11 November 2012)
—W3–Type Design 1 (12—14 November 2012)
—W4–Type Design 2 (19—21 November 2012)
3. Track 3: Arabic Typography track consisting of:
W5. Typography objectified (22—24 November 2012)
4. Track 4: The full workshop series consisting of W1, W2, W3, W4 & W5
Ideally participants will opt for Track 4 and taking the whole set of classes
