[i2om3r]

I always wondered why many non-Latin (mostly cursive) scripts have little variation across different typefaces. Maybe I wasn't looking hard enough? Well, the article mentions a similar observation by a Sri Lankan typographer, so I guess I am not alone. Can someone maybe point me to other non-Latin typefaces that have "their own typographic style"? I found the Baloo samples (last one in the article) refreshing. The style of the Tamil and Devanagari samples is very close to the Latin sample. For the Mina samples (first figure in the article), I can see that they try to capture the character of the Exo Latin typeface, with certain strokes getting narrower towards the end and its superelliptic curves (are there typographic terms for these?). I am not used to reading Bengali, but the style of the sample looks like it is in a font that has a different weight.

[tathougies]

Arabic has significantly more variation than Latin scripts and always has. Given that painting of living beings is typically not allowed in the muslim religion, calligraphy came to be the artistic expression of choice.

[duskwuff]

> Can someone maybe point me to other non-Latin typefaces that have "their own typographic style"?

CJK scripts have traditionally used Ming, Song, and Gothic (sans-serif) typefaces.

[i2om3r]

I guess what I mean is styles besides gothic (undecorated strokes of even thickness) and those that mimic traditional calligraphy. I see a lot of other forms for Latin scripts, but for Arabic, CJK and Indian scripts most typefaces fall into the above two categories. I might be wrong though, maybe I am just not exposed to a lot of variety. I do find it most notable in mixed script printed text, e.g., Arabic, where the predominant form seems to be Naskh, which looks like calligraphy, and Latin, which typically doesn't look like calligraphy at all. This mix creates an image that looks very uneven to me, similar to when people use too many different typefaces in Latin text. Actually, I am not even sure whether the typographic style is dictated by Naskh, or whether its just the form of writing.

[rajaganesh87]

Tamil and Devanagari scripts are close to latin? in what way? Please, can you elaborate?

[i2om3r]

I didn't phrase it well. I was specifically talking about the Baloo sample and how the typographic style is the same across scripts. Sorry, I am a layman, so I don't know the proper terms, but I mean the similar stroke weight and curvature, strokes endings being pointy on one side and round on the other etc.