Design Doha's bilingual identity: make room for both languages from the start

A second language deserves a place in the brief before the first layout is finished. Samar Maakaroun and her team at Pentagram approach the Design Doha Biennial identity as a shared Arabic-and-English composition. The agency describes extended letter strokes connecting elements across a flexible system. Its stated aim is parity between the scripts, not a readability result PING has tested.

Start with the information people need

For your own bilingual poster, start with the job rather than the lettering. Write down what a reader must find: the event, date, location and next action, for example. Then match those items across the language versions. An impressive title cannot compensate for missing booking instructions in one language. This is a proposed production checklist, not a finding about the Doha materials.

Agree who checks meaning and names before approval. Ask the appropriate language reviewer to confirm the whole message, including short labels, numbers and directions. Keep that approved wording with the working file so a late layout change does not quietly reintroduce an earlier version. Leave uncertain wording flagged rather than making a translation look final because it fits the available space.

For a recurring event, keep one short checklist of the details that change each time. Review the date, venue and action in both versions together after an update, rather than approving the English copy and assuming the translated artwork followed it.

Give the translation a working file

The W3C's internationalisation guidance advises keeping text on a separate layer when supplying graphics for localisation, and allowing room for translation. Put that into the handover: provide editable wording, identify the approved version and show where it belongs. Try the longest real heading in the intended format. If it breaks the layout, revise the layout and review the wording together rather than simply shrinking one language.

Carry the brief onto the web

A poster and a web page have different production needs. W3C distinguishes language declarations from handling right-to-left text, and recommends visible navigation to available language versions using their own language and script. Include those requirements in a web brief instead of assuming an image containing both languages completes the job. This is general background, not a claim about how the Biennial's site was built or how it performs.

Ask someone to use the layout

Before releasing your own design, ask readers of each language to find the same practical detail. Show the actual small screen, printed page or sign they would encounter, where feasible. Record what they could not find and the corrections needed. A preference for a colour is different from difficulty finding the date; keep both observations without treating them as the same problem.

That exercise can serve a small studio in London or North Africa without copying Doha's identity or assuming the same language pair suits every audience. Choose languages from the people you are actually addressing. The suggested check has not been run by PING and cannot establish that a design works for every reader.

Keep the people and the dates specific

Pentagram's project credits name Maakaroun, Jacob Chung, Jess Yanzio, Giulia Saporito, Caroline Fay Fright and Jonathan Nielsen, with the Design Doha Marketing Team as collaborators. The organiser's current programme lists a 5 November 2026 opening and exhibitions continuing until 31 January 2027. The event is still ahead at our 29 October check; this is a design explainer, not a visit report or a new launch today.

Take the brief seriously in both languages: content, working files and the intended reader. Follow the original project for the designers' account, and explore more source-led creative practice in PING's reading archive.