Marlik
Hot-metal typesetting is history, but the ‘simplified’ Arabic genre it spawned remains popular to this day when a pared-down, modernist look is called for. Borna Izadpanah created Marlik (Mārlīk) to provide this modern aesthetic with a topflight reading experience. Marlik is versed in the calligraphic tradition as well as the flexibility and potential of the digital world. It provides for the needs of modern designers, both aesthetically and in utility. Simplified Arabic was invented to cope with the constraints and costs of hot-metal, cutting back on contextual letterforms and ligatures. But the results were inconsistent and marred by compromise: a stiff, flat bottom line, illegible letter combinations, and awkward connections. Izadpanah and art director Fiona Ross have re-envisioned the genre with Marlik, a typeface that echoes the straightforward modernism of simplified Arabic forms, but restores the conventional Arabic proportions so essential to a good reading experience. Gone are the dull constructions and unrefined compositions, replaced by an up-to-date design that puts the streamlined aesthetic first and leaves compromise behind. Marlik excels wherever readers desire a contemporary look, from newspapers to branding, posters to packaging. The elegant Thin and robust Black shine in headlines and posters. Marlik is simple, but not oversimplified.
Published by Rosetta
- Classification
- serif
- Weights
- Thin, Extralight, Light, Regular, Medium, Semibold, Bold, Extrabold, Black
- Variable font
- Yes