Cyrillicsly

Cyrillic Type Design: a Critical Context

There is no universal recipe for designing Cyrillic. That is why here in the blog we would like to emphasise the diversity within the Cyrillic script, rather than propose an arbitrary set of golden rules. A typeface, as a piece of design, is created for a specific purpose, it solves a particular set of problems, obeys certain limitations. Equally, it has to be innovative, it has to create new character. We can’t forget what was done in the past, but at the same time we can’t ignore the present. When dealing with Cyrillic—whether you choose to stick to tradition or be experimental—what is most important is consistency.

Here we would like to pose several questions and hope that our colleagues will be more open to discussion.

Is Cyrillic developing or just following conventions?

Many foreign and native designers feel nostalgic to history. They blindly follow old conventions, whatever typeface they work on. The problem is, we see historical models differently—an existing model in Latin, when applied to Cyrillic, can have a completely different connotation or feel. A typeface stops being respectful to the history, when it becomes a gimmick, an unintended reference to an old and often not very good typography. As the result the Cyrillic looks more Cyrillic than it has to be.

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For our talk at ATypI, we were looking for a way to highlight the difference between Russian and Bulgarian Cyrillics. We came up with the idea of creating an interpolatable version of the stylistic alternates. The typeface is William by Maria Doreuli. She created the video using Robofont, Superpolator and DrawBot

Two Cyrillics: a Critical View on History

It seemed like it would never happen, but here it comes — our first article. We are finally alive! We would like present an extended summary of our talks at AtypI in Amsterdam and at Serebero nabora in Moscow. The topics of the talks were similar, but viewed from a contrasting angle, because of the different public, foreign and native. The article doesn’t attempt to cover all aspects of the topic thoroughly, but is a starting point for many more interesting discussions to come!

Introduction

Cyrillic, and probably other foreign scripts, are often considered as a script that designers and type designers do not appreciate. The problem is in it’s close connection to Latin. Cyrillic has a lot of shapes that are familiar to the eye of a person who is used to Latin… but they just look weird. All those flipped letters Я Э Ф З Ж, lowercase which does not really look like lowercase, but like small caps… But the script is what it is and its characteristics should be respected, not ignored.

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