Type involves story; it carefully rests in the connection between nostalgia, culture, aesthetics, history, and technology. It has the ability to communicate powerful emotions, influence opinions, and convey strong sentiments to a specific audience. This talk takes a closer look at inventive uses of Arabic letterforms as sources of inspiration, and proceeds to demonstrate methods of reproducing type from such sources.
Sahar Afshar is a type designer and researcher from Iran. Her interest in typography during her years as a student at the University of Tehran led her to the University of Reading, from which she holds an MA by Research in Typography & Graphic Communication. She is currently based in London, where she works as a font developer at Dalton Maag Ltd, and undertakes research as part of her PhD on the print history of the Punjab region. Finally, as a member of the Centre for Print History and Culture, she helps to manage events and publications with a focus on the printing of various writing systems of the world.