Arabic Design Adaptation in Qatar, QAR 2,300
Up to 15 assets, QAR 2,300. Arabic typography, right-to-left layout, and lockups built to match the English original.
This is adaptation, not translation. You supply the Arabic words. What happens here is the design work of making them sit properly, which is the part almost everybody gets wrong.
What "bolted on badly" looks like
An Arabic reader identifies a carelessly adapted design in about a second, the same way you would spot a logo set in a stretched typeface.
The recurring faults:
A Latin font's fallback Arabic
Many typefaces ship an Arabic face that was drawn as an afterthought, or none at all, so the system substitutes something that does not match in weight, contrast or proportion. The Arabic then looks like a different brand sitting next to the English.Arabic set smaller than the English
Arabic letterforms sit on a different vertical rhythm, with a smaller effective x-height and important detail below the baseline. Matched point-for-point with Latin, Arabic reads smaller and weaker. It usually needs to be set larger to carry equal weight.Stretched letters used to justify a line
Arabic has a legitimate device for extending connections, and it has rules. Software applying it mechanically to fill space produces text that reads as though it were pulled apart.Text centred by default
Arabic is right-aligned. Centring a paragraph is as odd as centring an English one.A layout flipped rather than mirrored
More on that below.Latin numerals and Arabic text mixed without a decision
Both conventions exist and both are correct in different contexts. Choosing neither, and ending up with a mixture, is the problem.
Mirroring is not flipping
The single most useful distinction on this page.
Flipping reverses everything, including things that should not reverse. Mirroring reverses reading order and the spatial logic that follows from it, while leaving alone the elements that carry their own meaning.
What mirrors: column order, navigation, the direction a progress indicator advances, table column order, form field alignment, the side a sidebar sits on, and directional arrows that mean "next" or "back".
What does not mirror: logos, photographs, clock faces, most product imagery, icons depicting real objects that have a fixed orientation, and anything where reversing it produces a mirror-written word.
Getting this wrong in either direction is visible. A layout where the logo has been flipped is as obviously broken as one where the navigation still runs left to right.
What QAR 2,300 covers
Up to 15 assets
adapted from your existing English setArabic typography
, using a typeface with a genuine Arabic cut chosen to match the weight and character of your Latin oneRight-to-left layout
, mirrored properly rather than flippedAn Arabic lockup
for your wordmark, built to the same weight and proportion as the Latin originalCalligraphic treatment where it suits the brand
, which is a deliberate choice instead of a default. It works for heritage, hospitality and government-facing work, and it is frequently wrong for technology or contracting.Two revision rounds
, with a third at QAR 350 if you want oneSource files
handed over once the invoice clears
An asset means one discrete deliverable: a social template, a brochure page, a sign, a menu panel, a document cover.
Where this gets used
Most commonly a business that has been operating in English and has reached the point where Arabic is no longer optional.
Signage, where bilingual is expected and often required. Menus, where the Arabic version is read by a substantial share of customers. Company profiles and tender documents, where the Arabic edition goes to government and semi-government buyers. Social templates, so the Arabic posts do not look like a different account. Packaging and labelling.
If you are building a bilingual site rather than adapting assets, the web design page covers that, and Arabic there is priced as a 35 to 50% addition because it is a layout decision, not an asset conversion.
What is excluded
Translation
You supply the Arabic text. This is a design service, and translation is a separate profession. Certified and legal translation especially so.Arabic copywriting
Writing original Arabic marketing copy is not offered. See Arabic SEO for where that capability stands.Printing, fabrication and installation
Photography
Not shot by Rankly.Licensed Arabic fonts
, quoted separately at cost. Good Arabic typefaces are frequently licensed separately from their Latin counterparts.
The translation exclusion is the one worth reading twice. Supplying English and expecting Arabic back is the most common misunderstanding about this service, and it is a different purchase.
How it is delivered
This one runs through the network's Arabic-capable designer, with Arbaz briefing and reviewing as on any other project.
The test brief for this service is checked by a native Arabic reader, not by Arbaz, because the whole value of the page is work that survives that reader's first glance, and he is not the person who can judge it. There is no studio in Doha.
What this costs
| Service | QAR |
|---|---|
| Arabic adaptation, up to 15 assets | 2,300 |
| Arabic lockup, included with any logo project | 0 |
| Bilingual website build | add 35 to 50% |
| Bilingual company profile | included at 4,900 |
| Additional revision round | 350 |
Arabic lockups are standard on every logo and identity project instead of an upsell. Full prices sit on the pricing page.
Questions we get asked
Do you translate the text?
No. You supply the Arabic. Design adaptation and translation are separate purchases, and combining them badly is how the result ends up reading as machine output.
Can you adapt assets we did not design?
Yes, provided the source files exist. Working from a flattened image means recreating rather than adapting, which costs more and is quoted separately.
Should our Arabic name be a translation or a transliteration?
Usually a transliteration, so it sounds like your name to an Arabic reader rather than meaning what your name means. Some brands genuinely want the meaning carried across. It is a brief decision and both are defensible.
Is calligraphy appropriate for our brand?
Sometimes, and it is a real question, not a styling choice. It suits heritage, hospitality and government-facing work and tends to sit poorly on technology or industrial brands. You get an opinion in place of a default.
How do we check the work if nobody internally reads Arabic?
Say so at the brief. Review by a native Arabic reader is arranged before delivery, which is the sensible answer and is far better than approving something you cannot evaluate.
Send the assets
Send your existing English assets, the Arabic text if you have it, and a note on where the adapted versions will appear. Signage, print and screen each pull the work in different directions.
If nobody in your team reads Arabic, say so and a native reviewer is arranged before anything is signed off.