Tipografía árabe. La escritura como dibujo, la palabra como imagen

Abstract

[EN] Unlike Western writing, in Arabic calligraphy the im-age of the written word has priority over the drawing of the individual letter, hence its evocative power is in the force of the calligraphic image that issues from the ensemble, reinforced by including ornamental images. It is a quality with which many contemporary design-ers have been able to approach modernity. On the other hand, the peculiarities of Arabic writing, besides con-textual causes such as religious ones, have made it dif-ficult to translate into typographic characters without succumbing to a “latinising” of its forms. For that rea-son the current renaissance in design of Arabic fonts must be approached from the understanding of the cal-ligraphic origins and their cultural transcendence