MIRZA
Perso-Arabic Nastaʿlīq Typeface
"Mirza" is a contemporary Nastaʿlīq typeface based on the hand of Mirza Gholam-Reza Esfahani, one of the most celebrated Persian calligraphers of the 19th century. This typeface is the result of an extensive study of the best specimens of Mirza Gholam-Reza's work during the last decade of his life. "Mirza" is a display typeface that fully supports Arabic, Persian, and Urdu languages. The Nastaʿlīq figures in this typeface were designed based on the traditional models seen in Qajar seals.
The Bold weight, or 'Jali' (meaning intricate or ornate), of the "Mirza" typeface was designed as a solution for writing texts in large sizes. Although letterforms in "Mirza Jali" are drawn based on the regular weight, some details have been modified to avoid visual inconsistencies.
“Even at its core, Mirza embraces a mix of history and the poetic. Mirza Gholam-Reza Esfahani’s calligraphic hand and the deliberate construction of each letterform is reflected in letters which, in any given word, seem as though they were never separate, but always sharing the same spine. Mirza never feels typed; instead, it represents a calligraphic tradition, and presents as hand-drawn: it imagines the future while remembering the past.”
Comments by Sahar Afshar, typeface design judge of TDC competition
