Arabising logos, the YES and NO.
Arabising logos or let me say, making Arabic versions of logos originally in Latin typeface is tricky! there’s this thin line between fucking it up or making it stand. and many fall! I went to the avenues mall here in Kuwait the other day and realized that many brands that I already saw in Dubai or Beirut before have arabised versions here in Kuwait, Bershka for example has a kinky normal kufi text in Arabic that doesn’t reflect the brand at all.
Paul’s logo is another example, I was googling some random stuff and stumbled (let’s say) upon this. I think Kuwait follows Qatar with this rules that obliges companies/stores by the law to provide an Arabic equivalent of its logo, Paul’s logo actually reads: “Bol” which in Arabic means urine which is not good for a restaurant. at least you don’t have to ask where the washrooms are…
Here is my favorite:
Where is the washroom [m]?
its tricky indeed.
Bhs is very good… I always thought Coca Cola was a terrible arabising of a logo.
The BHS one is really good, specially that they kept the B and the style from going from larger to smaller font.
Umm you don’t make a point with the Paul example. Why? Well because there are three flaming dots under the “b” hence, like hiragana which accommodates the western-style of writing in Japanese, it is commonly acknowledged as “P” in Arabic.
Hello? the first letter in the Arabic “PAUL” is a P not a B
this is bol: بول
The ب with three dots doesn’t exist in the 28 arabic characters alphabet.
nonetheless, people reading it in arabic will read it as a “P”. I am most certain almost all arabic readers recognize the difference between one and three dots. Yet it still sounds more like pool then paul after the translation, so I see where you’re getting at.
The Arabised version of the Bhs logo is amazing! It fits so well with the original!
Thanks for the link, although journalistically speaking the full name of the blog and author ought to be mentioned! Cheers! Tarek
anytime Tarek, I left you a huge link back
khalas will source you out next time.
not that it matters a lot of Arabs can’t pronounce the difference between a P and a B anyway. I’ve known several who claim they can’t even hear a difference.
i like these actually because it gives us more identity as an arabic people