29LT Zarid Stencil typeface is the cut version of 29LT Zarid Sans and comes in 8 weights: Thin, Extra Light, Light, Regular, Medium, Semi Bold, Bold and Black. It is the sixth inline family member within the 29LT Zarid superfamily ongoing development since 2016.
Zarid Stencil is the hip and urban version of Zarid Sans. While Zarid Sans is the corporate, direct, and clean typeface, Zarid Stencil is its revolutionary cut relative.
29LT Zarid Stencil Design Approach
A comprehensive understanding of the Arabic and Latin letters was undertaken prior to any application of stencil cuts. Following a research on various stencil fonts, different stencil philosophies were applied on selected letters and diverse design routes were investigated.
The sole introduction of straight horizontal and vertical cuts resulted in a rigid stencil feel and the integrity of the glyphs was compromised. Hence, a dynamic stencil system including 5 kinds of cuts was adopted: the [1] vertical cut, [2] diagonal cut, [3] curved cut, [4] broad pen cut, and [5] horizontal cut.
The fact that both scripts are humanistic made the implementation of this design approach possible without interrupting the pen movement. Additionally, one of the main design characteristics in the Zarid typefaces, the broad pen angle, was maintained and transformed into one of the 5 different kinds of cuts.
Each glyph obtained the necessary cut/s based on its skeleton structure and pen flow. Some glyphs incorporate one kind of cut, while others have 2 or 3 different cuts. For example, in the Latin character set, the letters T, t, F, and f have only one horizontal cut applied to them, while the letters C, c, G, and e contain a vertical cut and another diagonal cut. The letters a, b, d, h, m, n, p, q, and u include the broad pen cut. This cut is present (in these letters) between the stem and the shoulder or bowl structure.
In the Arabic character set, the curved cut was mostly applied alongside the other cuts since the Arabic letters are cursive in nature and the flow of the letterforms had to be conserved. As in the Latin, some letters acquired one cut only while others 2, 3, or even 4 cuts. The more complex the letter structure, the more cuts were required. For example, the letters Ba’, Dal, Ra’, Lam, and Noon required only one straight vertical or diagonal cut, while more complex letters like the Ha’, Ain, Seen, Sad, Meem, and Ha’ needed 2, 3 or even 4 different kinds of cuts applied to them. The letter Seen is interesting since it contains one vertical cut, one curved cut, and one broad pen cut. Additionally, since the Arabic letters are connected at the baseline, a baseline vertical cut was introduced between all initial, medial, and final position letters.
The flexible stencil approach gave the letterforms of Zarid Stencil an active structure instead of a stiff one. The mixture of all 5 different cuts gave the typeface a unique rhythm and improved the readability flow instead of obstructing it.
Viewing the Arabic and Latin side by side, it is clear that the Arabic text appears to be more cut than the Latin, and this had to be respected since Arabic is a cursive script. No extra forced cuts on the Latin were implemented in order to make it match with the Arabic. The two distinct scripts agreeably coexist in look and feel while each one of them retains its’ own structure and characteristics.
The typeface retains all the advanced typographic features such as ligatures and stylistic sets that were already present in Zarid Sans. The fonts cover all Middle Eastern, North African, Eastern European, Central European, Western European, and North and South American Languages. The number of glyphs per font is 1565+.
The Arabic and Latin scripts in the typeface are designed by Pascal Zoghbi with consultancy from Jan Fromm on the Latin.
29LT Zarid Stencil Type Specimen
Visit 29LT Zarid Stencil webpage on www.29LT.com website and download the type specimen for full information about the typeface.
