Project description
Best practices in Arabic typography
The period between 1840 and 1910 is considered an apogee in Arabic typography as Middle Eastern printers successfully adopted Western typesetting technology. This initiated the Arabic print culture. The EU-funded TypoArabic project will perform multidisciplinary research to unveil best practices in Arabic typography. The project will apply high-resolution imaging tools and digital reconstruction techniques to analyse Arabic design for reading, conventions of diverse textual styles, and micro-typographic considerations of legibility and craft conserved in archival sources of major research libraries. TypoArabic will engage professionals, higher education and the IT industry, involve end users in the research results, and publish a guide to Arabic typography with information on historical precedents.
Objective
The proposed, multi-disciplinary research will reveal best practice in Arabic typography, filling a current knowledge gap, and will culminate in publication of a guide to Arabic typography which draws on historical precedent. The researcher will investigate best practice from the 1840s to the 1910s, an era which represents a high point in Arabic typography, which was subsequently obscured by mechanisation. In this key period, Middle Eastern printers, versed in the customs of a sophisticated manuscript culture successfully adopted Western typesetting technology to give birth to Arabic print culture. Using archival sources, found in major research libraries and collections, the researcher will investigate printed items for their materiality, strategies in the structuring of information, and patterns of typographic design. High-resolution imaging tools and digital reconstruction techniques will be used to analyse specificities of Arabic design for reading, conventions of different textual genres, and micro-typographic considerations relating to legibility and craft. From this basis of historical research, and scientific excellence, the researcher will apply a practitioner’s lens, extending new knowledge beyond academic discourse. Through the engagement of professional peers, higher education, and the IT industry, he will involve potential end users of the research findings, and initiate a two-way exchange of knowledge. The project will contribute substantially to: an evolving typographic practice that currently lacks a discursive component; design course curricula worldwide; and to advancing Arabic text composition on digital devices. It will use diverse communication channels – the guide directed at peers and students; journal articles that contribute to academic discourse; conference presentations targeting industry; a blog and social media activities that reach out to the wider public – to engage a multitude of potential users and maximise this project’s reach.
Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
-
H2020-EU.1.3. - EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions
MAIN PROGRAMME
See all projects funded under this programme -
H2020-EU.1.3.2. - Nurturing excellence by means of cross-border and cross-sector mobility
See all projects funded under this programme
Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
MSCA-IF - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF)
See all projects funded under this funding scheme
Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) H2020-MSCA-IF-2018
See all projects funded under this callCoordinator
Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
RG6 6AH Reading
United Kingdom
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.