the ruq’ah style and it’s role in arabic...

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Gunnar Vilhjálmsson Senior Type DesignerMonotype

The Ruq’ah style and it’s role in Arabic typography

15 October 2013 Abstract submission for Typography Day 2014, Symbiosis Institute of Design, Pune

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The Ruq’ah style and it’s role in Arabic typography

Category

Keywords

Title

Concerns in Typography and Culture (Academic Research/Presentations)

Ruq’ah, Nasta’liq, Diwani, Arabic typography, Arabic type design, History of Arabic typography, Fonts, Calligraphy, Lettering

Abstract

Author

Ruq’ah is a handwriting and calligraphy style used to write the Arabic script and is extremely widespread throughout the Arab world.

This talk aims to give a brief introduction to the origin and application of the Ruq’ah style, with focus on typography. It reveals how Ruq’ah developed in the hands of Ottoman authorities as one of the official handwriting systems during the height of the Empire’s bureaucracy and why it spread over the Arab world to become the most common handwriting. Furthermore, it examines peculiarities of the style: Simplification of strokes, relation to baseline and word structure. It compares typefaces made in the style since nineteenth century, from metal characters to modern day digital software as well as the obstacles encountered when designing a Ruq’ah typeface, even with the most state-of-the-art technology.

At the time it was first translated into a typeface, in late nineteenth century Ottoman Empire, Ruq’ah could be found in the majority of books published, with various kinds of typographical applications. This is not true today. Ruq’ah is still a widespread and popular writing style but there are only a few typefaces available. This study tries to shed light on the reasons why.

Gunnar VilhjálmssonSenior Type DesignerMonotypeLondon, UK

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Writing manual by Mehmed Izzet Efendi (1841-1904), who canonized the Ruq’ah style

Detail of an Imperial document, from the Ottoman chanchery, written in Ruq’ah style. Courtesy of Ottoman archives, Istanbul

The Ruq’ah style and it’s role in Arabic typography

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Cold metal Ruq’ah type, two sizes, one for sub-headlines and other for body text, from a book printed in Istanbul early 20th century

The Ruq’ah style and it’s role in Arabic typography

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Linotype Ruq’ah , released in 1988, was made for CRTronic computer driven photocomposition

A selection of pen strokes serving as the building blocks of Decotype Ruq’ah, 1985

The Ruq’ah style and it’s role in Arabic typography

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Ruq’ah lettering on a film poster (far left). Cinema facade in Cairo, May 2012

Ruq’ah logotype for RC Cola, a treasure found in Beirut

The Ruq’ah style and it’s role in Arabic typography

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Thank you

Please contact Gunnar Vilhjálmsson

gunnar.vilhjalmsson@monotype.com

+44 7584 304732

Monotype56-58 Clerkenwell RoadLondonEC1M 5PXUK

The Ruq’ah style and it’s role in Arabic typography