The article is about a series of T-shirts with Ukrainian fonts, presented at the Book Arsenal 2021 in Kyiv. The T-shirts feature the fonts of three popular Ukrainian type designers: Dmytro Rastvortsev, Kyrylo Tkachov, and the Shchedryk type community. I explain the background and style of each designer, encourage people to support Ukrainian fonts and use them in their projects. It is written in Ukrainian, but I’m ready to edit it and translate in English.
Isolated
The work is dedicated to the strength of civilian and military Ukrainians who are currently in russian captivity. Your home is waiting for you.
Noakin
Noakin is a distinctive and versatile sans-serif typeface for general practice: a workhorse grotesque designed to be clean and legible at all sizes. The typeface uses ink pastes and offers a shape to improve readability, providing a functional advantage for small sizes and, at the same time, a stylistic element for larger ones. There are five weights, from Light to Black, each with matching oblique italics. Noakin family covers most languages written with Latin and Cyrillic scripts.
36 Days of Type on Rentafont
Participating in a #36daysoftype challenge I decided to mix fonts in a certain way. For each letter I took a popular search tag, opened rentafont.com, and searched fonts for that tag. Then I’ve chosen 10-15 typical font styles and created a new font image, using equable blending. That’s how generalized font stereotypes appeared for delicious, fabulous, childish, martian, jazz, fonts. On the Ukrainian font stereotype, you can see how averaged images come out from fonts in Ukrainian style.
Telegraf. Воля (Volia)
Telegraf.Воля (Volia) showcases how the unique volia lifestyle shapes Ukrainian culture and defines its visual expression in design, fashion, filmmaking, and the history of Ukrainian art, which was repressed by the Soviet Union.
“Volia” is a unique Ukrainian word that means “will” and “freedom”, perfectly capturing the Ukrainian mindset.
The art book’s design captures the essence of Ukrainian visual traditions, centering around the main metaphor of a bird being released within the book’s pages
Love in the heart
One of three works united under the title “Peace, Hope & Love”. We all have love for our homeland. But in difficult times, you want to love it even more, especially when there is a chance of losing everything you have. Love gives us the inspiration to keep going.
A glimpse of hope
One of three works united under the title “Peace, Hope & Love”. The work depicts that despite the war and psychological oppression, people still have hope in their hearts. Hope for a better future
Cyrillic and Latin scripts in Ukrainian language
The article is about the comparison of Cyrillic and Latin alphabets in the Ukrainian language. I explore the history, features, and advantages of each alphabet, using frequency analysis of language corporas and show that there is no need to switch from Cyrillic to Latin. It is written in Ukrainian, but I’m ready to edit it and translate in English.
Puma
The puma, with its silent grace, fierce strength, and territorial courage, embodies a symbol of defense in the wild. This artwork celebrates the puma’s strong and resolute personality as a formidable protector. Inspired by Ukraine’s defenders.
Peace to Ukraine
One of three works united under the title “Peace, Hope & Love”. The work is dedicated to the peace that all Ukrainians have been waiting for so long. The work was painted with the hope that peace would come as soon as possible.
Typographic patriotism. How to get rid of Russian influence on Ukrainian design
The article is about the importance of using Ukrainian fonts instead of Russian ones, as a way of resisting cultural and economic colonization. It explains how fonts influence the perception and identity of a nation, and gives examples of how to choose and support Ukrainian fonts. I also introduce Rentafont, a service that offers many Ukrainian typefaces for various needs. It was written in Ukrainian, but I’m ready to edit it and translate in English.
Telegraf. Creativity of the Brave
Telegraf. Creativity of the Brave is an art book dedicated to visuals of the wartime. It is about a new reality where creativity is the weapon against the aggressor, and every graphic work is not only a symbol, but also an instrument of resistance.
An art book portrays the war in Ukraine
through the lens of art and graphics created by Ukrainian artists and designers during
the first months of the full-scale invasion.
Glued Moments: Reflecting Before and After
The series features double-exposure photos from various parts of Ukraine, including power grids in Lutsk and flowers on concrete in Kyiv. It also includes images of a flower placed in a zip bag within the concrete, symbolizing a second chance at life. Carpathian landscapes and urban scenes hold newfound significance. The series was rendered using cyanotype to emphasize the passage of time.
Avoiding problems
The work is in red and gray tones. The color scheme refers to the negativity of the action indicated in the title of the work. The person seems to see the problems that need to be solved, but chooses to ignore them and turns a blind eye.
It’s Time
The visuals for the track “It’s Time” reflect a sense of anger and loss, inspired by the significant events after February 24th. They illustrate the disintegration of cherished values and dreams, symbolized by an apple deteriorating, representing life and integrity. It’s a portrayal of uncontrollable entropy and the loss of a once-familiar world.
21st Century Ukrainian Society and Fonts
This is an updated text version of Yevgen Sadko’s speech at ATypI Paris 2023. A look at Ukrainian society as two groups: font users and font designers. Description of changes in attitude to fonts of these groups in four periods: 1991-2005 (post-Soviet time), 2005-2014 (awareness of independence), 2014-2022 (hybrid war), 2022-2023 (full-scale war).
The Analyst
The snake is like my inner protector. When I get scared by something that doesn’t pose any actual threat, I imagine there’s a little creature inside me. It checks for any real dangers, so I can stay calm and only react when there’s a genuine threat.
Embracing the light
A journey of hope and triumph over darkness.
Borsch
“Cossacks. The power of the earth”
The “Cossacks” series is based on a dedication to Ukrainian soldiers – the Cossacks of Ukraine.
Cossacks, as a symbol, who from time immemorial were the personification of strength, courage, valor, guarded the faith, protected their native land from invaders.
Now behind every defender, there is a strong Cossack who gives strength to fight like never before and not to retreat. A call to remember the strength of one’s family and native land.
font AksharaSaguna
Multilingual font besides Latin and Cyrillic includes both alphabets for so-named Hindustani — Urdu Arabic and Devanagari
Kvitka
Sans serif family Kvitka combine some of traditional Ukrainian letter shapes with contemporary vision. It makes a beautiful contrast that works really well with a modern design.
Vovkulaka
The mythological hero Vovkulaka (warewolf) in the form of a Cossack-bandurist Mamai. Reference to one of the most common folk heroes in Ukraine.
Bohuslav beer label
Beer label in Yiddish and Ukrainian for city Bohuslav