El Messiri

sans-serif · Designed by Mohamed Gaber, Jovanny Lemonad

El Messiri: A quick movement of the enemy will jeopardize five gunboats

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What do I do with this?

Just want to use the font? Click "Get this font on Google Fonts" to download it or add it directly to a document, design tool (like Canva or Photoshop), or your computer's font list.

Building a website? Click "Copy Font Code" to copy a short snippet, then paste it into your website's HTML (usually inside the <head> section) to use this font on your site.

El Messiri is a sans-serif typeface that draws from Arabic calligraphic tradition while maintaining clean, geometric structure. Its letterforms have a distinctive warmth and slight organic quality that sets it apart from purely mechanical sans-serifs. The Latin characters complement the Arabic script closely in weight and proportion, giving it a balanced, culturally inclusive feel. It carries a sense of dignity and approachability without being overly decorative, and its medium contrast and open spacing make it reasonably legible at display sizes.

El Messiri works well as a heading or display font for brands that want to communicate craftsmanship, cultural identity, or a refined but accessible personality. It suits editorial contexts like magazine covers, cultural publication headers, or food and lifestyle brand identities where a touch of character is welcome. It also fits naturally in web interfaces for platforms targeting Arabic and Latin bilingual audiences, particularly in navigation labels or section titles where its dual-script design gives visual consistency across both languages.

Best suited for: Consider El Messiri for bilingual editorial headers, cultural brand identities, and display contexts where warm geometric forms and dual-script consistency strengthen visual communication.

Design considerations: El Messiri offers four weight options from regular to bold, supporting flexible typographic hierarchy in headlines and interface labels. Its balanced Latin-Arabic proportions and open spacing recommend it particularly for projects serving multilingual audiences or celebrating cultural design sensibility.

Pairing guidance: Pair El Messiri's distinctive display warmth with Lora for sophisticated editorial layouts where serif body text grounds decorative headers, Source Sans 3 for contemporary interfaces requiring neutral sans-serif body copy and navigation support, or Playfair Display for high-contrast luxury editorial where both fonts share serif elegance but El Messiri leads as the culturally distinctive voice.

Pairs well with

Lora Source Sans 3 Playfair Display

El Messiri at a glance

Designer

Mohamed Gaber, Jovanny Lemonad

License

SIL Open Font License 1.1

Added to Google Fonts

May 2016

Last updated

September 2025

Styles

4 (4 weights)

Variable font

Yes: weight 400–700

Classification

Sans Serif

Character sets

4

Distributed via

Google Fonts

All 4 El Messiri styles

Weight Name Upright
400 Regular Aa Bb Gg 123
500 Medium Aa Bb Gg 123
600 SemiBold Aa Bb Gg 123
700 Bold Aa Bb Gg 123

El Messiri character map

Uppercase

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Lowercase

a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z

Numbers and punctuation

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 ! ? & @ # % $ € £ ( ) [ ] { } . , : ; " ' - / * + =

Arabic (sample)

ا ب ت ث ج ح خ د ذ ر ز س ش ص ض ط ظ ع غ ف ق ك ل م ن ه و ي

Cyrillic (sample)

А Б В Г Д Е Ж З И Й К Л М Н О П Р С Т У Ф Х Ц Ч Ш Щ Ъ Ы Ь Э Ю Я а б в г д е ж з и й к л м н

Latin Extended (sample)

Ā Ă Ą Ć Č Ď Đ Ē Ę Ě Ğ Ī Į İ Ĺ Ľ Ł Ń Ň Ő Œ Ř Ś Ş Š Ť Ů Ű Ź Ż Ž

Which languages does El Messiri support?

El Messiri includes 4 character sets:

  • Arabic: Arabic, Persian and Urdu
  • Cyrillic: Russian, Ukrainian, Bulgarian, Serbian and other Cyrillic-script languages
  • Latin: English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese and other Western European languages
  • Latin Extended: Central and Eastern European languages such as Polish, Czech, Turkish, Romanian and Hungarian

Can I use El Messiri commercially?

Yes, it's free for personal and commercial use. El Messiri is released under the SIL Open Font License 1.1. You can use it in logos, websites, apps, videos, printed products and merchandise without paying or asking permission. The one thing you can't do is sell the font file on its own.

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El Messiri FAQ

Is El Messiri free for commercial use?

Yes. El Messiri is licensed under the SIL Open Font License 1.1, so you can use it in commercial projects, including logos, client work and products you sell.

Which weights does El Messiri include?

El Messiri includes 4 weights, from Regular (400) to Bold (700). There are no italic styles. It's also a variable font, so any weight between 400 and 700 is available.

Does El Messiri support Cyrillic?

Yes. El Messiri includes Cyrillic characters, so it works for Russian, Ukrainian, Bulgarian and Serbian text. It also supports Arabic, Latin and Latin Extended.

Who designed El Messiri?

El Messiri was designed by Mohamed Gaber, Jovanny Lemonad. It was added to Google Fonts in May 2016.