Thought
Letters of the Streets: Typography Through Cityscapes
Arabic lettering lives on the move. From hand-painted market trucks in Egypt to faded shopfronts in Beirut and stamped signage in downtown Amman, the streets of the region are lined with stories and told in type.
19.08.25
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1 min
by
Freedom Studio
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Letters of the Streets is our visual love letter to that living language. Drawing from everyday encounters, we began tracing the distinctive letterforms scattered across public spaces. No two signs were the same and each one shaped by the hand that made it, by the pace of the street, by the character of the place.
There’s a craftsmanship to this kind of typography that often escapes the rules of traditional design systems. It’s not about perfection, it’s about presence and about expression over execution. The curves of a ‘ج’, the stretch of a ‘ك’, the swash of a ‘ر’ — each one holds layers of cultural memory, shaped by the histories and aesthetics of its city.
Through this series, we’ve captured these forms in a new light to honour them, rather than archive them. Our intervention explores how type can carry the spirit of a place, and how inspiration can start at the corner of any street.
Images courtesy of @egyptian_type_archive, @lebanese_type_archive & Unsplash.
Letters of the Streets is our visual love letter to that living language. Drawing from everyday encounters, we began tracing the distinctive letterforms scattered across public spaces. No two signs were the same and each one shaped by the hand that made it, by the pace of the street, by the character of the place.
There’s a craftsmanship to this kind of typography that often escapes the rules of traditional design systems. It’s not about perfection, it’s about presence and about expression over execution. The curves of a ‘ج’, the stretch of a ‘ك’, the swash of a ‘ر’ — each one holds layers of cultural memory, shaped by the histories and aesthetics of its city.
Through this series, we’ve captured these forms in a new light to honour them, rather than archive them. Our intervention explores how type can carry the spirit of a place, and how inspiration can start at the corner of any street.
Images courtesy of @egyptian_type_archive, @lebanese_type_archive & Unsplash.
Letters of the Streets is our visual love letter to that living language. Drawing from everyday encounters, we began tracing the distinctive letterforms scattered across public spaces. No two signs were the same and each one shaped by the hand that made it, by the pace of the street, by the character of the place.
There’s a craftsmanship to this kind of typography that often escapes the rules of traditional design systems. It’s not about perfection, it’s about presence and about expression over execution. The curves of a ‘ج’, the stretch of a ‘ك’, the swash of a ‘ر’ — each one holds layers of cultural memory, shaped by the histories and aesthetics of its city.
Through this series, we’ve captured these forms in a new light to honour them, rather than archive them. Our intervention explores how type can carry the spirit of a place, and how inspiration can start at the corner of any street.
Images courtesy of @egyptian_type_archive, @lebanese_type_archive & Unsplash.
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