Typeface Design for CSTM Fonts
Medieval scripts, one interpolation axis
CSTM Xprmntl 03 is a display type family by Yury Ostromentsky of CSTM Fonts that interpolates between two medieval writing systems: old Russian Ustav (uncial Cyrillic) and Western Blackletter. The family comprises three styles — a contemporary uncial Cyrillic, an angular gothic Blackletter, and a hybrid Medium. The Medium style emerged from resolving interpolation conflicts at the midpoint, where structurally incompatible letterforms produced eccentric, glitch-like curves.
Set in CSTM Xprmntl 03
Insights
- Interpolation between Ustav and Blackletter was structurally problematic for specific letters — a, k, y, and х — which carry entirely different forms in each script.
- Rather than smoothing away the interpolation conflicts, the Medium style retains the resulting eccentricities, treating glitchy curves as a design feature.
- The three-style family spans two historical traditions across a single axis, with the Medium style as its most formally distinctive point.
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