Mithaq is a custom-designed Arabic geometric display typeface that investigates the level of abstraction letterforms can reach within a typeface. Inspired by the triangular Lahj openings of mud houses typical of Najdi architecture in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the typeface is based on basic elementary shapes. It seeks to modernize, unify and standardize letters into an idealistic form that combines function and form while challenging its own legibility. The letters seek to reflect the visual heritage of the area; they are clean and concrete, as if cut from stone. The strokes are very brisk and uniform in width. The counter spaces within the one letter and the inter-letter spacing maintain the geometric aspect with an emphasis on the triangular form.
Commissioned by AlMohtaraf design house for the King Salman Commission for Architecture and Urbanism by the Architecture and Design Commission, Ministry of Culture, Saudi Arabia.