Dubai: Giant letters highlighting the ‘Dubai Font’ initiative have been put up across the city with the objective of encouraging reading, writing and self-expression.
This unique initiative serves as a reminder of the core values that characterisee the city of Dubai: happiness, giving, respect, tolerance, modernity, smartness and living in harmony. These letter figures are found on Shaikh Zayed Road, Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Boulevard, Dubai Mall and Kite Beach among other key roads and main streets in Dubai. Reflecting the unique design of the font and blending 23 different languages in harmony, this initiative has been launched in celebration of the recent unveiling of the ‘Dubai Font’ by His Highness Shaikh Hamdan Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, under the slogan ‘Express You’.
“The ‘Dubai Font’ is not only a digital medium for expression and reading, it is also a means of communication combining the ancient and honorable past of the Emirates to its modern present and the aspirations of its brilliant future,” said assistant secretary general for the Executive Council and General Secretariat Affairs Sector of Dubai, and project director of ‘Dubai Font’, Engineer Ahmad Al Mahri.
He added: “The ‘Dubai Font’ with the use of its different letters will allow individuals from all over the world to express themselves and their opinions in their mother tongue and we aim through this initiative to convey a message from our dear nation to the world. This is what we have materialised through ‘Dubai Font’ — a gift from Dubai to the world.”
Al Mahri added: “The objective of this initiative is to set a digital footprint for the Emirate in the midst of the rapid development of the digital world and various other fields. It is therefore necessary for us to contribute by offering new and innovative aspects to embrace technology and present it to individuals in a way that gives them pride and happiness, thus empowering them to express themselves fully.”
The ‘Dubai Font’ is the first font created by and named after a city, developed in collaboration with Microsoft in line with the UAE’s vision to become a regional and global leader in innovation, and in support of the efforts deployed to reinforce the role played by the Emirate and setting its footprint in the digital world.
The ‘Dubai Font’ was developed as per the highest and most cutting-edge technological standards, whereby it is not only a digital typeface used for writing, but also a form of communication allowing people around the world to express their personalities and feelings in an ever-evolving digital world. It is important to note that the high technical quality of the font fills an important need for high-quality Arabic typefaces as part of the Office 365 program by Microsoft.
The ‘Dubai Font’ was developed with unique specifications that aim 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.
