Microsoft launches new Arabic font in partnership with The Executive Council of Dubai

Microsoft is today launching a new free typeface. The company is partnering with The Executive Council of Dubai for the new Arabic font, simply called the “Dubai” font. The Dubai font will ship with Microsoft’s Office apps, and it’s apparently the first font to ship with Office where both Arabic and Latin were designed at the same time. There are 4 different weights for the font face: Regular, Light, Medium, and Bold.

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— Dubai Font (@DubaiFont) April 30, 2017

The Executive Council of Dubai also released a website dedicated to the Dubai Font, where users can find details about the font, and download it. Here are some of the key points:

Expression is the way everyone shares their thoughts, ideas and emotions. Writing is a form of expressing oneself and Dubai is giving the world a new tool to communicate with. The Dubai Font. Designed to unite the world through the power of expression. The Dubai Font is a project commissioned by His Highness, Sheikh Hamdan, and launched by The Executive Council of Dubai in partnership with Microsoft.

The source of inspiration is firmly rooted in local heritage (a mix of Muhaqqaq and Naskh for the Arabic, and Dutch design for the Latin) while embracing the modern and the innovative. The design follows traditional aesthetics but the treatment is very contemporary and clean.

The Dubai Font supports the reading of Arabic and Latin scripts on screen by offering top class typefaces that support legibility and reading. It also bridges the design gap between Arabic and Latin texts by providing harmonious typefaces that combine the two scripts seamlessly. In addition, it makes high quality typography available to everyone, especially for app developers and web designers and thereby supports the tech industry by making quality fonts available with no licensing costs attached.

The website explains that the number of Arabic fonts available right now is “relatively” small, and finding free Arabic fonts for both private and commercial use can be difficult. With the new Dubai Font, Microsoft and The Executive Council of Dubai hope to fix that.

If you are interested, you can get the Dubai Font here.