!nderstanding Cyrillic type in visual communication: An approach to define the basics of Cyrillic script for non-native graphic designers Iana Vekshyna Bachelor's Thesis in Graphic Design & Visual Communication Berlin International University of Applied Sciences !nderstanding Cyrillic type in visual communication: An approach to define the basics of Cyrillic script for non-native graphic designers Iana Vekshyna Spring Semester 2020 Bachelor's Thesis in Graphic Design & Visual Communication Berlin International University of Applied Sciences Advisor: Prof. Alexander Tibus Second Examiner: Ben Wittner, Dipl.-Des. Contents 1. I!troductio! 4 6. Letters 6.1 General information 28 2. Methodology 5 6.2 Peculiarities of Cyrillic characters 30 6.3 Conclusion 53 3. Releva!ce 3.1 Basic information 8 7. Project 55 3.2 Fashion & trends 9 3.3 Issues & solutions 11 8. Bibliography 8.1 Books 62 4. History 8.2 Websites 62 4.1 Origin 16 8.3 Tables & figures 65 4.2 Petrine reform 20 4.3 Soviet period 22 9. Appe!dix 9.1 Preliminary intervieWs 68 5. Typography 9.2 Interview with type designer 70 5.1 General guidelines 25 9.3 Interview with graphic designer 75 Introduction Methodology In the current conditions of active development of globalisation constant inter- The topic of the thesis is aimed at readers, Who are not native to Cyrillic script, action between cultures strongly influences society’s everyday life. People learn and don’t possess the knowledge of reading and speaking Russian or other Cyril- about other cultures, get exposed to products, hear the neWs about countries that lic-based languages. On the initial stages a preliminary research Was conducted they didn’t even suspect existed several years ago. Individual cultural landscapes in order to understand how non-native graphic designers perceive Cyrillic script, are expanding and becoming more diverse thanks to the development of digital and to identify the possible approaches of explaining the topic. Short intervieWs media. with 5 respondents (graphic designers from 5 different countries, non-native to Cyrillic script) have shown, that intervieWees perceive Cyrillic characters as sym- Language and script are two essential components of cultural identification. For bols With deep history and a requirement of understanding the details in order visual communicators in particular, language and more specifically, type, is one to Work With them. Inability to read the text Was mentioned as one of the major of the most powerful tools for conveying messages and creating meaning. Cur- obstacles in working with the script. Respondents have also mentioned that Cyril- rent design practices show that proficiency in foreign languages is not particularly lic script visually reminds Latin. (Appendix 9.1, page 66) necessary in order to work with foreign script systems.¹ Studying and learning the distinctive typographic rules and type structure characteristics of the script prove Therefore it was decided to base the explanation of the topic on the comparison to be an adequate base for creating successful multi-scriptual design projects. of Cyrillic and Latin type, as the closest by origin and visual characteristics, and most common script system in graphic design field. esearchR also contains a This thesis specifically focuses on the rules, peculiarities and history of Cyril- table of Russian alphabet with approximate English phonetic equivalents (page 7), lic type. Foreign scripts might look alien and even somewhat intimidating at first Which might help the non-native audience to acquire the primary skills of reading sight, hoWever Cyrillic is very close to Latin in terms of origin, development and Cyrillic text. typographic rules. Latin graphic is the foundation of modern Cyrillic type. In the “Letters” chapter the characters of Russian alphabet are either structur- Like Latin, Cyrillic is a script Written from left to right. Characters in both types ally compared to the corresponding Latin characters or demonstrate, how Cyril- share basic common features, such as hight, Width, contrasts, angles of boWls, lic characters can be created out of Latin ones by the method of type cyrillization. serifs, stems, strokes. 16 uppercase and 12 loWercase characters in modern Cyril- The aim of this approach is to not only teach graphic designers to identify good lic fonts have identical letterforms in Latin. ² quality fonts, but also familiarise with the alphabet. The research is based on primary and secondary sources. The primary sources are the above mentioned structured preliminary intervieWs, and semi-structured interviews with Cyrillic type and graphic design specialists from Russia and Ukraine (Appendix 9.2 & 9.3, pages 68-76). The secondary source is the analysis of relevant literature and articles from English- and Russian-speaking sources. 1. Wittner, “Bi-Scriptual”, 7. 4 2. Yukechev, “Cyrillic Type Travel Book”, 166. 5 Russia! alphabet There is a difference in the way we pronounce the letters of the alphabet, and the sounds they actually represent. The following Table 1 provides the approximate English phonetic equivalents of each letter of the Russian alphabet. ³ Aa Бб Вв Гг Дд A as in "father" B as in "bad" V as in "vine" G as in "good" D as in "do" Ее Ёё Жж Зз Ии YE as in "yes" YO as in "your" ZH as in "pleasure" Z as in "zoo" I as in "police" Йй Кк л м н Y as in "toy" K as in "kept" L as in "line" M as in "map" N as in "not" о п р с т O as in "more" P as in "pet" rolled R S as in "set" T as in "top" у Фф Хх Цц Чч U as in "tool" F as in "face" H as in "hole" TS as in "tsar" CH as in "check" Шш Щщ Ъъ Ыы Ьь SH as in "sharp" SHCH as in "fresh cheese" hard sign IH as in "ill" soft sign Ээ Юю Яя E as in "met" YU as in "use" YA as in "yard" 6 3. Wikipedia, “Russian alphabet”. countries. It is still only being taught in about a dozen high education institutions. HoWever in the last ten years the industry has made a strong push toWards the R v n revival of Cyrillic type and graphic design. This has encouraged the emergence of ele a ce new type foundries, the formation of a relevant professional community and coop- 3.1 Basic i!formatio! eration with Western designers. Today the Cyrillic alphabet is used by around 250 million people in the World.₄ The largest amount of users stem from Russia, Ukraine and Belarus. Upon Bul- garia entering the European Union in 2007, Cyrillic became the third official 3.2 Fashio! & tre!ds script of the European Union, after Latin and Greek scripts. 5 The extended Cyril- lic alphabet is used by more than 100 languages and includes more than 145 let- ters 6, but this book focuses on the exploration of Russian alphabet and its 33 In the last 15 years Cyrillic type has become more visible in Western countries. letters in particular, since it’s the most used. After the collapse of Soviet Union and the fall of the Iron Curtain, Which sepa- rated the Eastern block from the developing West, a neW generation of artists and The Cyrillic alphabet Was invented specifically for its languages and special designers has been given an opportunity to join the world arena and demonstrate sounds. A single letter represents a single sound, which makes the reading pro- their talent. Emerging Eastern European fashion brands, such as Gosha Rubchin- cess fairly easy. Each word is pronounced the way it is written, unlike for example sky, Vatements, Andrey Artyomov made a major break through across runWays in in French or English where a combination of several letters may produce different Paris, London and New York, proudly flashing Cyrillic slogans and a trashy style of sounds. For a foreigner, it would be enough to learn the sounds that each letter the underprivileged soviet working class. 8 As for the graphic design world, inter- represents, in order to be able to read straight aWay. While Latin-based languages national interest was allegedly sparked in 2003 after the launch of “Russian Crimi- use diacritics to represent special regional sounds, in Cyrillic the characters often nal Tattoo Encyclopaedia” published by Fuel. tend to change their letterform rather then acquire a diacritical element. 7 For foreigners, Cyrillic letters looked mysterious and exotic, similar to a trend in Japanese kanji tattoos earlier. Both Western and Eastern European youth quickly took on a style that represented the crazy, adventurous and controversial life of the post-Soviet 90s – an association With exciting, exotic, trashy youth, Which they Кк Ққ Ҟҟ Ҡҡ Ӄӄ Ҝҝ never had. This Way Cyrillic quickly found its Way into the underground scene, and from there was adopted by musicians and designers in a search for a rough and unpolished expression. “Cyrillic letters – flat, angular and heavy – are not loved Ее Ёё Ӗӗ Ҽҽ Ҿҿ Єє for their beauty, but for being different, alienating and even slightly intimidating,” Fig.1 Variations of Cyrillic letters K and E in different languages mentions Anastasiia Fedorova in her article for the Calvert Journal. 9 Cyrillic type as We knoW it today is still in development. In the 18th century it Went The social and political situation of the last tWo decades in Eastern Europe has through a drastic redesign executed by a person, who was neither a type designer also greatly influenced the popularisation of the script. Before then no one had nor had any knowledge of the field. In addition to this, decades of stagnation in an idea what was going on in that part of the world, but in the last 25 years East- type design during the Soviet times have resulted in a 300 year quest for harmony ern European countries through several loud political statements, even revo- and a unified construction system of all characters, which continues today.