Abstract/Summary

This essay considers key issues for designing non-Latin typefaces based on a design methodology practiced by the author that advocates research-based practice in the field of type design and font production. It discusses how many-faceted contextual influences, particularly of earlier type-making and typesetting conventions, have determined the evolution of type-forms in what have been described as complex writing systems. It argues that an understanding of past practices that influenced design decisions concerning essential aspects – such as character sets, typeface dimensions, type-form fitting, styling and stroke modulation – are crucial to informing current practice. It proposes that a critical evaluation of enduring typographic legacies concomitant with the use of the latest type-making technologies can offer improved typographic solutions for communicating in diverse scripts. While this amply illustrated essay focuses on Indian and Arabic scripts, most of the issues addressed are pertinent to other writing systems and to multi-script typography.