Tarek Atrissi

Beirut born Tarek Atrissi is principal of Tarek Atrissi Design, a design studio based in the Netherlands and focused on creating a modern Arabic graphic & typographic design. Tarek Atrissi holds a BA in Graphic Design from the American University of Beirut; a Masters of Arts in Interactive Multimedia from the Utrecht School of the Arts in Holland and an MFA in Design from the School of Visual Arts in New York. His awards include the Type Directors Club, two Adobe Design Achievement awards, and the New York Aquent Design award. Print Magazine selected him for Twenty under Thirty, the international review for the most achieved Visual artists below the age of 30. He is the founder of www.arabictypography.com, and is a frequent guest speaker at various international design seminars and universities.

Arabic Typography and Visual Identities

With the first generation of Arabic graphic designers widely spread across the Arab world, so, too, the first generation of Arabic type designers is following. The presentation will focus on the issues of Arabic type and calligraphy from the Arab graphic designer's point of view. In order to create letter-forms appropriate to the daily graphic design practice, and in the absence of a varied Arabic font palette, some are serving the dual role of both type and graphic designer. The risks and advantages of this role will be discussed, as well as the challenges of creating solid graphic and typographic design under such limitations. Alternatively, one can use the rich Arabic calligraphic tradition or the surrounding typographic landscape of the Arab world.

The presentation will discuss the development and use of Arabic typography in visual identities, the rise of awareness, and the demand for custom-designed Arabic typefaces. Examples will focus on custom typefaces designed for elaborate identities - either for print, computer screen or TV/broadcast usage.