Have you driven around Sheikh Zayed or Kite Beach area lately? Did you notice one of those giant letters that have been installed on the sides of the road? What do you think it has to do with? Traffic laws? Tourism? Neither actually.

Sheikh Hamdan’s reveal

Last month, the Crown Prince of Dubai, HH Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed Al Maktoum, disclosed that the city of Dubai was getting its own typeface called the “Dubai Font”. The Crown Prince and Chairman of the Executive Council has declared that all governing authorities must employ the use of the brand new font for all future communications.

The Royal who played a crucial role in the development of the font has stressed upon the importance of the font’s launch as it’s a part of the persistent measures to excel in the digital universe.

Significance of the initiative

General Secretariat Affairs Sector of Dubai and Assistant Secretary-General for the Executive Council, Ahmad Al Mahdi, is the Project Director of Dubai Font has said that the Dubai Font is more than just a mode of expressing and reading on a digital medium, it will encourage communication. After all, it combines the ancient and much-respected history of the emirate city to its contemporary glory and the vision of a spectacular tomorrow.

He also noted that the aim of the initiative was to empower the residents of the city to contribute to a digital footprint in numerous fields. He assured that the font was necessary to provide new and clever ways to incorporate technology and introduce it to the citizens in a manner which will make them proud and happy, thus encouraging them to self-expression.

Dubai Font

“Dubai Font” which was created in collaboration with Microsoft is being launched as an initiative, aiming to encourage citizens to read, write, and express, with the slogan and hashtag “#ExpressYou”. This is the first time ever that the digital mogul has conceived a typeface for and with a city.

The exceptional initiative is supposed to reflect the fundamental values of the emirate: happiness, generosity, respect, tolerance, modernity, brightness and harmonized living. The new font is available in 23 different languages including Arabic, Latin and more, to emphasize on living in harmony.

You can download the font online from the website. You can choose between regular, light, medium, and bold. About 100 million MS Office 360 users can avail the font.

Instagram Opportunity

However, if you want to view the giant, photogenic letter apart from your device screens you can head to some of the roads all across the city. So far the letters measuring several meters in height can be found at Sheikh Zayed Road, Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Boulevard, Dubai Mall and Kite Beach. You should be able to find some more on other major roads.

Because so many letters in Arabic, as well as Latin characters, have started appearing around the emirate, people are clicking selfies and portraits to upload and share on their social media handles. As a matter of fact, initially when the giant letters started to spring up a whole lot of residents took to social media out of curiosity and to figure out what was up.

So, here’s to more landmarks and photo ops for tourists visiting Dubai this summer.