| Author(s) | M.H. Al-Ibrahim |
| Affiliation | College o f A r c h i t e c t u r e a n d P l a n n i n g , K i n g S a u d U n i v e r s i t y , R i y a d h , S a u d i A r a b i a |
| Title | Developing Standards for Arabic Caligraphy in |
| Source | Journal of King Saud University. Architecture & Planning. Volume 3, No 1. (1991/1411) |
| Abstract | Until few years ago, highway signs in most Arab countries, including Saudi Arabia, were written manually by calligraphers without conforming to any standards in terms of writing style or size of letters. In the late 1970’s the Ministry of Transportation sought to standardize the writing of Arabic signs. In doing so, the Ministry came up with a geometric writing style, made up of horizontal and vertical lines only, which can be easily drawn and replicated. After applying this style to highway signs it became apparent that it is difficult to read for most road users. Hence it was necessary to develop standards for Arabic lettering that can be read easily. This article discusses the research done to develop such standards. It started by finding out, through surveys, which writing style was most preferred by people. The results showed that N&/t was the most popular style. The next step was developing standards for letter shapes. Then, surveys were used to find out the stroke thickness most preferred by people. The standards included also the spacing between letters. The resulting standards have already been adapted by the Ministry and have been applied in recent road signs. |
