Apparently not content with having the world's tallest building, an indoor ski slope, an underwater zoo, and countless other baubles, Dubai now boasts one more: its own typographic font.
A typographic font is the design of printed type. Each of the parts of a printed letter contains changes depending on the font. Loop, serif, tail, bowl—these are a few of the underlying structures of printed letters. The way a font treats these and other structures creates differences among fonts.
Dubai, the forward-looking Mideast business hub, unveiled its new font—called simply “Dubai”—this week. The country’s government communication office says the Dubai Font integrates Arabic and Latin alphabets and is available for use in 23 languages.
Designers at Microsoft helped create the new font. But Dubai Crown Prince Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum (whew, what a name!) announced that he had “personally overseen all the stages of the development of this font.” He ordered government bodies to begin using the new font in all official correspondence.
The United Arab Emirates' largest city champions technology and innovation. The country is looking to expand its economy beyond a traditional focus on energy, trade, transportation, and tourism. It will host the World Expo in 2020.
Let’s look for the official signage to be written in (you guessed it) Dubai Font.
(Photo: Dubai, a hub for entrepreneurs; AP)
