Author: Pascal Zoghbi

When setting up to establish 29LT digital type foundry in 2013, Lebanese designer and educator Pascal Zoghbi aspired to explore the diversity and potential of the Arabic script. Zoghbi envisioned 29LT with a cross-cultural approach. Having evolved, studied and worked in a multicultural and largely bilingual environment, he embraced multilingualism. Coming into contact with more than one language in his everyday life, he has developed an exceptional ability to think global and to reflect the various technical, conventional, and cultural writing systems into his work. Accordingly, he has excelled in creating innovative, high-quality contemporary multiscript type families, each of which is unique in its design approach and responds to regional and international market needs. Staying true to his culture, he worked on turning traditional Arabic script into contemporary type. Always on the lookout for new ideas and harmony between scripts, he explores various tools and techniques and regularly partners with a team of professional designers specialized in specific scripts to create multiscript typography. Not only is he heavily involved in the practice of Arabic type design and typography, but he has also contributed to the field as an educator. Between 2007 and 2017, he taught at various design schools in Lebanon (American University of Beirut, Lebanese American University, and Notre Dame University) and in the UAE (American University of Sharjah). Besides lecturing at universities, he takes part in a range of design events worldwide and provides trainings and workshops on Arabic typography at universities, conferences, and agencies. Zoghbi has gained an international reputation for his work and has received throughout his professional career prestigious design awards and honors, such as TDC Typographic Excellence, Granshan, AIGA, and was nominated to Jameel Prize 3. His work encompasses an outstanding collection of contemporary Arabic and multilingual typefaces. He co-authored and edited the “Arabic Graffiti” book published in 2010. Zoghbi started his academic journey at Notre Dame University in Lebanon where he grew interest in Arabic typography. He further developed his type design skills at the Royal Academy of Art (KABK), the Netherlands, where he obtained in 2006 a Master of Design in Type & Media. In 2018, he relocated to Madrid where he is currently based. Since then, his interest in a vast number of Spanish historical and cultural topics, especially those that showcase the merging of Arabic and Spanish cultures, grew keener. 29LT expanded accordingly, shifting from supporting only Arabic and Latin scripts to a global multiscript approach tapping into other world scripts.

Advancing Arabic Fonts and the Ideal UI for Arabic Typography

Arabic typography has evolved from traditional calligraphy to modern digital fonts. This article highlights early printing challenges, key technological breakthroughs, and envisions future Arabic fonts supported by advanced layout engines and a dedicated Arabic-specific typography user interface (UI).

アイデア idea 411 Interview

アイデア idea 411 2025.10 Written Form & Letter Design: Decoding the Visual Culture of Arabic Calligraphy and Typography. A special feature dedicated to the Arabic script is divided into two parts: chapter 1, Calligraphy, which delves into the origins and aesthetics of Arabic calligraphy, and chapter 2, Typography, which explores its contemporary developments and printing techniques. When read together, these chapters unveil the lineage of the visual culture that the Arabic script has established.

29LT Idris: A Naskh Type System

29LT Idris is a modern typeface blending Arabic Naskh with Serif Latin features, available in Sharp and Flat versions, each offering five weights. Its design, inspired by historical influences, has been enhanced using advanced technology, ensuring improved legibility for both body text and display use, with a significant focus on Arabic calligraphic standards.

Variable Fonts: Varied & Flexible

The evolution of typography in digital media highlights the shift from static to dynamic type solutions, where variable fonts allow for flexibility and adaptability. 29LT’s multi-script variable fonts combine traditional calligraphic styles with modern functionality, enabling users to manipulate design spaces and enhance web performance, while providing various aesthetic and functional applications.

Diptyk Magazine Article

“Graphic designers have a huge need for new Arabic typefaces”.

At a Master Class held at ESAV, typographer Pascal Zoghbi recently advocated for a diversification of Arabic fonts as a means to accompany the profound societal transformations occurring in the MENA region.

29LT Ada: A Ruqʿah Type System

29LT Ada is a contemporary type design based on the Ruqʿah Arabic calligraphic style. It is a superfamily of Sharp, Flat, and Round typeface s, each in 6 weights, adding up to 18 styles. With all of its variants, Ada is the largest Ruqʿah-based type system to date. Challenging the boundaries of the style, it acts as a strong visual communication tool with different typographic voices.

29LT Publications: Topics

29LT publications are modern-day typographic prints that aim to showcase 29LT fonts within content that has been found, written, and based upon texts that explore distinctive themes. The subject matter present in each publication stems from specific research that reflects the concepts behind the design and development of the typefaces.

Multi-Script 29LT Fonts

29LT is progressing from a bi-script Arabic and Latin digital type industry into a multi-script fonts entity. The global market we live in and the continuous integration of different cultures is demanding the need for multi-script type systems.

First additions are the Cyrillic and Greek scripts to 29LT Zarid Sans typeface making it cover four scripts; the Arabic, Cyrillic, Greek, and Latin scripts.

29LT ZARID Text: A legible and Lucid Typeface

29LT Zarid Text displays advanced but softer features. Improved legibility in small point size and habitual appearance are its key characteristics. More calligraphy-influenced with a greater variation in line width, it does offer improved legibility and clearer interlinear space. The range of weights also provides suitable typographic hierarchical solutions in bi-script Arabic and Latin layouts. This reader-friendly typeface is quite useful for diverse long running texts, such as magazines and books, and it works well with both digital and print applications. Its fashionable feel makes it aesthetically functional in display typographic setting too.

29LT AZER: A Serious and Amicable Font

29LT Azer is approachable without being sloppy, serious but not conformist. The typeface fuses charm, simplicity, and consideration. The Arabic and the Latin mirror each other’s appearances much like fraternal twins with compatible attitudes. Azer Latin is earnest and sincere whereas Azer Arabic is direct and austere. The various weights make this typeface suitable for refined copy-text as well as chunky titles and in-text emphasis.

29LT AZAL: A Free Geometric Display Font

Azal – which means old in Arabic – is a blast from the past that looks impactful in the present. It has both the flair of old eastern Kufic manuscripts and the modern-day touch, making it a clear and boisterous display font.

29LT BUKRA: A Versatile Multilingual Type System

With its modern simplistic arrangement in all of its weight variations, 29LT Bukra is go-to typeface for corporate strong headlines and slogans as well as branding applications. The font’s clean and polished outlines allow for powerful corporate identities, while the typeface’s crisp structure portrays bold and memorable messages. It is a type family with endless visuals representations allowing it to be used in an infinite number of graphical applications. Bukra is mainly a display typeface but the lighter styles can be also used for short body texts.

29LT BASEET: A Dynamic and Energetic Type Systems

29LT Baseet is driven by the idea that less is more. The design elements are pared down to the essential. The fonts were designed within a simplified Arabic character set and a monospaced Latin design, along with rounded terminals, enhancing the script’s simplicity and friendly appeal. All of these qualities make Baseet suitable for a diverse range of projects, from fun and urban to serious and corporate ones.

29LT UA NEO: A Detached Arabic Type System

29LT UA Neo B and N are a tribute to Nasri Khattar’s pioneering work and a statement on the growing importance and power of contemporary Arabic typography. They are an invitation to explore the fascinating potential of UA fonts, especially when it comes to modernizing Arabic, Urdu, Farsi, or any other language using the Arabic alphabet.

29LT MASSIRA: An Inspirational Type Project

The fluent and smooth curves of Massira Pen make it suitable to give a vibrant punch to publications like comics, whereas the rough and grungy feel of Spray, Lipstick and TippEx styles makes them appropriate to add an urban or revolutionary edge to unconventional projects.