Kourosh Beigpour: Jin — PREORDER

PREORDERS SHIP IN JUNE June 2026, English, Laki, 5 x 8 in., 28 pages, riso, softcover, staple-bound Edition of 200 Design: Kourosh Beigpour & Sming Sming Books Printing: Irrelevant Press Of the 7000+ human languages in the world, between 50–100 are supported digitally, with 10 languages making up 82% of all internet content. This booklet is part of series that highlights the work of designers who are creating digital typefaces for languages or writing systems that are underrepresented or entirely unsupported within current operating systems, keyboards, and digital technologies at large. The process for developing such typefaces requires intensive research, often with ongoing community collaboration and feedback. By providing a digital application for these languages, the type designers featured in this series contribute to the longevity of a language, and in turn, its cultural knowledges, oral histories, and ways of thinking. Kourosh Beigpour's Jin is a digital typeface for Laki, a Kurdish language spoken in Western Iran and part of the Northwestern Iranian branch of the Indo-European family. Laki's linguistic structure preserves elements believed to descend from older Iranian forms, often linked to early stages of Old Persian. These layered histories give Laki a distinctive place within the linguistic landscape of Iran. Traditionally, the Laki language has been written in two ways, with examples of it being written using the Kurdish and Persian alphabet. Despite being spoken by several million people, the language has remained largely absent from the digital typographic environment. This project is made in partnership with SILICON (the Stanford Initiative on Language Inclusion and Conservation in Old and New Media). Kourosh Beigpour is an award-winning graphic artist, type designer, and independent scholar whose work explores the relationship between typography, language, and cultural identity. Originally from Kermanshah, Iran, and now based in Los Angeles, his practice brings together design, history, and linguistic research to examine how visual systems shape cultural memory and communication. Beigpour is the founder of K-B Studio, established in 2011, where he develops projects that combine contemporary graphic design with a deep engagement in Iranian visual culture and mysticism. His work often focuses on typography as a cultural medium, exploring how letterforms can reflect historical memory, linguistic identity, and philosophical ideas. Stanford Initiative on Language Inclusion and Conservation in Old and New Media (SILICON) believes that your “home screen” should feel like home. SILICON is a Stanford Presidential initiative, supported by UNESCO, that focuses on advancing digital inclusion and empowerment for the more than 6000 languages left behind in the Digital Age. SILICON works with communities, linguists, technologists, and more to develop the foundational building blocks of the digital age, including typefaces, keyboards, and UX/UI datasets.