9 static fonts/styles
  • Thin
  • Extralight
  • Light
  • Regular
  • Medium
  • Semibold
  • Bold
  • Extrabold
  • Black
1 variable font (Weight axis)

                          About Marlik

                          Hot-metal typesetting is history, but the ‘simplified’ Arabic genre it spawned remains popular to this day when a pared-down, modernist look is called for. Borna Izadpanah created Marlik (Mārlīk) to provide this modern aesthetic with a topflight reading experience. Marlik is versed in the calligraphic tradition as well as the flexibility and potential of the digital world. It provides for the needs of modern designers, both aesthetically and in utility.

                          Simplified Arabic was invented to cope with the constraints and costs of hot-metal, cutting back on contextual letterforms and ligatures. But the results were inconsistent and marred by compromise: a stiff, flat bottom line, illegible letter combinations, and awkward connections. Izadpanah and art director Fiona Ross have re-envisioned the genre with Marlik, a typeface that echoes the straightforward modernism of simplified Arabic forms, but restores the conventional Arabic proportions so essential to a good reading experience. Gone are the dull constructions and unrefined compositions, replaced by an up-to-date design that puts the streamlined aesthetic first and leaves compromise behind.

                          Marlik excels wherever readers desire a contemporary look, from newspapers to branding, posters to packaging. The elegant Thin and robust Black shine in headlines and posters. Marlik is simple, but not oversimplified.

                          PDF Specimen

                          Get Marlik

                          Standard licence: Trial licence: Need more?
                          • desktop: 5 users
                          • web: up to 50K pageviews/month
                          • OTF, TTF, and WOFF2 formats
                          See the licence text for details
                          • desktop: 1 user
                          • only for evaluation and testing
                          • OTF with some characters removed
                          See the licence text for details
                          • more desktop/web users
                          • app/game embedding
                          • broadcasting licencing
                          • OEM licencing
                          Buy Fonts Single font: 60 € Family of 10 fonts: 280 € Get Free Trial Fonts Contact the HQ
                          Standard licence:
                          • desktop: 5 users
                          • web: up to 50K pageviews/month
                          • OTF, TTF, and WOFF2 formats
                          See the licence text for details Buy Fonts Single font: 60 € Family of 10 fonts: 280 €
                          Trial licence:
                          • desktop: 1 user
                          • only for evaluation and testing
                          • OTF with some characters removed
                          See the licence text for details Get Free Trial Fonts

                          What others say

                          • Borna Izadpanah belongs to a generation of designers who strive for modern expression while staying sensitive to history and conventions of the Arabic script. Borna’s work is careful and studied, incorporating subtle, sensitive improvements rather than pursuing novelty for its own sake. Expect meticulously crafted forms marked by a deep understanding of calligraphy and consideration for utility. His typefaces Lida and Lalezar have each collected a major design award.
                            David Březina, Rosetta

                          Glyph table

                          OpenType features

                          Supported scripts and languages

                          Arabic

                          32 languages
                          • Aimaq
                          • Algerian Arabic
                          • Baharna Arabic
                          • Chadian Arabic
                          • Dari
                          • Dehwari
                          • Dogri (individual language)
                          • Eastern Egyptian Bedawi Arabic
                          • Egyptian Arabic
                          • Gulf Arabic
                          • Hadrami Arabic
                          • Hazaragi
                          • Hijazi Arabic
                          • Iranian Persian
                          • Iraqi Arabic
                          • Libyan Arabic
                          • Moroccan Arabic
                          • Najdi Arabic
                          • North Levantine Arabic
                          • North Mesopotamian Arabic
                          • Omani Arabic
                          • Qashqa'i
                          • Saidi Arabic
                          • Sanaani Arabic
                          • South Levantine Arabic
                          • Standard Arabic
                          • Sudanese Arabic
                          • Sudanese Creole Arabic
                          • Talysh
                          • Ta’izzi-Adeni Arabic
                          • Tunisian Arabic
                          • Urdu

                          Latin

                          229 languages
                          • Acheron
                          • Achinese
                          • Afar
                          • Afrikaans
                          • Alekano
                          • Amahuaca
                          • Amarakaeri
                          • Amis
                          • Anaang
                          • Andaandi, Dongolawi
                          • Anuta
                          • Ao Naga
                          • Aragonese
                          • Arbëreshë Albanian
                          • Arvanitika Albanian
                          • Asháninka
                          • Ashéninka Perené
                          • Asu (Tanzania)
                          • Balinese
                          • Basque
                          • Batak Dairi
                          • Batak Karo
                          • Batak Mandailing
                          • Batak Simalungun
                          • Batak Toba
                          • Bemba (Zambia)
                          • Bena (Tanzania)
                          • Bikol
                          • Bislama
                          • Borana-Arsi-Guji Oromo
                          • Breton
                          • Buginese
                          • Candoshi-Shapra
                          • Caquinte
                          • Caribbean Hindustani
                          • Cashibo-Cacataibo
                          • Catalan
                          • Cebuano
                          • Central Aymara
                          • Chamorro
                          • Chavacano
                          • Chiga
                          • Chiltepec Chinantec
                          • Chokwe
                          • Chuukese
                          • Cofán
                          • Congo Swahili
                          • Cornish
                          • Corsican
                          • Danish
                          • Dehu
                          • Eastern Arrernte
                          • Eastern Oromo
                          • English
                          • Ese Ejja
                          • Falam Chin
                          • Faroese
                          • Fijian
                          • Filipino
                          • Finnish
                          • French
                          • Friulian
                          • Galician
                          • Garifuna
                          • German
                          • Gheg Albanian
                          • Gilbertese
                          • Gooniyandi
                          • Guadeloupean Creole French
                          • Gusii
                          • Haitian
                          • Hakha Chin
                          • Hani
                          • Hiligaynon
                          • Hopi
                          • Huastec
                          • Icelandic
                          • Iloko
                          • Indonesian
                          • Irish
                          • Italian
                          • Ixcatlán Mazatec
                          • Jamaican Creole English
                          • Japanese
                          • Javanese
                          • K'iche'
                          • Kabuverdianu
                          • Kalaallisut
                          • Kalenjin
                          • Kaonde
                          • Karelian
                          • Kekchí
                          • Kenzi, Mattokki
                          • Khasi
                          • Kimbundu
                          • Kinyarwanda
                          • Kituba (DRC)
                          • Kongo
                          • Konzo
                          • Kuanyama
                          • Kven Finnish
                          • Ladino
                          • Ligurian
                          • Lombard
                          • Low German
                          • Luba-Lulua
                          • Luo (Kenya and Tanzania)
                          • Luxembourgish
                          • Madurese
                          • Makhuwa
                          • Makhuwa-Meetto
                          • Makonde
                          • Makwe
                          • Malagasy
                          • Malaysian
                          • Manx
                          • Maore Comorian
                          • Mapudungun
                          • Mauritian Creole
                          • Meriam Mir
                          • Meru
                          • Mezquital Otomi
                          • Minangkabau
                          • Mizo
                          • Mohawk
                          • Murrinh-Patha
                          • Mwani
                          • Mískito
                          • Naga Pidgin
                          • Ndonga
                          • Neapolitan
                          • Ngazidja Comorian
                          • Nobiin
                          • Nomatsiguenga
                          • North Ndebele
                          • Northern Qiandong Miao
                          • Northern Uzbek
                          • Norwegian
                          • Nyankole
                          • Occitan
                          • Ojitlán Chinantec
                          • Orma
                          • Oroqen
                          • Paluan
                          • Pampanga
                          • Papantla Totonac
                          • Papiamento
                          • Pedi
                          • Pichis Ashéninka
                          • Piemontese
                          • Pijin
                          • Pintupi-Luritja
                          • Pipil
                          • Pohnpeian
                          • Portuguese
                          • Potawatomi
                          • Purepecha
                          • Quechua
                          • Romansh
                          • Rotokas
                          • Rundi
                          • Rwa
                          • Samburu
                          • Sango
                          • Sangu (Tanzania)
                          • Saramaccan
                          • Sardinian
                          • Scottish Gaelic
                          • Secoya
                          • Sena
                          • Seri
                          • Seselwa Creole French
                          • Shambala
                          • Shawnee
                          • Shipibo-Conibo
                          • Shona
                          • Sicilian
                          • Soga
                          • Somali
                          • Soninke
                          • South Ndebele
                          • Southern Aymara
                          • Southern Qiandong Miao
                          • Southern Sami
                          • Spanish
                          • Sranan Tongo
                          • Standard Estonian
                          • Standard Malay
                          • Sundanese
                          • Swahili
                          • Swati
                          • Swedish
                          • Swiss German
                          • Tagalog
                          • Taita
                          • Tedim Chin
                          • Tetum
                          • Tetun Dili
                          • Tiv
                          • Tok Pisin
                          • Tonga (Zambia)
                          • Tosk Albanian
                          • Totontepec Mixe
                          • Tsonga
                          • Tswana
                          • Tumbuka
                          • Tzeltal
                          • Tzotzil
                          • Uab Meto
                          • Upper Guinea Crioulo
                          • Veps
                          • Võro
                          • Walloon
                          • Wangaaybuwan-Ngiyambaa
                          • Waray (Philippines)
                          • Warlpiri
                          • Wayuu
                          • West Central Oromo
                          • Western Abnaki
                          • Western Frisian
                          • Wik-Mungkan
                          • Wiradjuri
                          • Xhosa
                          • Yanesha'
                          • Yapese
                          • Yindjibarndi
                          • Yucateco
                          • Zulu
                          • Záparo

                          Credits

                          Leads

                          Borna Izadpanah Design

                          Borna Izadpanah is a Lecturer in Typography at the University of Reading, from where he was also awarded a PhD, and an MA in Typeface Design. His doctoral research explored the history of the early typographic representation of the Persian language. Borna has received numerous prestigious awards for his research and typeface design, including the Grand Prize and the First Prize for Arabic Text Typeface in the Granshan Type Design Competition, two Awards for Excellence in Type Design from the Type Directors Club, and the Symposia Iranica Prize for the best paper in Art History.

                          Assistance

                          Fiona Ross Art-direction
                          David Březina Latin design (Skolar Sans)
                          Sláva Jevčinová Latin design (Skolar Sans)
                          David Březina Production
                          Johannes Neumeier Font engineering