“Expression is the way individuals share their thoughts, ideas and emotions. Writing is a way of expressing oneself and Dubai has given the world a new tool to communicate. Designed to unite the world through the power of expression”. This is how the new typography -launched by the Government of Dubai and Microsoft- presents itself while reflecting the heritage and culture of the country.
Dubai, considered as the most liberal of the seven United Arab Emirates, has made an inversion to change its image and has launched with Microsoft 365 a new typography name after this city. This is the first typography created by Microsoft to represent a city and also this is the first city to have its own typography. As well, this is the first free available font to be used both privately and commercially.
‘Dubai’ is more than a font. It has the objective of promoting alphabetization, unity and advanced thinking bounded to tradition. It will be available in 23 different languages and has been developed simultaneously in Latin and Arab characters. Also, it will be available to everybody; more than 100 million Microsoft customers can use it.
This font reflects the modernity of the city. It was created to generate harmony among the Latin and Arab languages. It celebrates the union of heritage and innovation giving the world access to a new kind of high quality and gratuitous typography. It is the first time a typography is specifically created for a city and also integrated to the Microsoft package.
The crown prince of Dubai, Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al-Maktoum, has already asked all Government institutions to use this typography when writing any official document of United Arab Emirates. He also says this is a typography that “symbolizes the liberty of the country”, and he stated this in Twitter with the hashtag #ExpressYou.
This typography was commissioned by the Government of Dubai and its design was carried out by Nadie Chahine, lettering and Arab legibility expert, along with her design team. The result is a font that reflects the heritage and culture of the Emirates and definitely the great economic power the city of Dubai has.
