Medialab Katowice

Schayer typeface was inspired by handwritten lettering used by interwar Katowice architects, including Karol Schayer. The architect’s handwriting style became a direct source of glyph shapes for the new typeface. His lettering is featured on archival plans and projections of the Silesian Museum, a building designed and built in the 1930s. These documents were the basis for an attempt to reconstruct or, more appropriately perhaps, to create a digitised and usable typeface modelled after Schayer’s handwriting. The purpose of the project is to promote Katowice modernist architecture by restoring its accompanying typography. Placing the region’s indigenous lettering style into a contemporary context is an attempt to both celebrate our modernist heritage and create new meanings. By Zofia Oslsilo | Download Schayer Beta (.ttf)