Bilingual Keyboard
Printed on Canvas
My keyboard redesign attempts to explore the English/Arabic Bilingual keyboard in a manner that better demonstrates the calligraphic nature of the Arabic alphabet.
Hundreds of Arabic letterforms are lost to the current keyboard display, as when invented the Arabic keyboard had to be adapted in order to accommodate already existing typewriter technology designed for the English alphabet.Through focusing on this one interface I was able to understand a much wider story regarding the inescapable link between modernization and cultural hierarchies as well as the role that the interface plays in shaping people’s relationship with language.
Through reversing the hierarchy and building the shapes of each key around the letterform of the Arabic alphabet I intended to draw attention to the shapes of the letters themselves, granting the artistic aspect of each letter precedence over the aspect of efficiency currently limiting the alphabet into equally sized squares.
My initial intention was to create a functioning keyboard using my design, however I have decided to print it on canvas as I feel this better aligns with the idea that the Arabic alphabet was designed to be an art form. Language is often simplified in order to allow us to more easily be in control of our interactions with it, and having the design be on display allows the audience to consider this. Researching for this project has only reiterated to me the belief that something as expansive as language should not be condensed and controlled in order to serve us- we are smaller than the alphabet, and acknowledgement of the language expanding past our realm of convenience is both humbling and inspiring.