{"id":1285,"date":"2025-12-23T16:28:14","date_gmt":"2025-12-23T16:28:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.visible-language.org\/journal\/?p=1285"},"modified":"2025-12-23T21:03:56","modified_gmt":"2025-12-23T21:03:56","slug":"issue-59-3-bilingual-cover-design","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.visible-language.org\/journal\/issue-59-3-bilingual-cover-design\/","title":{"rendered":"Scripts in Dialogue: Reinterpreting Visible Language Covers through Bilingual Design Workshops in Kuwait"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"sitecontainer\">\n<div class=\"pagecontainer\">\n<article class=\"vj-article\">\n<div class=\"articlesidebar\">\n<h5>Issue 59.3<\/h5>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.visible-language.org\/journal\/issue-59-3-editorial\/\">Word | Image | Space | Materiality | Experience<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.visible-language.org\/journal\/issue-59-3-legibility-readability\/\">Beyond (Type)Face Value: A Systematic Literature Review Examining Design Factors Influencing the Legibility and Readability of Typography<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Scripts in Dialogue: Reinterpreting Visible Language Covers through Bilingual Design Workshops in Kuwait<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.visible-language.org\/journal\/issue-59-3-hypertangible-novel\/\">Constructing the Hypertangible Novel: Writing and Design as Process<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.visible-language.org\/journal\/issue-59-3-sensational-design\/\">Sensational Design: Layout and Display Typography in the Visual Rhetoric of Information Disorder<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.visible-language.org\/journal\/issue-59-3-textile-tickets\/\">The Visual Language of Textile Tickets in 20th-Century British India: A Collection from B. Taylor and Co.<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.visible-language.org\/journal\/issue-59-3-ar-campus-wayfinding\/\">Augmented Reality for Campus Wayfinding: Enhancing Navigation Efficiency and Student Social Engagement \u2014 A Case Study of Leeds University Union<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.visible-language.org\/journal\/issue-59-3-james-mosley\/\">Professor James Mosley, a Memoir<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.visible-language.org\/journal\/issue-59-3-michael-twyman\/\">Professor Michael Twyman<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.visible-language.org\/Issue-59-3\/VL-59.3-Full-Issue.pdf\" target=\"_blank\">Download Issue 59.3 \u27a4<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"articlecontent\">\n<h1>Scripts in Dialogue: Reinterpreting Visible Language Covers through Bilingual Design Workshops in Kuwait<\/h1>\n<h3>Muwaffaq Abdulmajid and Faisal Alamhouj<\/h3>\n<h4 style=\"line-height: 1.5;\">The Public Authority for Applied Education and Training (PAAET), Kuwait (prof.muwaffaq[at]gmail.com)<\/h4>\n<div class=\"abstractbox\">\n<p><span class=\"smallblueheading\">Abstract:<\/span> This study investigates how postmodern graphic design strategies can be critically reimagined \u2014 reframed through the lens of bilingual design pedagogy to engage issues of cultural identity, script interaction, and typographic experimentation \u2014 within Arabic\u2013English bilingual contexts. Using the Visible Language journal (late 1960s\u20132025) as a foundational reference, the research was conducted over three academic semesters with 90 undergraduate design students in Kuwait. Through a structured practice-led research methodology, participants analyzed historical cover designs and developed original bilingual compositions inspired by postmodern aesthetics. The project addressed typographic challenges, including directionality, visual hierarchy, and the interplay between Arabic calligraphic and Latin modular forms. Design strategies \u2014 including layering, fragmentation, and grid disruption \u2014 were systematically explored to facilitate visual integration across scripts. Outcomes ranged from cohesive bilingual compositions to instances of double monolingualism reflecting varied levels of synthesis. Cultural motifs and script-specific conventions emerged as influential factors shaping design decisions. The study concludes that adapting postmodern design principles to bilingual contexts requires more than stylistic translation; it entails critical negotiation of cultural identity, linguistic equity, and the visual dynamics of multilingual communication.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"keywordsbox\">\n<p><span class=\"smallblueheading\">Keywords:<\/span> Arabic\u2013English visual communication; bilingual typography; cultural semiotics; design<br \/>\npedagogy; postmodern graphic design<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><a class=\"viewarticlebtn\" href=\"https:\/\/www.visible-language.org\/Issue-59-3\/VL-59-3-Abdulmajid-Alamhouj-8839.pdf\" target=\"_blank\">Download PDF<\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"articlepdfviewer\">\n<object \ndata=\"https:\/\/www.visible-language.org\/Issue-59-3\/VL-59-3-Abdulmajid-Alamhouj-8839.pdf\" type=\"application\/pdf\" width=\"100%\" height=\"100%\"><br \/>\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.visible-language.org\/Issue-59-3\/VL-59-3-Abdulmajid-Alamhouj-8839.pdf\" width=\"100%\" height=\"100%\" style=\"border: none;\"><br \/>\n<\/iframe><\/object>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"authorbox\">\n<p><span class=\"smallblueheading\">Author<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>Muwaffaq Abdulmajid<\/strong> is an Associate Professor of Graphic Arts in the Department of Art Education at the Public Authority for Applied Education and Training (PAAET), Kuwait. His research focuses on bilingual typography, visual culture, and the integration of emerging technologies \u2014 particularly AI-assisted creative practices \u2014 within art and design education. He has published widely in international journals and continues to develop research at the intersection of cultural heritage, pedagogical innovation, and contemporary design practice.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Faisal Alamhouj<\/strong> is a lecturer and graduate student in the Department of Art Education at the Public Authority for Applied Education and Training (PAAET), Kuwait. His work centers on Arabic\u2013English bilingual design, typographic experimentation, and pedagogical approaches that foster culturally responsive visual communication. He contributes to collaborative research projects in typography and design education, with a focus on Gulf cultural contexts.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a class=\"viewarticlebtn\" href=\"https:\/\/www.visible-language.org\/Issue-59-3\/VL-59-3-Abdulmajid-Alamhouj-8839.pdf\" target=\"_blank\">Download PDF<\/a><br \/>\n<\/article>\n<div class=\"articlecitebox\">\n<div>\n<p class=\"blueurllink\">DOI being generated<\/p>\n<p><strong>Cite this article:<\/strong><br \/>Abdulmajid, M., &#038; Alamhouj, F. (2025). Scripts in dialogue:<br \/>\nreinterpreting Visible Language covers through bilingual design workshops in Kuwait. <i>Visible Language<\/i>, 59(3), 295\u2013325. https:\/\/www.visible-language.org\/journal\/issue-59-3-bilingual-cover-design\/<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>First published online May 22, 2025. \u00a9 2025 Visible Language \u2014 this article is open access, published under the CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 license.<\/p>\n<p><pre>https:\/\/www.visible-language.org\/journal<\/pre>\n<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"vlconsortiumheading\"><strong>Visible Language Consortium:<\/strong><\/span><br \/>University of Leeds (UK)<br \/>University of Cincinnati (USA)<br \/>North Carolina State University (USA)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Issue 59.3 Word | Image | Space | Materiality | Experience Beyond (Type)Face Value: A Systematic Literature Review Examining Design Factors Influencing the Legibility and Readability of Typography Scripts in Dialogue: Reinterpreting Visible Language Covers through Bilingual Design Workshops in Kuwait Constructing the Hypertangible Novel: Writing and Design as Process Sensational Design: Layout and Display &hellip; <\/p>\n<p class=\"link-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.visible-language.org\/journal\/issue-59-3-bilingual-cover-design\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;Scripts in Dialogue: Reinterpreting Visible Language Covers through Bilingual Design Workshops in Kuwait&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1285","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-issue-59-3","category-research-article","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.visible-language.org\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1285","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.visible-language.org\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.visible-language.org\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visible-language.org\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visible-language.org\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1285"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.visible-language.org\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1285\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1358,"href":"https:\/\/www.visible-language.org\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1285\/revisions\/1358"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.visible-language.org\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1285"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visible-language.org\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1285"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.visible-language.org\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1285"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}