Colonial Imprint: Tracing the Printing History of Africa

Application summary

Colonial Imprint: Tracing the Printing History of Africa aims to explore and create a series of type revival fonts and interpretations based on archival typographic material that historically excluded African languages. The European printing industry itself was a colonial import and not the “beginning of written culture” in Africa, but rather an interruption imposed upon already existing and complex systems of writing, orality, and record-keeping. Throughout the period of investigation, the project will use our access to archives, institutions, and academic resources that are part of a longer history of privilege tied to colonial structures to examine where Africa’s history of printing begins. This project will leverage access to archives, institutions, and academic resources to examine the origins of Africa’s print history, determining when and by whom early printing materials were produced. The outcome will be a series of revival fonts with extended character sets for a wide selection of African languages, fully open-source and supported by a visual database and detailed documentation. By providing a point of reference for future designers, this work promotes socially responsible design and global access to information.