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 topics 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.
Another aspect is that Cyrillic is often associated with Russian Cyrillic, which is not correct. It is used in a other areas and consists of much more letters than what you can see in Basic Cyrillic encoding. Not to mention an often ignored fact that Basic Cyrillic has its country preferences.
In our talk we focused on the relationship between Bulgarian and Russian Cyrillic, subject that causes a lot of arguments in both Bulgaria and Russia. We decided to explore this tension through several themes:
IDENTITY vs CONFORMITY
It is impossible to talk about Cyrillic without mentioning Cyril and Methodius, who are considered as the creators of the Glagolitic script, which they used to popularise Christianity among the Slavic peoples.
There are several theories surrounding the exact origin and development of the Cyrillic and Glagolitic scripts: which one was created first, where did it originate from, who created it, where were all the signs of the Cyrillic alphabet taken from. Since the creation and spread of both scripts had such an important impact on the cultural development of all the Slavic people, most historical references describe Cyril and Methodius and their students with such fascination and exaggeration, that it's difficult to differentiate historical facts from fairy-tales.
Confusingly enough, the Christian Orthodox tradition often depicts Cyril and Methodius, holding a scroll with the Cyrillic script.
It is more likely however that Cyril and Methodius students created the Cyrillic script, commissioned by the Boris I, the leader of the First Bulgarian Empire. Boris saw the great potential of introducing a new script and leaving behind the Greek script that was commonly used until then. The spread of the Cyrillic script had a great influence of the development of the country. The new script became a manifestation of cultural independence. In difficult historical times, it also served as a tool for its preservation — of the language, of history, of and through writing.
Cyrillic spread across different countries and developed in different styles throughout the years, depending on the usage: official documents, religious text, less formal documents or short-hand notes…
PROGRESS vs TRADITION
Talking about the development of Cyrillic, we can't ignore the beginning of the XVIII century, when Russian tsar Peter the Great initiated a reform of the alphabet. His dream was to import european science, technology and art to Russia. The new design of the alphabet became a way to bring new knowledge.
Often considered as a forced process, this reform was not just the result of made up spontaneous decision. To see what actually happened you have to look not only at the evolution of printed books, but also at the engravings and writing from the end of the XVII century.
Both engraving and writing have to be regarded as the premises of the future reform. They show a growing influence of european typography and Latin script.
It is clear that the closer contact between the Russian Empire and Europe had its influence. Besides all the technical knowledge Peter the Great brought to the country, culture was also affected. Looking toward modernisation of the country, Peter the Great's goal was to organise printing of mathematical, geographical and other kinds of educational literature in the beginning of the 18th century and to make it more accessible to the public. The reform did not just set up the new typographic rules officially. Newly printed books that appeared after the reform completely changed their look, although they still had a national flavour. The new typeface was not only a technicality but also an aesthetic element of the book design. With a later evolution of the typefaces, the book typography was becoming lighter, cleaner and simpler. The example you see below was printed in the end of the XVIII century.
The reform of the alphabet had it's political reasons. It was the way of breaking away from tradition and religious connotations of the script.
The new look of Cyrillic spread and influenced a wide range of countries, Bulgaria as well. The reform became a starting point and a direction for the further changes which has an influence on Cyrillic even now.
BULGARIAN vs RUSSIAN
And while printing in Russia was developing very rapidly, Bulgaria was set back nearly 500 years due to the rule of the Ottoman empire, when printing in Cyrillic was very limited. During that time it was mainly the manuscript and handwriting tradition developed. A proof of that is one of the first widely available to the public printed books from 1824, which still used a vey formal manuscript style.
Printing, done rarely and sometimes illegally (in the case of newspapers of the rebels and revolutionaries), was done with the only movable type available at that time — the Russian.
It was the strong use of manuscripts that defined the shapes of the Cyrillic letters in the Bulgarian tradition. A lot of the shapes in Bulgarian Cyrillic kept reference to the handwritten form, as people were much more used to them.
In the very few examples available from the period between the Liberation from the Ottoman empire (1878) and the beginning of the Socialist era (1944) we see a mixture of the handwritten tradition with the influence of the Russian Cyrillic printing types.
During the Socialist era a certain duality developed. Bulgarian printing types were still not available, thus everything was printed in Russian types. At the same time Bulgarian Cyrillic was present in everyday visual communication: book covers, posters, advertisements, packaging etc. One of its most prominent uses was on street signs, some of which are preserved until today and serve as monuments to the developing Bulgarian Cyrillic tradition.
A manifestation of this development was the work of Vasil Ionchev, who took the Bulgarian Cyrillic even further, taking influence not only from the handwriting, but also from the shapes of Latin. His books are a record of Bulgarian types, most of which unfortunately were never produced as types and were only used as lettering.
Bulgarian typography and type design did not overcome the technical limitations until digital type came, when it was finally possible to print long pieces of text in Bulgarian Cyrillic. Cyrillic in Bulgaria changed a lot during the last century and it is still growing now.
Distinction between Russian and Bulgarian Cyrillic can't be described in one set of rules, it always depends on a style of the typeface. But this difference it cannot be ignored.
Here is a demonstration of it:
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 topics 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.
Another aspect is that Cyrillic is often associated with Russian Cyrillic, which is not correct. It is used in a other areas and consists of much more letters than what you can see in Basic Cyrillic encoding. Not to mention an often ignored fact that Basic Cyrillic has its country preferences.
In our talk we focused on the relationship between Bulgarian and Russian Cyrillic, subject that causes a lot of arguments in both Bulgaria and Russia. We decided to explore this tension through several themes:
IDENTITY vs CONFORMITY
It is impossible to talk about Cyrillic without mentioning Cyril and Methodius, who are considered as the creators of the Glagolitic script, which they used to popularise Christianity among the Slavic peoples.
There are several theories surrounding the exact origin and development of the Cyrillic and Glagolitic scripts: which one was created first, where did it originate from, who created it, where were all the signs of the Cyrillic alphabet taken from. Since the creation and spread of both scripts had such an important impact on the cultural development of all the Slavic people, most historical references describe Cyril and Methodius and their students with such fascination and exaggeration, that it's difficult to differentiate historical facts from fairy-tales.
Confusingly enough, the Christian Orthodox tradition often depicts Cyril and Methodius, holding a scroll with the Cyrillic script.
It is more likely however that Cyril and Methodius students created the Cyrillic script, commissioned by the Boris I, the leader of the First Bulgarian Empire. Boris saw the great potential of introducing a new script and leaving behind the Greek script that was commonly used until then. The spread of the Cyrillic script had a great influence of the development of the country. The new script became a manifestation of cultural independence. In difficult historical times, it also served as a tool for its preservation — of the language, of history, of and through writing.
Cyrillic spread across different countries and developed in different styles throughout the years, depending on the usage: official documents, religious text, less formal documents or short-hand notes…
PROGRESS vs TRADITION
Talking about the development of Cyrillic, we can't ignore the beginning of the XVIII century, when Russian tsar Peter the Great initiated a reform of the alphabet. His dream was to import european science, technology and art to Russia. The new design of the alphabet became a way to bring new knowledge.
Often considered as a forced process, this reform was not just the result of made up spontaneous decision. To see what actually happened you have to look not only at the evolution of printed books, but also at the engravings and writing from the end of the XVII century.
Both engraving and writing have to be regarded as the premises of the future reform. They show a growing influence of european typography and Latin script.
It is clear that the closer contact between the Russian Empire and Europe had its influence. Besides all the technical knowledge Peter the Great brought to the country, culture was also affected. Looking toward modernisation of the country, Peter the Great's goal was to organise printing of mathematical, geographical and other kinds of educational literature in the beginning of the 18th century and to make it more accessible to the public. The reform did not just set up the new typographic rules officially. Newly printed books that appeared after the reform completely changed their look, although they still had a national flavour. The new typeface was not only a technicality but also an aesthetic element of the book design. With a later evolution of the typefaces, the book typography was becoming lighter, cleaner and simpler. The example you see below was printed in the end of the XVIII century.
The reform of the alphabet had it's political reasons. It was the way of breaking away from tradition and religious connotations of the script.
The new look of Cyrillic spread and influenced a wide range of countries, Bulgaria as well. The reform became a starting point and a direction for the further changes which has an influence on Cyrillic even now.
BULGARIAN vs RUSSIAN
And while printing in Russia was developing very rapidly, Bulgaria was set back nearly 500 years due to the rule of the Ottoman empire, when printing in Cyrillic was very limited. During that time it was mainly the manuscript and handwriting tradition developed. A proof of that is one of the first widely available to the public printed books from 1824, which still used a vey formal manuscript style.
Printing, done rarely and sometimes illegally (in the case of newspapers of the rebels and revolutionaries), was done with the only movable type available at that time — the Russian.
It was the strong use of manuscripts that defined the shapes of the Cyrillic letters in the Bulgarian tradition. A lot of the shapes in Bulgarian Cyrillic kept reference to the handwritten form, as people were much more used to them.
In the very few examples available from the period between the Liberation from the Ottoman empire (1878) and the beginning of the Socialist era (1944) we see a mixture of the handwritten tradition with the influence of the Russian Cyrillic printing types.
During the Socialist era a certain duality developed. Bulgarian printing types were still not available, thus everything was printed in Russian types. At the same time Bulgarian Cyrillic was present in everyday visual communication: book covers, posters, advertisements, packaging etc. One of its most prominent uses was on street signs, some of which are preserved until today and serve as monuments to the developing Bulgarian Cyrillic tradition.
A manifestation of this development was the work of Vasil Ionchev, who took the Bulgarian Cyrillic even further, taking influence not only from the handwriting, but also from the shapes of Latin. His books are a record of Bulgarian types, most of which unfortunately were never produced as types and were only used as lettering.
Bulgarian typography and type design did not overcome the technical limitations until digital type came, when it was finally possible to print long pieces of text in Bulgarian Cyrillic. Cyrillic in Bulgaria changed a lot during the last century and it is still growing now.
Distinction between Russian and Bulgarian Cyrillic can't be described in one set of rules, it always depends on a style of the typeface. But this difference it cannot be ignored.
Here is a demonstration of it: