The Union of Bulgarian Artists (UBA), known in Bulgarian as Съюз на българските художници (СБХ), is the largest and oldest professional organization of its kind in the country. To manage its extensive history and diverse membership of thousands of visual artists, the UBA adopted Mont by Fontfabric as its primary digital typeface.

The choice of Mont brings a sense of “geometric clarity and minimal elegance” to an institution with roots dating back to 1893. While the UBA oversees everything from classical oil painting to contemporary installations, Mont’s versatile 22-style family provides a neutral yet distinct framework that works across editorial layouts and UI. The typeface's sharp details, like the pointed apexes of the M, echo the precision of fine art, while its high legibility ensures that the organization’s complex historical archives and exhibition schedules remain accessible to a global audience. This typographic shift marks a transition from the academic traditions of the 20th century to a modern, digital-first presence in the 21st.

The visual identity for Opera Open 2024, the flagship festival of the State Opera Plovdiv, was designed by the Plovdiv-based Studio Punkt. Celebrating the 70th anniversary of the opera house, the branding was tasked with a delicate mission: balancing a deep respect for classical tradition with a vibrant, international spirit that appeals to modern ‘opera tourists’.

Punkt’s approach centers on a custom logo design where the O in “Opera” and E in “Open” are highlighted with script characters (either from a font, or custom lettering) to symbolize the ‘openness’ of the festival. This same ‘open’ treatment is repeated with a(nother) script typeface in the poster series. The primary typeface, Muller Next by Fontfabric, serves as the backbone of the identity. Its geometric clarity and smooth, modern aesthetic allow for seamless transitions across a massive range of formats, from high-impact street posters and space branding at the Ancient Theatre to digital platforms and sophisticated festival catalogs.

The color palette is anchored by deep blues and energized by coral, mint, and yellow accents reflects the dramatic, open-air atmosphere of Plovdiv’s UNESCO-listed Ancient Theatre. By utilizing the flexibility of a variable font, Punkt created a cohesive visual language that honors the history of the site while firmly positioning the festival as a contemporary, world-class cultural event.

Source: www.ebay.com Classical LPs (edited). License: All Rights Reserved.

Album cover [More info on Discogs]

In 1977, Balkanton, Bulgaria’s state-owned record company, released an album with compositions by George Gershwin, performed by pianist Teodor Moussev and the Bulgarian National Radio Symphony Orchestra under conductor Alexander Vladigerov.

The composer’s name is shown in inclined caps from an extrabold slab serif. It’s not set in a typeface. Instead, the letterforms were reproduced from an alphabet sample.

In her book Schrift und Schreiben (Leipzig, 1972), Hildegard Korger showed an “alphabet in the style of an italic Egyptienne” and two sets of decorative capitals derived from it – one with highlights and one with open letterforms – credited to Volker Küster, 1966. According to Günther Flake’s short biography of Küster, Black Bull is the title of a design for an Egyptienne typeface in three styles, drawn as part of his diploma project at HGB Leipzig in the mid-1960s. Korger doesn’t mention the name “Black Bull”, but I have to assume that the samples in her book show Küster’s graduation project.

License: All Rights Reserved.

Composite image showing letters from the “alphabet in the style of an italic Egyptienne” (top row) and two sets of decorative capitals derived from it (bottom row) by Volker Küster, 1966, from Hildegard Korger’s Schrift und Schreiben, VEB Fachbuchverlag Leipzig, 1972 (5th edition: 1982)

Scans: Библиотекус. License: All Rights Reserved.

Details from two Cyrillic adaptations of Küster’s all-caps highlight style, reproduced in Шрифт from 1975 (top) and Декоративные шрифты from 1987 (bottom). The latter is credited to Oleh Snarsky.

Black Bull was not produced as a proper typeface. It still got around, as Korger’s book was distributed abroad, including to “socialist brother countries” of the GDR, like Bulgaria and the USSR, where it inspired local designers. I’m aware of two Cyrillic adaptations of the all-caps highlight style that were reproduced in Soviet books, in Шрифт (Leningrad, 1975) and in Декоративные шрифты (Minsk, 1987). The latter is credited to Oleh Snarsky, a Ukrainian lettering artist who drew numerous alphabets for lettering manuals and alphabet source books, including original designs and Cyrillic adaptations of existing ones. Snarsky had previously shown sample words based on Küster’s alphabet in his book Шрифты/Алфавиты для рекламных и декоративно-оформительских работ (Kyiv, 1979).

Source: www.olx.ua Klq (edited). License: All Rights Reserved.

“РЕКЛАМА ВЫВЕСКА” – page 31 from Шрифты/Алфавиты для рекламных и декоративно-оформительских работ (“Typefaces/Alphabets for advertising and decorative design works”), Kyiv, second revised edition, 1979. Snarsky shows a Cyrillic version of Black Bull’s highlight style plus an original reversed variant. The lines at the top and bottom are based on Roger Excoffon’s Calypso and Vendôme. The boxed glyphs in the center are either from an unidentified source or represent an original design by Snarsky.

The record cover features both Latin and Cyrillic letters based on Black Bull. Did the uncredited cover designer copy them from Korger’s book and invent matching Cyrillic themselves? Or did they get the inspiration from one of the Soviet books, and reverse-engineer the Latin? Chances are it was the former: the У in “ГЕРШУИН” matches Küster’s original Latin Y, while both Soviet adaptations feature different, asymmetrical glyphs.

Source: www.deezer.com License: All Rights Reserved.

Cover detail: the letters were applied individually – at least that’s what the unruly baseline and the disregard for the O’s overshoots suggest. Note that the first G has a thinner bar. Smaller text is set in a Cyrillic version of Futura.

Inevitably, Black Bull was made into a font eventually, at least in parts. Digital interpretations of the all-caps highlight style include Brad O. Nelson’s freebie Thats Super (Brain Eaters Font Co., 2001) and Brocken (RMU, 2011). To my knowledge, neither is authorized by the original designer.

Volker Küster died on 15 November 2025 in Kleve, at the age of 84. Born in 1941 in Wernigerode, Küster trained as typesetter and studied in Berlin-Schöneweide and subsequently at the Leipzig Academy. There he became the assistant of Albert Kapr and started teaching himself. He worked for the Typoart foundry and made himself a name as an award-winning book designer. In 1984, he left the GDR for West Germany. Küster started working for Scangraphic in Hamburg, where he headed the type design studio and served in the role of Type Director from 1985 to 1989. His Today Sans Serif, a groundbreaking humanist sans, was released in 1988. After many years of teaching, initially in Hamburg and then in Essen, he devoted himself to free artistic work including iron casting.

Natascha Dell posted an obituary (in German) on the website of the Folkwang University of Arts in Essen. It includes quotes by former students Stephan Fiedler and Karsten Luecke, praising Küster’s merits as an educator. Albert-Jan Pool – who started his career as Küster’s assistant at Scangraphic – shared memories including images on Instagram, LinkedIn, and Facebook.

As part of the revitalization of The Bishop’s Basilica of Philippopolis, the largest Early Christian temple in Bulgaria, a comprehensive environmental graphics system was developed to guide visitors through its rich and layered history. This site, which transitioned from a Roman temple to a majestic Christian basilica, and later to a medieval settlement and cemetery, is now a vibrant visitor center.

Facing the challenge of presenting over a hundred bilingual exhibition materials with diverse content (images, illustrations, texts, and graphics) in varying sizes, the design team prioritized flexibility and clarity. The core objective was to create an accessible and engaging experience for all visitors, from children to adults.

Given the text-heavy nature of the content, typography was a central consideration. For prominent titles, Bebas Neue was chosen. Its sans-serif, narrow characteristics allowed for compact yet impactful headlines, crucial for longer titles. For the main body text, the sans-serif type family Mont was selected. Mont’s clean and geometric proportions ensure excellent legibility, making long paragraphs easy to read throughout the exhibition.

The color palette, inspired by the Basilica’s mosaics, plays a vital role in differentiating the bilingual text (dark blue for Bulgarian, brick red for English) and aiding navigation. Ivory serves as the primary background color, with warm orange used to highlight key elements. Extensive use of illustrations helps set the atmosphere and fill historical gaps, allowing visitors to vividly imagine ancient life in Philippopolis, particularly in the interactive “Discovery Zone” for children. This thoughtful integration of typography, color, and illustration brings the Basilica’s complex story to life.

Ari album, 1974 [More info on Discogs]

Asparuh “Ari” Leshnikov (Аспарух Лешников, 1897–1978) was a Bulgarian tenor and pop singer. In the interwar period, he rose to fame as a member of the Berlin-based vocal group Comedian Harmonists.

In 1974, Bulgarian state label Balkanton released a compilation of his hits, titled А́ри (Ari). For the sleeve typography, the unknown designer selected Arnold Böcklin. Most of the required Cyrillic capitals are repurposed letters from the typeface’s Latin alphabet. The У (U) appears to be a custom creation. So is Н (En) – Arnold Böcklin’s H follows the minuscule construction. Л (El) is a Latin A minus the crossbar. An upside-down M serves as Ш (Sha).

In 1980, Balkanton issued a 7″ record with two songs written by Milo Bassan (Мильо Басан, 1900–1983) and sung by Leshnikov. Again, the display typeface is Arnold Böcklin, this time in mixed case. Here the first letter in Leshnikov’s name was made by turning a V upside down. The same was done with a lowercase v for л. The letter ь is derived from b, Б is probably a combination of parts from B and H, н and в are custom made, and ш is an upside-down m.

“Нощта заспива, пустей кръчмата” / “Пуста черна чужбина изпълнява” single, 1980 [More info on Discogs]

TT Trailers is part of the Sofia Game Night 2023 event identity.

On November 4, 2023, the city’s fifth Sofia Game Night festival celebrated gaming in all its diversity. Guests embarked on a new gaming adventure, explored different aspects of games, and had pure fun in the process.

TT Trailers is part of the identity of Festival Summer Plovdiv 2023.

Festival Summer in Plovdiv brings together the city’s annual formats and events, which create and attract, entertain and connect Plovdiv’s audiences, guests from Europe and the world. The festival’s rich program includes theatre, dance, lego, and music of all genres.

This contribution is being compiled on Donika Venkova’s seventy-sixth birthday of 19th November 2023 and features her eponymous debut LP from half a century ago.

Her name for the front cover is set in Futura Black, in Latin script in the top right-hand corner and in Cyrillic script in the bottom left-hand corner. It would appear that the initial Д in “Доника” has been adapted from the Latin A, with the cross bar whited out and with a pair of “feet” added. Further thereto, the Cyrillic И is a Latin N flipped vertically, the rest of the name consisting of glyphs shared with Latin script. The “BTA 1639” is, like the main subsidiary text on the rear cover, set in Edel-Grotesk and also the track-listing has been set in an X-shaped form by means of indentation. Credits and other small text on the back are in Literaturnaya.

This occasion has been celebrated with a post at “Girls of the Golden East”.

[More info on Discogs]

This self-titled single by Bulgarian singer Mariya Neikova (1945–2002) was released by the state-owned Balkanton in 1972. For the cover typography, the uncredited designer used letterforms from Gros Titre, a capital alphabet drawn by Swiss art director Roland Schenk and reproduced in the second volume of Lettera.

The name of the “girl with the guitar” is shown twice, in Latin, here transliterated as Maria Neykova, and in Cyrillic, as Мария Нейкова. As Gros Titre is Latin-only, the cover designer had to mirror the R to obtain a Я (Ya). The И and Й (I/short I) were probably made by trimming an M.

[More info on Discogs]

A decade ago to the day on which this contribution is being compiled, the Bulgarian singer Svetla Stoeva passed away at the age of just sixty. So, since this single sleeve happens to date from half-a-century ago, in the same year as a previous contribution by me, about the Zlatniyat Orfey album art, where Davida is also used for the Cyrillic script, today would appear to be a very good opportunity to highlight this artist.

“Хайо–Хайо” (“Hayo-Hayo”) is a Bulgarian-language cover version of the Bee Gees’ “I.O.I.O.”, taken from the film Cucumber Castle. “Може би” (“Može bi”, “Maybe”), however, is an entirely natively-composed song from the pen of Paraškev Hadjiev. The Cyrillic Л is once again a flipped Latin V, while the А on this sleeve is a different glyph from that which appears on the Salena Jones/Mieko Hirota album cover. As in the case of that sleeve the subsidiary text appears in Edel-Grotesk.

This occasion has also been marked with a post at the “Girls of the Golden East” blog.

[More info on Discogs]

TT Trailers is signature typeface of Monkeys Restaurant.

Situated on the central beach of Varna, Bulgaria, Monkeys restaurant introduces the idea of exploring good food and enjoying a nice and welcoming atmosphere, allowing visitors to discover something new and not so traditional.

The identity is based on the visual representation of the lost jungle, hand in hand with the feeling of a modern, funky and dynamic brand.

In the menu, TT Trailers is paired with Intro. The type on a curve in the logo is yet to be identified.

This audio drama titled Приключенията на Лукчо (Priklyucheniyata na Lukcho) is a Bulgarian version of Gianni Rodari’s l romanzo di Cipollino (“The Adventures of Cipollino, the Little Onion”). Originally published in Italian in 1951, the children’s tale about political oppression became popular in the USSR and other countries of the Soviet Bloc. From Wikipedia:

In a world inhabited by anthropomorphic produce, Cipollino fights the unjust treatment of his fellow vegetable townsfolk by the fruit royalty (Prince Lemon and the overly proud Lord Tomato) in the garden kingdom. The main theme is the struggle of the underclass against the powerful, good versus evil, and the importance of friendship in the face of difficulties.

For this release from 1977, the unknown designer at Balkanton used letterforms from Lawless Type, an alphabet drawn by Walter Haettenschweiler and shown in Lettera 2 from 1961. Since this proto-typeface consists of the twenty-six basic Latin capitals only, the cover designer had to make some adjustments for letters without a Latin look-alike: V was flipped and И/Я flopped to obtain Л N R, Ч appears to be an H minus half a stem, Ю is a half an H plus a mirrored O, and П was built in a similar fashion. Thanks to Lawless Type’s irregular alignment and stroke contrast, such hacks don’t stand out.

I don’t recognize the sans used for the author’s name. The Czechoslovak Maršův Grotesk has a similar g, but as far as I can tell, it didn’t come in a Cyrillic version.

[More info on Discogs]

Uncredited sleeve design for an album by Bulgarian folk musician and accordionist Dimiter Stoykov (Димитър Стойков, b. 1931), released by state label Balkanton in 1974. The symmetrical illustration featuring doves and flowers is accompanied by multiscript typography: while the Latin part is set in Aurora-Grotesk VII, the Cyrillic text is shown in two typefaces that, to my knowledge, didn’t offer official support for this script.

Spelling out the album title with glyphs from Gill Kayo was the easier part: all letters in “aкордеон” (“accordion”) could be approximated by repurposing Latin letters: akopgeoH. In Bulgarian Cyrillic, the lowercase letter д (de) can look similar or identical to a Latin single-story g. The only required hack was to make a small cap H for the Cyrillic н (en). For the artist’s name in Tintoretto, the designers had to get more creative: Д (De) is a modified A, and М (Em) and Ъ (hard sign) are completely new creations. Letraset sheets didn’t include a breve accent for й (short i) – but a dot was deemed good enough.

[More info on Discogs]

From Jahan Singh Bakshi’s poster collection Posterphilia:

Here's a Bulgarian poster for Muzaffar Ali's UMRAO JAAN (1981, India), one of her most iconic films and performances.⁣⁣ Collected by Jahan Singh Bakshi

The poster reuses the main image of one of the original release posters, paired with a custom Cyrillic lettering that is clearly based on Davida.

This graphic — presumably for a health program — was created by designer Nikola Nikolov for Bulgarian television in 1976. The image comes from SOCMUS, a virtual museum of socialist era (1944–89) graphic design in Bulgaria, founded by photographer Nikola Mihov, and architects Martin Angelov and Valeri Gyurov.

The typeface is New Zelek, by Polish graphic artist and designer Bronisław Zelek. Released by Mecanorma as transfer lettering in 1974, New Zelek was common in both Latin and Cyrillic throughout the Soviet Bloc in the 1970s and ’80s.

Davida featuring (custom-made?) Cyrillic characters for the cover of Zlatniyat Orfey (Златният Орфей, “The Golden Orpheus”), a split album by Salena Jones and Mieko Hirota. The latter’s surname is here transliterated as “Chierota”. She is notable for being the first Japanese singer of the Bobby Hebb-composed “Sunny”.

The album was recorded at the Golden Orpheus ’73 and released on the Bulgarian state label Балкантон (Balkanton). The smaller all-lowercase text is set in a wide style from Aurora-Grotesk VI or similar.

When central and eastern European designers used dry transfer lettering like Letraset, they often had to be creative to produce the non-Latin characters and diacritical marks that weren’t always available on the sheet. This included repurposing glyphs. Inventive typefaces like Motter Ombra offered a lot of opportunity for reimagining shapes as other characters. This poster for Йо хо хо, “a sensitive film about human solidarity filled with humor and poetry” (IMDB), uses Motter Ombra’s u with a period/dot for the Й.

Poster for Anatoly Vapirov’s 70th anniversary concert with the Rousse Philharmonic, as a part of the 2017 Varna Summer International Music festival.

Sybilla is used on the cover of Черепно мозъчна травма (Craniocerebral trauma – Diagnosis, treatment, prognosis and legal considerations) by Ilya Vulkov et al., published by Арт Трейсър (Art Tracer). The marble head of a bearded man is from Pergamon, Asia Minor, about 150 BC.

Гущерчето (“The Little Lizard”) is based on Aleksandr Volodin’s play Two Arrows. Stone Age Detective. Produced by the Varna Theater Foundation for the State Puppet Theatre Varna, Bulgaria.

Designer Peter Zhelev uses caps from ParaType’s Cyrillic version of Ad Lib for the title. All smaller text is set in several weights from Karandash’s Basil.