In the next few weeks, I will show different Arabic newspapers and will try to look at the elements of typographic styles used in newspapers in the Arab world today. Things to look at are: choice of Arabic fonts, layout, masthead design, and over all impression.
So, first example is the Annaher newspaper (meaning The Day) published in Lebanon. Annahar is probably the most widely read newspaper in Lebanon and one of the best designed…
Fonts: It uses custom design fonts, Marwan and Gubran by Walid El Tueiny. Marwan is my personal favourite amongst all newspaper fonts as it is clear, legible, and uncluttered. It gives a very nice and calm effect, which is exactly what you need to be able to survive Lebanese politics!
Layout: The distribution of headline vs text space is very nicely done and you always feel the impact of the headline. I am not very happy with having advertising on the front page. On the second day of the war this past summer, the headline talked of terrible news, while the bottom of the page showed Gucci “on sale” ads. Very nice…
Masthead: It’s been the same as long as I can remember. It’s quite distinctive and you can easily recognise it from a distance.
Overall impression: Quite good. Though not all reader might agree with the content of what is being written, but it at least appears to be trustworthy and professional. It’s very inviting to the reader, and it is quite obvious that this is a newspaper with a very long and prestigious history.
Download sample pdf here: annahar.pdf