Al Qalam School of Arabic Calligraphy, in collaboration with Tarek Atrissi Design, delivered the second phase of the Aseel program over a year, coinciding with Cairo being named Capital of Islamic Culture 2020. Its aim was to reconnect Arabic calligraphy with its historical roots and push it toward the digital future, through a series of varied tracks covering research, education, design, and production.
The program included a set of training workshops led by international experts, aiming to develop the skills of emerging Egyptian Arabic type designers and expose them to international experiences with the guidance of professional experts.
The program gave an opportunity to those who could not join design colleges abroad or afford the cost of their educational programs, and provided them with the educational foundations and the practical framework that enable designers to work during the design phase of the final project.
The workshops focused on designing and digitizing the Arabic letter, and moving from traditional classical scripts to training in digital design and developing Arabic type styles in line with modern calligraphic trends and contemporary design.
The program's policy was based on knowledge and cultural exchange and the transfer of expertise between the Egyptian side and the international experts, through sessions broadcast over Zoom. These workshops gave Egyptian designers the opportunity to work on design projects in collaboration with professional experts or academics who work successfully on Arabic and Latin typefaces in the Netherlands.
A set of digital typefaces was developed based on the previous phases, with the help of international experts.
