Press Release
WinSoft International is delighted to announce the ten winning designs in the WinSoft Arabic Typography Contest. The results were announced by Kamel Gaddas, WinSoft International CEO in a ceremony held at the Adobe Beach Bash today in Dubai.
The WinSoft Arabic Typography Contest invited contestants to illustrate, in text, their vision of a world where a dialogue between cultures is both natural and enriching. The theme of the contest was collaboration and communication, two fundamental values for WinSoft International as well as UNESCO’s theme for 2010, the Rapprochement Between Cultures.
The Winners
First place was awarded to Dareen and Habib Khoury for their work “World Cultures Interaction”. They described the design as “The word Rapprochement in 27 different languages … With image of several hands in a circular movement that symbolizes the interaction between world cultures and nations which also depicts the desire to live peaceful coexistence. The texts over elaborate the truth behind a mutual respect for human dignity and the protection of morals, as an entrance to the dialogue and interaction between civilizations.”
Second place was awarded to Farhan Naseer for his piece titled “Love for All, Hatred for None”, described as using “a Sakun/Jazm as a symbol to represent coming together, as this is what this symbol does in writing, it joins letters.”
Third place was awarded to Samar Maakaron for her design “The Corniche Series 02”. She said about her work: “In this poster, I attempt to explain the Arabic expressions (…), the contexts in which they reside, and how they nuance the basis differences between East and West.”
Fourth place was awarded to Soraya Syed for her design “Letters Embracing”. Of this design she wrote: “The letter ‘waws’ in their reflective form have been used in the past by the Ottoman-Turks… Visually, their… forms lend themselves to be personified as two individuals in a loving embrace, at that point the two letters become one.”
Fifth place was awarded to Med Amine Tahour and Mohamed El Mahdi Ait Lmoddan for their design “Origins : Ossouls”. This design was conceived as part of a school project for ESAV Marrakech. “Our concept is to create a metaphor between cultures and rapprochement of the tree knowing that it can contain multiple sheets of various shapes and sizes, but all from the same origin.”
Sixth place was awarded to Samar Maakaron for her design “Corniche series 01”. “I am hoping that by highlighting these (Arabic) expressions, I am bringing a portion of Arab reality, and exposing its workings, its complexity and its beauty.”
Seventh place was awarded to Soraya Syed for her design “Union”. “The letter ‘jeem’ is repeated four times around a shared dot creating a geometric pattern. Persian nastaliq, Arabic poetry, Turkish illumination and finally English inspired ideas come together to bring this piece into fruition.”
Eighth place was awarded to Zahra Ezzeddine for her design “The Fabric of Peace”. “The caterpillar has dressed the world…clothes that have been imprinted with the colors of peace.”
Ninth place was awarded to Thamara Tarek for her design “Human Unity – Humanity”. “This work is a typographic design of three key aspects of human unity. Love, Brotherhood, Mercy bind humanity together and bring us closer to one another.”
Tenth place was awarded to Soraya Syed for her design “Kufic Labyrinth”. “…Just as the past informs the present, art evolves from the continuous relationship and interaction between people, cultures and civilisations.”
The contest was judged by a five member jury made up of:
– Nadine Chahine, an award winning Lebanese type designer with a special interest in Arabic typography, and Arabic specialist for Linotype.
– Joe Karkour, Regional Business Development Manager for Creative Products for Adobe Systems Middle East Offices in Dubai.
– Aref Hijjawi, Director of Programmes at Al Jazeera.
– George Kandalaft, journalist
– Zaid Al Hilali, Adobe Certified Expert and Instructor (ACE, ACI) at Grapheast.
The jury used three criteria when judging the designs: creativity, typographic skill and the overall impact of the piece.
46 participants of 18 different nationalities submitted 73 designs. The participants came from all around the world including:
– 14 participants from the Middle East
– 13 participants from Europe
– 12 participants from North Africa
The jury’s decision counted for 60% of the final score, but the other 40% was decided by a public vote on the WinSoft International website. More than 2,400 votes were recorded during the two week public voting period.
The total prizes package was valued at more than $16,400. First place was a copy of Adobe InDesign CS5 Middle Eastern version, a copy of Tasmeem 5 and sixteen Arabic Tasmeem fonts. Second and third place winners each won a copy of Adobe InDesign CS5 Middle Eastern version, a copy of Tasmeem 5 and five Arabic Tasmeem fonts. Fourth to tenth place winners were awarded a copy of Tasmeem 5 and the Emiri Tasmeem font.
All 73 works accepted into the contest may be seen on the WinSoft International website: www.winsoft-international.com/contest.
This article was last modified on January 18, 2023
This article was first published on May 17, 2010
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