ARABIC BEYOND ARABIC · EDITORIAL DESIGN
English
العربية
FACE
TO
FACE
TWO LANGUAGES.
ONE CONVERSATION.
Designing a bilingual book where English and Arabic meet across the spread.
105 pages designed to communicate with two different readers.
THE FORMAT
WAS THE IDEA.
English English English English English English English English English English English English English English English English
عربي عربي عربي عربي عربي عربي عربي عربي عربي عربي عربي عربي عربي عربي عربي عربي عربي عربي عربي عربي عربي عربي عربي عربي
A thesis publication was required for graduation. I chose to write and design mine in both languages, with particular attention to helping English-speaking readers follow research about Arabic.
Instead of separating the book into English and Arabic halves, I placed corresponding content on facing pages. That decision shaped every spread that followed.
BUILDING THE SYSTEM
RULES THAT
HOLD IT TOGETHER
Paragraph spacing was adjusted to align corresponding passages while preserving each language’s natural text length.
Corresponding paragraphs, side by side.
THE DESIGN CHALLENGE
SAME MEANING.
DIFFERENT AMOUNT OF SPACE.
ENGLISH
Longer text
ARABIC
Unused space
English occupies more of the available column space.
VS
Arabic translation leaves larger gaps to balance.
MORE THAN A SOLUTION
LESS TEXT.
BIGGER
OPPORTUNITIES.
Instead of giving in to limits, I created a Hero Page!
A PERSONAL EDITORIAL LANGUAGE
A DICTIONARY BECAME
PART OF THE DESIGN
I scanned pages from my mother’s 1980s copy of "المعجم الوسيط", one of the dictionaries I used during translation. For each chapter opening, I selected text and illustrations that connected to its content.
WRITTEN, TRANSLATED,
CHECKED, REFINED.
I translated the manuscript myself, cross-referenced print and online dictionaries, and reviewed the Arabic with two Arabic teachers, and a bilingual adviser while English writing received separate advisory support.
Across repeated layout revisions, I worked through right-to-left and left-to-right typesetting, cursor behaviour, and number handling within the same InDesign document.
THE RESULT
A COMPLETE BOOK.
A CONNECTED READING EXPERIENCE.
105
Designed pages
2
languages within one editorial system
