The Breadwinner is an animated drama film from Irish animation studio Cartoon Saloon and directed by Nora Twomey. Based on the best-selling novel by Deborah Ellis, it tells the story of a little girl who lives under the Taliban regime.

The film is set in Afghanistan and Parvana is the name of the main little girl's character. CI Studio was commissioned by Cartoon Saloon to create a bespoke typeface for this exciting new project. Having previously worked with them on the type design for Song of the Sea, we were delighted to collaborate with them again.

We designed the original logotype from an existing font, giving it a slightly Arabic slant to suit the Afghan landscape in which the film is set. We worked with an expert in Arabic writing and calligraphy to create a corresponding piece of Nastaliq script and chose a secondary typeface, FF Amman which was developed for the city of Amman, Jordan.

Working in collaboration with type designer Bobby Tannam, we developed the full typeface, including an extensive character set to support, English, Irish, Danish, French and German versions of the film. This has been rolled out internationally for use in all film promotional material and activities.