The Middle East’s Latest Conflict is a Font War, and We’re Winning it

Just when we thought the Middle East was going through enough conflict, we find ourselves tangled in yet another mess. A war of words between three of the region’s major capitals has erupted… quite literally over fonts. Yep, you read that right!

Dubai has declared itself the world’s first city to have its own font, and with the help of several “foreign powers” (namely some of the world’s leading media outlets) has been pillaging Amman and Cairo to lay further claim to the title.

In response, the Egyptian and Jordanian capitals have heroically fought back. Al Bawaba has swiftly retaliated by reminding Dubai that Amman, in fact, developed its own font back in 2010.

On Facebook, Egyptian designers have also carried out their own reprisals by declaring that Cairo had its own font before Dubai. The font designed by Mohamed Gaber became available on Google last January, and has already been used in over 15,000 websites. Take that Dubai!

In all fairness, Dubai is TECHNICALLY the very first city to have its own font…on Microsoft. We were just bitter about the attention they got and wanted an excuse to rant.

Check out Kief Type Foundry here where you can download the Cairo Font.