Russian graphic designer’s winning project revives pre-revolutionary alphabet

Russian graphic designer Polina Hohonova has won a prestigious Black Pencil at this year’s D&AD New Blood Awards for her typography project Retro Serif.

Hohonova’s project is a response to a brief by digital typeface specialists Monotype, which called for a work that would “use the power of typography to activate your cause”.

Retro Serif centres on those letters of the Russian alphabet that were removed by the Bolsheviks after the Russian Revolution. According to Hohonova, the letters I, Ѳ, Ѣ were eliminated from the “new” alphabet because they were seen as emblematic of “High Russian” and Tsarist Russia.

“Reviving these characters is a protest against the prescribed dictatorship of the language,” she claims.

The D&AD New Blood Awards celebrate exceptional creativity among students and recent graduates. Entrants must respond to briefs set by a range of brands, charities and other organisations.

Source: Creative Review