Arek Armenian
Rosetta · Khajag Apelian · 2012
An award-winning Armenian and Latin family by Khajag Apelian, rooted in calligraphic manuscript research with a pioneering cursive style designed for continuous reading.
About
Originally conceived for school books, Arek draws on extensive study of Armenian manuscript traditions to produce a lively, angular text face with genuine calligraphic character. The cursive italics broke new ground in Armenian digital typography, and the Latin component is engineered to harmonise through shared vertical proportions and a modest x-height. Eight styles cover a wide editorial range, supported by expert OpenType features including Armenian ligatures, contextual alternates, the eternity and pomegranate symbols, and Eastern and Western Armenian language variants. The family won first prize at Granshan 2010, an ATypI Letter.2 award in 2011 and a Typographica Best of 2013 citation.
Classification
Arek draws on the calligraphic roots of Armenian manuscript tradition, with angular details and a pioneering cursive style; the Latin component shares proportions and serif styling, making it a humanist serif across both scripts.