Kristyan Sarkis is a type designer and lettering artist, born in Beirut and based in Amsterdam. He holds a Master in Type & Media from the Royal Academy of Art (The Hague). He has co-founded TPTQ Arabic, a type foundry specialised in high-quality Arabic fonts, Arabic Type Design - Beirut, the first international educational program dedicated to the subject and Arabic Lettering Workshops, a traveling series of which 17 episodes have taken place so far. He has taught at VCU-Qatar, LAU Beirut, ESAV Marrakech and currently teaches at the Type & Media master program (KABK). He often gives workshops and talks around the world. He has worked with clients like Apple, MoMA, Mozilla and the Louvre. His work received several awards including the NY Type Directors Club’s Certificate of Typographic Excellence, ATypI’s Letter.2, and the European Design Award.
k@tptq-arabic.com
PUBLICATIONS
Bi-Scriptual Typography and Graphic Design with Multiple Script Systems - Niggli, Switzerland.
Free Hand New Typography Sketchbooks - Thames & Hudson, UK.
TypeThursday Where to Start Learning Arabic Typeface Design?
Communication Arts Five Typographers Share Their Treasured Finds
Typography Annual 37 Type Directors Club TDC - NY, USA.
Typography Annual 36 Type Directors Club TDC - NY, USA.
Dutch Alphabets De Buitenkant, Netherlands.
PAGE Greta Arabic, Germany.
T: The New York Times Style Magazine The Ever-Evolving Typographic Life of the Arabic Language, USA.
Monocle Radio Section D, To The Letter.
Monocle #89 Interview about TPTQ Arabic, UK.
Tecknaren De utvercklar arabiska typsnitt, Sweden.
PAGE TPTQ Arabic: Systeme für bilinguale Typographie.
WIRED Why It’s So Hard To Design Arabic Typefaces.
WIRED Japan Why It’s So Hard To Design Arabic Typefaces (Japanese version).
Eye Noted - TPTQ Arabic.
Print Magazine Greta Goes Arabic.
Creative Review Typotheque Launches Arabic foundry.
The Letter.2 type design competition Typo 46 - Prague, Czech Republic
Typorama The Graphic Work of Philippe Apeloig (EN) Thames & Hudson, UK.
Typography Annual 33 Type Directors Club TDC - NY, USA.
Type Design for beginners Khtt Books, Netherlands.
Colvert: Achieving harmony through diversity Interview for FontFeed.
Introducing: Visual Identities for Small Businesses Gestalten - Berlin, Germany.
Typography Annual 32 Type Directors Club TDC - NY, USA.
Arabesque 2 Graphic Design of the Arab World and Persia Gestalten - Berlin, Germany.
Thuraya: an imperial font’s new face Interview by Huda AbiFares.
Type&Media, the Hague Type Design School Projector Magazine Issue #14 - Saint Petersburg, Russia.
158 Answers Typotheque - The Hague, Netherlands.
LECTURES + WORKSHOPS
The Art of Arabic Letters
Today At Apple — Dubai, UAE.
Everybody Has a Type
Virginia Commonwealth University — Doha, Qatar.
ATDB: Play/Cut/Press
Virginia Commonwealth University —Doha, Qatar.
10 Years of drawing and teaching letters A retrospect - TypeCal — Kuwait.
Arabic Lettering Workshop Episode 13 - TypeCal — Kuwait.
A perspective on Arabic Type - ING creatives — Dubai, UAE.
A Perspective on Arabic Type, Identity & Culture - TDC Judges Night — NY, USA.
Arabic Lettering Workshop Episode 12 (with Wael Morcos)
Type Directors Club — NY, USA.
A Perspective on Arabic Type, Identity & Culture - Typomania — Moscow, Russia.
Arabic Lettering Workshop Episode 09 (with Khajag Apelian) - Typomania — Moscow, Russia.
Arabic Type: The State of things - Fonstant International Conference — Zagreb, Croatia.
A Perspective on Arabic Type, Identity & Culture - HEAR — Strasbourg, France.
A Perspective on Arabic Type - Arabic Type Fest — Amsterdam, Netherlands.
Arabic Lettering Workshop Episode 7 (with Lara Captan) — ATF, Amsterdam, Netherlands.
A Perspective on Arabic Type Journée Romande de la Typographie — Nyon, Switzerland.
A Perspective on Arabic Type, Identity & Culture ISType — Istanbul, Turkey.
A Perspective on Arabic Type, Identity & Culture Royal College of Art — London, UK.
Arabic Lettering Workshop Episode 6 (with Abjad Design Studio) — Dubai, UAE.
Qandus: Arabic Forms in the West Grafisch Werkcentrum — Amsterdam, Netherlands.
A Typographic Maghribi Trialogue ATypI — Warsaw, Poland.
Arabic Lettering Workshop Episode 4 (with Khajag Apelian) PJAIT — Warsaw, Poland.
Contemporaneity in Arabic Type Type Amsterdam — Amsterdam, Netherlands.
Conversas sobre fontes Arábicas (with Lara Captan) Doca — Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Conversations on Arabic Type (with Lara Captan) ATypI — São Paulo, Brazil.
Contemporaneity in Arabic Type Virginia Commonwealth University — Doha, Qatar.
Re-connecting Arabic Type Beit Waraq — Beirut, Lebanon.
Arabic Lettering Express (with Khajag Apelian) Lebanese University — Beirut, Lebanon.
Arabic Lettering Workshop Episode 2 (with maajoun studio) — Beirut, Lebanon.
my Ingredients École Superieure des Arts — Amiens, France.
On the designer’s responsibility with Syrian collective ‘The Syrian People Know their Way’ The Royal Academy of Art — The Hague, Netherlands.
my Ingredients The Royal Academy of Art — The Hague, Netherlands.
About Those Curves II Lebanese American University — Beirut, Lebanon.
About Those Curves II Notre Dame University — Beirut, Lebanon.
Arabic VS Latin Type]Media, The Royal Academy of Art — The Hague, Netherlands.
Arabic Lettering Workshop Episode 1 (with maajoun studio) — Beirut, Lebanon.
About Those Curves I American University of Beirut. Beirut, Lebanon.
Arabic Type Design Workshop (with Khatt Foundation) Dubai, UAE.
EXHIBITIONS
TDC exhibitions United States, Canada, China, England, France, Germany, Japan, Poland, South Korea, Spain, Taiwan, and Vietnam.
Jazz+Ink Beirut, Lebanon
Rasm, Fikra Graphic Design Biennial, Sharjah UAE.
100 Best Arabic Posters, Cairo, Egypt.
WELTFORMAT DXB, Dubai, UAE & Lucern, Switzerland.
TDC exhibitions USA, Canada, China, England, France, Germany, Indonesia, Japan, Poland, Russia, South Korea, Spain, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam.
TDC exhibitions USA, Canada, England, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, Russia, Spain and Vietnam.
Typographicae Arabicae Paris, France.
International Type Design Exhibition Tehran, Iran.
Call for Type Gutenberg Museum - Mainz, Germany.
RIGHT — TO — LEFT Berlin, Germany.
TDC exhibitions USA, Canada, England, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, Russia, Spain and Vietnam.
Letter.2 winners exhibition ATypI conference, Hong Kong.
TDC exhibitions USA, Canada, England, Ireland, France, Spain, Germany,
AWARDS
Certificate of Excellence in Type Design for Hudhud TDC2 2020 — NY, USA.
Gold European Design Award - Original Typeface for Ping type system — Warsaw, Poland.
Silver LAUS for Across Borders
AGD-FAD — Barcelona, Spain.
Certificate of Excellence in Communication Design for Across Borders TDC 2018 — NY, USA.
Certificate of Excellence in Communication Design for ALW posters TDC 2017 — NY, USA.
Certificate of Excellence in Type Design for Qandus TDC2 2017 — NY, USA.
Certificate of Excellence in Type Design for Greta Arabic TDC2 2016 — NY, USA.
Bronze European Design Award - Original typeface for Colvert Arabic — Belgrade, Serbia.
1st Prize in Arabic typeface category for Colvert Arabic. Granshan — Yerevan, Armenia.
Certificate of Excellence in Type Design for Greta Text Arabic TDC2 2012 — NY, USA.
Certificate of Excellence in Type Design for Thuraya TDC2 2011 — NY, USA.
Letter.2 competition Thuraya One of the 53 winning entries, ATypI.