Mediamatic.net - Lynn Amhaz

Graduated from the Lebanese American University (LAU) with a BS in Graphic design (print emphasis). Interested in Arabic type design, Typography, calligraphy, Kufi script, bilingual designs, vernacular type, expressive type, any TYPE! ... Planning on pursuing my postgraduate studies in typeface design.

Sookoon publication, Lynn Amhaz-

Sookoon, a book that explores the musicality of the Arabic script, the rhythm, the levels, the curvatures and the melodious flow of the letterforms. It also exposes my experiments with calligraphy and the reforms in Arabic typography. Vignelli once said, “A good typographer always has a sensibility about the distance between the letters. We think typography is black and white. Typography is really white. It’s not even black. It is the space between the blacks that really makes it. In essence, it’s like music. It’s not the notes. It’s the space between the notes that makes the music.” It’s the silence.

Beit byout illustration by Lynn Amhaz-

"I am interested in the personal stories of the workshop participants. Inspiration can come from anywhere: a memory, a joke, a song or a found object at the nearby flea market. Our goal is to turn it into a wordless, one page comic.” - Titus Ackerman.
Beit Byout, a one page story, about 4 different building stories, bringing together one big family...

Full stop magazine, Lynn Amhaz-

A bilingual magazine exposing the grid whilst comparing the different elements and choices a designer would make to optically balance the two scripts. The magazine article is a summary of my thesis, it also includes a profile of the Lebanese calligrapher Samir Sayegh, and an “I LOVE ARABIC TYPE” T-shirt.

Sela typeface, Lynn Amhaz-

Sela is a digital typeface based on the Naskhi script, reviving different characteristics specific to Diwani and Thuluth, i.e. Classic vs. Modern. The edge I propose is the respect of “musicality” of the script, translated through the variations of the letterforms, the swashes, the ligatures the contrast of the pen flow, the marrying of letters with each other, along with diacritical and vocalization marks.
My typeface is based on a specific grid that I created in order to fit the modern and technical criterion. The letters have multiple heights unfolding from a baseline. However the font follows Ibn Muqla’s calligraphic systems to revive the traditional feel of Arabic calligraphy: Nizam Al Dai’ra for the overall cast, Nizam Al Nuqat for the proportions of the face, and Nizam Al Tashabuh for the uniformity of the letters.