What to Get City That Has Everything? Its Own Font

Apparently not content with having the world's tallest building, an indoor ski slope, and countless other baubles, Dubai now boasts one more, reports the AP: its own typographic font. The forward-looking Mideast business hub unveiled the new font designed with Microsoft's help on Sunday. The government communication office says the Dubai Font integrates Arabic and Latin alphabets and is available for use in 23 languages. And it's not exactly humble-bragging about its new toy, notes Gulf Business News: "The openness and harmony of the people in the UAE, the essence of Dubai and its vision to become the quintessential modern Arab city were our source of inspiration to design the Dubai Font," said Dr Nadine Chahine, type director and legibility expert at Monotype.

She continues: "The challenge wasn’t to create a quality font but to create a new and a special medium of expression to unleash ambitions and transcend borders." Dubai Crown Prince Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum ordered government bodies to begin using the new font in their official correspondence. The United Arab Emirates' largest city has championed technology and innovation as it looks to diversify its economy beyond a traditional focus on energy, trade, transportation, and tourism. It will host the World Expo in 2020. (More Dubai stories.)