Typeface Design for Medieval Cyrillic Scripts

Reclaiming medieval Cyrillic from nationalist iconography

Prepis is Luboslav Boyanov's graduation typeface from the TypeMedia programme at the Royal Academy of Art, The Hague. It draws on medieval Cyrillic writing traditions — specifically Ustav and Skoropis — which, like Blackletter, have been appropriated by nationalist and far-right groups. The design responds with playful, contemporary forms intended to detach these scripts from those associations and return them to broader cultural use.

Set in Prepis

Insights

The project draws on two distinct historical Cyrillic styles — the formal Ustav and the cursive Skoropis — as source material.
The design strategy parallels ongoing debates around Blackletter: shifting a script's cultural valence through formal reinterpretation rather than avoidance.
Playful, contemporary forms are used to present Ustav in a fresh, optimistic light and distance it from its recent nationalist co-option.