#VICTORYFONT: A TYPEFACE TO REMEMBER

Title#VICTORYFONT: A TYPEFACE TO REMEMBER
BrandRT
Product/ServiceCUSTOM TYPEFACE
Category A01. Brand & Communications Design
Entrant RT Moscow, RUSSIA
Idea Creation RT Moscow, RUSSIA
Media Placement RT Moscow, RUSSIA
Production CONTRAST FOUNDRY San Francisco, CA, USA
Credits
Name Company Position
Kirill Karnovich-Valua RT Creative Director
Revaz Todua RT Designer
Ania Fedorova RT Producer
Maria Doreuli Contrast Foundry Designer
Nikita Sapozhkov Contrast Foundry Designer
Liza Rasskazova Contrast Foundry Designer
Gleb Burashov RT Social Media Strategy
Elena Medvedeva RT Producer
Eldar Salamov RT Producer
Lilly Kazakova RT PR Director
Ivor Crotty RT Producer
Ivan Fursov RT Producer
Katya Motyakina RT Producer
Alexey Rubishev Alexey Rubishev Motion Graphics
Margo Tskhovrebova RT Administrative Manager

Cultural / Context information for the jury

The Great Patriotic War started for USSR on June 22, 1941, and lasted till May 9, 1945. As time goes by, witnesses of those 1418 days of hell are passing away. We — the younger generations — have become heirs to that Victory and are blessed to live in peace thanks to those who protected our future from Nazism. It is up to us to preserve their stories so that these memories can live through us. Berlin, May 1945. Victorious soldiers leave inscriptions on the Reichstag walls. Today most of these inscriptions can be seen only in photo archives and museums. On the 75th anniversary of the Victory, we decided to bring them back to life. Together with type studio Сontrast Foundry, we have created a unique font compiled from hundreds of original historical inscriptions. Behind each font character there is a real letter, hand-written by soldiers 75 years ago.

Tell the jury about the typography.

The font creates a visual link between the past and the present, between the heroes of The Victory and us. It is a tool to commemorate the veterans and send a message of peace. When large, the font’s texture is very distinct, when small, the texture is hardly visible leaving only smoothness in type. This was achieved by writing an algorithm that modified the letter’s contours. It didn’t just mechanically make them ‘ragged’, but allowed us to emphasize the font’s natural feel. If you look at the individual symbols and the alphabet, the font may seem a little wild. But combined in words and phrases, this wildness miraculously transforms, creating a hand-written style. Abrupt and tense, the font isn’t trying to please anyone. This font is both historical, referring to wartime, but also modern, unlike anything the world of typography has seen before — exactly because of this wildness.