The Dubai Fontis Microsoft’s first font to be created by a city and named after it.The font was designed by Dr. Nadine Chahine, type director and legibility expert at global agency Monotype and team. It was developed as a font with unique specifications that aims to encourage self-expression and reading. Created from scratch, the Dubai Font fills a design gap between Arabic and Latin texts and presents harmonious typefaces combining the two scripts seamlessly.
“The openness and harmony of the people in the UAE, the essence of Dubai and its vision to become the quintessential modern Arab city were our source of inspiration to design the Dubai Font,”said Dr. Nadine. “The challenge wasn’t to create a quality font but to create a new and a special medium of expression to unleash ambitions and transcend borders.”
His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoumhas officially directed government institutions in the Emirate of Dubai to adopt the font in government correspondences, saying: “The launch of the Dubai Font to the world is a very important step for us as part of our continuous efforts to be ranked first in the digital world. We are confident that this new font and its unique specifications will prove popular among other fonts used online and in smart technologies across the world. Therefore, we urge all government entities to use the Dubai Font in their official correspondence, which is considered as a positive shift that will boost the emirate’s competitiveness in smart technology. This should be a commitment from the Dubai Government to guarantee the dissemination and success of this initiative on a local and global level.”
His Excellency added: “The ‘Dubai Font’ sets itself apart from other fonts because it was designed based on the main pillars that have turned Dubai into a remarkable symbol of success and tolerance. It was simultaneously designed in both Arabic and English, which was later extended to include 21 other languages. It reflects the commitment of The General Secretariat of the Executive Council of Dubai in executing the directives of our wise leadership, as well as achieving its strategy to encourage the use of technology in reaffirming Dubai’s global stature, and asserting its influential role in serving governments and the community across all levels.”
Samer Abu Ltaif,president of Microsoft in the Middle East and Africa said: “Complementing the city’s efforts to adopt more designs and technology on a global level, we are happy to confirm that the ‘Dubai Font’ will be available globally to over 100 million users around the world through Office 365. The debut of this font is a great example of successful collaborations between the public and private sectors to encourage reading and adopt more technical solutions to serve the communities. This reinforces the vision of Dubai, which aims to become one of the most inclusive cities, as well as Microsoft’s vision to provide better fonts to the world that are accessible to everyone.”
