Hirbod Lotfian For centuries, Arabic calligraphy has embraced a diversity of writing styles, each with its own rhythm, form, and cultural function. Manuscripts often employed more than one style simultaneously: a formal script for the main body of text, paired with a looser, cursive hand for annotation or commentary. These combinations worked much like the relationship between upright and italic in Latin typography—providing a secondary voice that introduced hierarchy, nuance, and contrast.Yet, when Arabic script entered the world of movable type and later digital technologies, these layered practices were reduced or overlooked. The demand for simplified character sets and reliance on Latin models, such as slanted “italic” designs, left little space for culturally rooted approaches to secondary styles.
This talk revisits Arabic manuscript traditions to reimagine how secondary styles can function in contemporary typography. By drawing from historical models such as Ruqʿa, Shekasteh, and other cursive hands, and by leveraging the possibilities of variable fonts and advanced digital tools, new opportunities emerge to create typographic systems that feel both authentic and forward-looking.The aim is to challenge inherited assumptions, expand typographic expression, and reaffirm the Arabic script’s capacity for plurality in modern design.