The project Inventing the Found Script explores the creation of typefaces and printing formes in the Estonian context by identifying historically characteristic techniques and distinctive features and reinterpreting them through contemporary design.
The research begins with an investigation of the collections of the TYPA Centre for Printing and Paper Arts, examining both its physical printing formes and a body of written material that has received relatively little scholarly attention. TYPA's collection of printing types originates primarily from the Ühiselu printing house in Tallinn (formerly Reusner/Lindfors) and the Hans Heidemann printing house in Tartu (formerly Mattiesen). The historical research focuses on these two printing houses and their collections of large-format wood type and other printing formes.
The project seeks to uncover the origins of the type used in these printing houses and now preserved in TYPA's collections, investigating who may have designed and produced the type and how it was manufactured.
The knowledge gained through this historical research will be applied in the creation of new typefaces. On the one hand, this contributes to the preservation and further development of TYPA's type collections; on the other, it generates new tools and knowledge for contemporary letterpress printing, graphic design, and type design.
The artistic research project identifies successful practical elements of the historical print workshop and brings them into the twenty-first century by combining traditional printing methods with contemporary digital technologies, including laser cutting, CNC machining, 3D printing, and type design software.
The project brings together professional Estonian type and graphic designers to explore both the possibilities and limitations of movable type. These investigations provide the basis for designing and producing new physical and digital type systems and for testing them using traditional letterpress printing techniques.
During the research and development phase, the project produces physical printing types made from wood and/or recycled plastic. Working together with professional type designers, the team develops conceptually and practically innovative type systems, which are then tested and refined in collaboration with historians, designers, and artists participating in the project.
The newly developed tools, typefaces, and historical discoveries will be presented in a final exhibition at TYPA at the end of 2024.
Project lead
Charlotte Biszewski
Project team
Charlotte Biszewski, Maria Muuk (Estonian Academy of Arts), Aimur Takk (Estonian Academy of Arts), Jörgen Loot (TYPA), Kristin Västra (TYPA), Marko Karilaid (TYPA)
Project period
1 June 2023 – 31 December 2023
Funding
Ministry of Culture of Estonia
Total budget
€43,713