Though this might look like a typeface struck down with a bad case of measles, the red dots are the guidelines for the overall proportions of Palatino Arabic.
Palatino Arabic follows the proportions of classical Naskh as can be seen in the image above. Though I’m no classicist myself, I found that for this specific style, the characters look much better when they adhere to the rhombic dot system. This system was first established by Ibn Muqla in the 10th century AD. The rhombic dot corresponds to the thickness of the calligrapher’s reed and is the basic unit of measurement in calligraphy. To be honest, I have strayed away from these proportions on several occasions and have strictly ignored them for specific characters such as the middle Ain, middle Jim, Waw etc. I have tried to keep the counters as open as possible since this improves the texture of the page (no blobs) and maintains legibility at smaller sizes. I find that it is more important to maintain function over inherited aesthetics. Some might disagree, of course…
