The Arabic Naskh style is a simpler workhorse suited for longer reading texts and serves as the base style for the 29LT Idris family. For 29LT Idris Pure and Round it turned into a neo-Naskh.

Pascal Zoghbi discovered an unrevived Naskh in the archives, back in the days sold under the name Berthold Arabisch Halbfett Nr. 49 originally drawn by the egyptian surrealist artist Salim Al Habschi. If you want to dive deeper into this wicked research journey, this is a really interesting talk.

While we already had the foundation for the project in 29LT Idris Sharp and Flat, our task in the second phase was different: to simplify the forms while preserving their defining traits. For the Arabic, this resulted in a neo-Naskh style, while the Latin evolved into a humanist sans.

The counters were opened, the stems straightened, and many forms took on a more horizontal character. 29LT Idris Flat can be seen as a transitional step between the two styles.

Pascal added a rounded version to the family to maximize its versatility.

It brings a subtle warmth and charm to the family’s otherwise formal character.

The different styles, 29LT Idris Pure and 29LT Idris Round, maintain roughly the same horizontal width, allowing them to be easily interchanged without causing text reflow.

The heavier weights share many common characteristics, but both the x-height and ascenders required adjustment to counterbalance the optical shrinking introduced by the rounding.

Although both styles maintain nearly identical widths the rounding causes subtle variations in text color as the weights increase.

The family includes a compact selection of weights suited for comfortable text setting. The Latin character set follows the same principle, remaining both efficient and functional.

Designed for reading sizes, the medium weights aim for visual harmony between the two scripts.

Spanning from Light to Bold, 29LT Idris provides a versatile range of weights.

With its four styles, Flat, Sharp, Pure, and Round, the 29LT Idris family reaches its full form. At least for now.

29LT Idris Pure and Round
Collaboration with Pascal Zoghbi and Krista Radoeva
Retail typeface for 29LT Type Foundry
Published 2025