Google already offers some of their services in Arabic. However, I find that the designs are not very accessible and don’t represent the Google aesthetic. So, I redesigned some of them while fixing some of their issues.
I did an analysis of the Google’s Search webpage that already exists in Arabic. It helped me point out the issues in the design which I fixed to make it user friendly.
There were two main problems. On one hand, the mix of both Latin and Arabic characters in the same composition can be confusing for the viewer. Your eyes keeps on switching from reading on the right for the English words to the left to read the Arabic world. I fixed that issue by keeping everything in Arabic. And on the other hand, the second issue was the Arabic typeface used.
I call this traditional Arabic typeface the equivalent of a Blackletter typeface. They are both very old typefaces that are based on the way calligraphers used to handwrite the letters. We can see in both of them the marks of the brush that was used and they also have some extra ornaments that complicate the letters.
Although it’s still common to see body of texts with this traditional Arabic typeface, it makes the composition look dense and heavy. Plus, it does not represent the Google aesthetic which is more of a modern look and doesn’t match Google’s Latin typeface which is a geometric sans serif. That’s why I designed a modern sans serif Arabic typeface that I used for my compositions.
Here are the various webpages I redesigned;
Google Search
Google Search Results
Google Chrome
Google Translate
While working on these services, I noticed that Google finds solutions to many problems. However, not all of these problems are applicable in Lebanon. Therefore, for my prototype to embody the Lebanese culture, it needed to have a service specifically made for the country.
When I got to designing the Arabic version of Google Translate, it reminded me of an issue we face in Lebanon while translating from the Spoken Arabic to the Modern Standard Arabic (MSA). The solution to this problem is a new service I came up with called Google Fos7a. I designed the webpage, mobile application, and advertisement videos and posters for it.