TypeCal Symposium brings together students, artists, academics, entrepreneurs and industry professionals to present topics in typography, design, calligraphy, current innovations in the field, and areas for development.
A series of educational and inspiring talks revolve around the topic of “Parallels” as it pertains to typography and calligraphy. This is in conjunction with technical and experimental workshops led by nationally and internationally renowned typographers, calligraphers, and scholars.
The goal is to build and foster dialog, innovation, and synergy through this regional and global platform by enabling access to these experiences that will take calligraphy and type design to the next level.
Parallel
/ˈparəlɛl/
adjective
(of lines, planes, or surfaces) side by side and having the same distance continuously between them
occurring or existing at the same time or in a similar way; corresponding
TypeCal 2021’s theme of Parallels evokes all of the above. The physical construction of typography, built upon grids of parallel lines, as well as the corresponding practice of typography and calligraphy across the world.
This symposium is a melting pot of cultures and experiences, with speakers from all over the world coming to share a common interest but each in their own way and form of expression.
Font Used
TypeCal being a symposium held in Kuwait, we knew we wanted to incorporate our identity.. into our identity. For us, that meant using an Arabic font, designed by an Arabic typographer, as the foundation for our design. We felt Kaleem, designed by Mostafa El Abasiry in 2015, was a perfect fit. Its verticality, and crisp parallel lines facilitate the development of typographic grids, which perfectly aligns with our theme.
Arabic to English
As you now know, Kaleem is an Arabic font, and our symposium is held in English. So an important part of our design was to make it bilingual. We achieved this by taking existing letters from the font and making adjustments to them
