Patrick Zavadskis

• Niina
• Tutor(s): Indrek Sirkel
• Typeface and type specimen

“Niina” is a sans serif font based on the fusion of Latin and Cyrillic alphabets. The inspiration for the font came from the handwriting of Russian people who write Estonian as a second language in the Latin alphabet. The aim of the project is to investigate whether this phenomenon is a viable option to combine and update the alphabets and to bring different cultures together step by step through different means, or whether it is an impractical hobby project. The font is presented in a type specimen disguised as a cookbook, where it is possible to see its different possible uses and the entire set of characters. Both the typeface and type specimen are a direct interpretation of the author’s Russian-Estonian grandmother Niina Ponomarjova’s handwriting, whose handwritten recipes reflect not only the grandmother’s typographic decisions but also her values and historical background.

Special thanks to Aimur Takk, Andree Paat, Roman Gornitsky, Ivar Sakk, Sandra Nuut, Pärtel Eelmere, course mates, Margarita Zavadskis.