Referencing illuminated manuscripts and traditional bookbinding methods, the design used a speckled, fibrous paper for the book’s inner pages paired with tipped-in sheets, manuscript-style binding, gilded edges and elaborate debossed, gold-foil details inspired by Ottoman patterns.

Typeset in English and Arabic, the book strikes a harmonious balance between the left-to-right set Roman characters and the right-to-left set Arabic letterforms that sit beautifully alongside calligraphic artworks. Using specialist software called Tasmeem, each line of Arabic display type was intricately word-shaped to visually match the digital typography with the sweeping calligraphic letterforms.

In addition to the faux-leather mass produced version, published by Ihsan Press, Inspiral Design produced an exquisite limited edition real leather bound version of Songs of Presence with a special suede case.