Rund's Halloween Makeup TutorialOct.27.2020
New fashion brand alert! We love our locally based fashion community and for today’s feature, we are looking into a collaboration between the Arabic-based brand “The 28 Letters,” and Saudi graphic designer Rund Samman. By incorporating and normalizing the use of the classical Arabic Language in the modern street fashion industry and providing local artists a platform to showcase their love towards the Arabic culture, The 28 Letter’s new wave in collaboration with Rund Samman hopes to show that there are many ways and variations of depicting just how the beauty of the Arabic language can be portrayed.
The 28 Letters is an Arabic based brand started by Engineering students at the American University of Sharjah, Othman Ahmad, Fahad Al-Shinasi, and Mohamad Abu Gharbieh, that aims to infuse the use of the Classical Arabic language with the current requirements of the fashion industry. “We, as The 28 letters, aim to infuse the Arabic language with the modern requirements of the fashion industry. Thus, provide our customers with a way of expressing their deep-rooted love for Arabic culture in a modern, and fashionable way,” Othman tells us.
As a new brand, The 28 Letters are doing quite well in the region’s fashion industry by giving regional artists a platform for self-expression while delving into the world of fashion. Already onto their second wave, this aspect of the collaboration truly adheres to their values of giving artists a platform to showcase their love for the Arabic language. “We collaborated with Rund as we saw that she was a talented artist who had deep-rooted love to the Arabic language,” Othman says, “We are an upcoming brand that is still growing, and Rund is an upcoming artist as well, so we saw that it was a good opportunity for us both to grow.”
Dubai-based, Saudi Arabian Graphic Designer, Rund Samman was brought up a native Arabic speaker and through her studies as a Graphic Designer, began to learn more about Arabic on a broader spectrum. “I fell in love with both typography, as well as Arabic calligraphy,” she tells us, “The way the letters are intertwined, and the way they form together to create an array of beautiful artwork with the simple concept of letters and nothing else takes my breath away.”
Henceforth, Rund decided to focus her projects around the art of Arabic typography in order to inspire people and allow them to fall in love with the language once again through design. “I began this venture with the technique of graffiti-inspired designs on a pair of shoes for a university project about a year ago which ultimately inspired me to create my Dayeb Typeface,” Rund says, “Dayeb is a bubbly and playful Arabic typeface inspired by the drips of spray paint cans used for graffiti while combining the visual sweetness of forms of candy melting away, and I believe it is a fun and playful technique that sheds light on the beauty of the Arabic language.”
With Rund’s bubbly and playful typography and The 28 Letter’s love for both the Arabic language and, of course, fashion – we truly see the talent and passion towards the two through this collaboration. “I chose graffiti and spray paint because of the subliminal message behind the use of the material as well as the art form — it’s limitless. There are no rules that subject your creativity allowing you to leave a mark. The message resonates in the idea of freedom and letting go of the restriction to art on a canvas, screen, or piece of paper,” Rund explains.
In correspondence to this, Othman says “Rund’s typeface is a very cool variation of the regular Arabic text, and it matches our brand’s goals in turning the use of Arabic language in designs into a normal thing in the fashion industry.”
With the goal of this collaboration being to show that there can be many ways and variations of how the Arabic alphabet can be portrayed, The 28 Letters have worked on a t-shirt with Rund’s Dayeb typeface on the back to showcase both The 28 Letter’s vision, as well as Rund’s playful perspective. “I believe Dayeb is a perfect fit for this collection because it shows everyone that the Arabic language and all of its elements can be deemed as fun and beautiful. These letters can be used as a form of self-expression in their truest form. And, lastly, whilst staying true to your origins, they can also set you free.”
If you would like to purchase an item from The 28 Letter’s collaboration with Rund Saman, click here!
