Huda Smitshuijzen Abifares

Huda Smitshuijzen Abifares

Arabic Typography and the Shaping of a Modern Design Culture

Huda Smitshuijzen AbiFarès is the Founding Creative Director of the Khatt Foundation (www.khtt.net). She is widely published and contributes regularly to international conferences, academic journals, professional magazines and publications. Holding degrees in graphic design from Yale University School of Art (CT, USA) and Rhode Island School of Design (RI, USA), she specializes in bilingual typographic design and research. She has worked as a design consultant since 1990 in the US, Europe and the Middle East. She taught design and typography courses at the American University of Beirut (1994-2000), and the American University in Dubai (2000-2008), where she was Chairperson of the Visual Communication Department. She was a jury member of the Third Jameel Prize for Ismalic Art and Design 2013 (Victoria & Albert Museum, London), and member of the grants selection committee for Mondrian Foundation & The Netherlands Architecture and Design Fund (2011-2013). She is the author of Arabic Typography: A Comprehensive Sourcebook (London: Saqi Books. 2001), Experimental Arabic Type (Dubai: Saatchi & Saatchi. 2002), Typographic Matchmaking (Amsterdam: BIS Publishers. 2007), Typographic Matchmaking in the City (Amsterdam: Khatt Books. 2011), Arabic Type Design for Beginners (Amsterdam: Khatt Books. 2013). She is currently pursuing a PhD at Leiden University under the supervision of Prof. Dr Jan Just Witkam, while working as an independent design consultant.