BT Romualdo

Tributing my grandfather, in-progress BT Romualdo explores how a typeface can be an artifact that infuses historical research, preserves cultural identity, and honors personal narrative. Throughout creating this typeface, I reflect on the notion of diasporic identity by questioning what is the Filipino identity, how do individuals retain their identity while living in a diaspora, what are the challenges they face, and how can that be represented visually?

Investigate how to be more intentional with the depiction of letterform characteristics.
2022

Process

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For research, I gathered a few archival photographs and scans of my grandpa. Some examples include the Key West Citizen article from when he and my grandma got married, a few handwritten recipes, his headshot from when he was in the U.S. Navy in the 1950s. I primarily used these assets to inform my design decisions. The sticky notes show some key words I was keeping in mind: strong, eccentric, ingenious, honest, and reserved.

Final Deliverables