Rebranding of the State Public Historical Library of Russia

The theme of this visual study is the image of the letter from the Middle Ages to the present day. The choice of the topic is justified by the fact that the design of the first letter of the text is a characteristic technique for old books, which, having undergone various changes, has been preserved to this day. Studying one of the most striking examples of the art of decorating books and its manifestations in modern design can help to find interesting graphic techniques that can be applied in creating an identity for the state public Historical library, which is the topic of the author's WRC. Due to the fact that the amount of information about the letters is very large, the basis for this study will be European medieval and modern letters. At the moment, there is already a classification of European letters by time periods. However, in his visual research, the author will not rely on these historical classifications. The structure of the presentation of information will be built on the basis of the principle of the main plot of the letter. Thanks to this, it will be possible to clearly show the differences and similarities within one stylistic device. At the beginning, lettering with floral ornaments will be considered, since this plot is a prevailing one and is often combined with other styles. Then there are letters with ornaments, which contain animals. Next — letters with ornaments, where people are present. At the end of the main block, a conclusion, a list of sources and literature will be given. The main stages that the author went through while working on this topic are: the formation of the topic, concept and structure of the study; the search for theoretical information about the letters; the search and processing of the visual series that became the basis of the study; the search for information about the authors and the period of the creation of the letters included in the visual series; the search for format and style, in which a visual study will be developed; creation of a layout for a multi-page study; selection of suitable typefaces; layout of a multi-page publication; writing of the accompanying text and design of links and footnotes; After reviewing the sources and literature on this topic, the author revealed that for a long period of its existence, the letters had a diverse appearance. These were letters entwined with floral ornaments, and signs in the form of animals or people. For some periods, it was typical to include illustrations inside symbols, for others, the letters themselves became paintings. Speaking of modern design, it can be noticed that more often we can see not accidental signs, but letters typed in antique or chopped font. A stronger contrast between the scale of the letter and the typeface, as well as bolder compositional solutions, has also become more typical. You can also find the use of a mask technique, or collaging letters with an image. All these and other techniques of using letters will be demonstrated in this visual study.