Abstract
Movies are a way of communication and it is used for connecting cultures for sending global messages. Subtitles are one of the most common ways to make a movie be understood globally. Arabic is the second most used script from the number of countries, and the third by the number of speaking people over the world. However, there are few good Arabic typefaces and even fewer that work well on digital screens. Making a typeface for subtitles is more challenging than making a typeface for any digital screen because it is not easy for the eye to follow the subtitles as quickly as the characters talk while watching a moving image behind it. Subtitles are important when you do not understand the movie language. Also, it is a core thing for the deaf to be able to watch any movie. Subtitles intend to help you understand the movie, but it can distract the user from watching the movie itself, due to the font and how it is displayed.
Arabic subtitles are an essential thing for the video-on-demand platform ‘Shahid’, as it targets Arabic native speakers and has a lot of non-Arabic content.
The typeface used needs to be simple, legible, fitting to the platform content and values, and easy for the eye to follow. To do that, screen resolution, legibility, eye movement, font display, and what people are used to reading, should be well researched and considered in order to make an Arabic typeface for Shahid’s subtitles.
Research Question
How to create an Arabic typeface for subtitles, for the VOD platform ‘Shahid.mbc.net’ to enhance the user experience?
Design Concept
Based on the research results, designing a new typeface for Shahid’s Arabic subtitles will improve the user experience and will make people watch more foreign content on it, not just Arabic ones. This project is to design a new Arabic typeface with a regular weight that functions well for subtitles and suits Shahid’s identity
Using Nadien Chahien’s questions from ‘A Type Design Brief: What is in it, And Why Does it Matter?’ as a guide for the design concept in which the intended function for this design is for Shahid’s Arabic subtitles will be seen on glowing digital screens such as televisions, laptops, tablets, and cellphones. It mainly targets Mideastern countries, which are Arabic native speakers. It conveys Shahid’s personality in which Shahid is a young male, with a smart casual relaxed look, soft confident voice, and friendly conservative personality. The design is based on Naskh calligraphy style. With some needed characteristics to function for subtitles as it needs to be simple, clear, legible, easy for the eye to follow, and fast to be read. Based on the research, the kerning should give letters space to breathe and do not be too wide so the eye won’t lose concentration, will have open reasonable counterforms, considering that a stroke will be added to it, and to increase the legibility level.
