First, set expectations
Arabic isn't English written backwards. It's a connected, contextual script with its own grammar of form. Letters change shape depending on position (initial, medial, final, isolated). Words have rhythm, not just length. Treating Arabic as flipped English produces output that native readers reject in three seconds, even if they can't articulate why.
The non-negotiables
Six things that, if you get them right, put you ahead of most non-Arabic designers working with Arabic.
1. Choose a typeface designed for Arabic, not adapted
There's a real difference between an Arabic typeface that was designed by an Arabic-literate type designer (e.g., Greta Arabic, GE SS, Lalezar, Kufam, IBM Plex Sans Arabic, Tajawal) and a generic system fallback (Arial Arabic, default Tahoma). The latter destroys whatever brand work you've done in Latin.
2. Pair Arabic and Latin typefaces by visual weight, not by name
An Arabic typeface paired with a Latin one needs to share x-height proportion, contrast, and overall colour on the page. A delicate Latin paired with a heavy Arabic looks like two brands collided. The most reliable pairings are designed as families (e.g., IBM Plex with IBM Plex Arabic, Cairo with its companion Latin) — they were drawn to harmonize.
3. Respect the kashida — but use it sparingly
Arabic justifies text by extending the connecting strokes between letters (kashida), not by widening word spaces. Modern type-setting software handles this poorly. Manually-applied kashida should be rare — used to fill awkward line breaks or for visual emphasis, not as a general justification strategy.
4. The Arabic baseline sits lower
Arabic letters often have descenders and tails that extend well below the visual baseline. When pairing with Latin, eyeballing alignment to the cap-line of the Latin will leave the Arabic looking too high. Trust your eye, then increase the line-height on the Arabic by 10–15% relative to the Latin.
5. Numbers: choose Arabic-Indic vs Western, then commit
Arabic uses two number systems — Western (1, 2, 3) and Arabic-Indic (١, ٢, ٣). Both are correct in different contexts. Pick one for your brand and use it consistently. Mixing within a single document looks careless.
6. Text length is roughly 1.2× English
An Arabic translation of an English line is usually about 20% longer in character count, but feels denser because letters connect. Plan layouts with this in mind — buttons, navigation, and short headlines need extra room.
Common mistakes we see all the time
- Latin font with auto-fallback to system Arabic — visible mismatch instantly
- Using a single typeface for both languages because it's "multilingual" — most are awful in one of the two
- Justifying Arabic by stretching word-space — destroys the rhythm of the text
- Tracking Arabic the same as Latin — Arabic responds badly to letter-spacing changes
- Setting Arabic body text under 14pt — the script needs more visual breathing room than Latin
- Italicizing Arabic — Arabic doesn't have italics; designers sometimes apply software italic, which slants the connections incorrectly
Typefaces actually worth using
Recommended starting points if you don't have an Arabic type designer at hand.
Sans for body text
IBM Plex Sans Arabic, GE SS Two, Tajawal, Cairo, Almarai. All free, all professionally drawn, all pair cleanly with widely-used Latin sans.
Display / headline
Greta Arabic, Lalezar, Kufam, Mirza, Reem Kufi. Each carries strong personality without becoming a costume.
Editorial serif equivalents
Arabic doesn't have a one-to-one analog of Latin serif, but Greta Arabic and Naskh-derived faces (e.g., Decotype Naskh) carry similar editorial weight when paired with a Latin serif.
Tools that help
Adobe InDesign with the Middle Eastern version installed handles Arabic correctly. Figma's text engine has improved but still struggles with kashida and complex justification — for production work, set important Arabic in InDesign and hand off as outlines or rendered previews. Tools like Right-to-Left Indic plugins for Figma plug specific gaps but aren't a full solution.
The honest line
If you're working on a project where Arabic matters and you're not Arabic-literate, hire a designer or type consultant who is. The economics work — getting the type system right at the start saves 5–10× the cost of fixing it after a brand has shipped wrong. Everything in this guide is a survival kit, not a substitute.