Balburdia Type
Balburdia is a vernacular, experimental, and variable typeface developed through the exploration of irregularities found in letters with this vernacular aspect. The font is exclusively uppercase, with two stylistic sets for each letter and a variability called Algazarra, which adjusts the visual instability of the letters, making them more or less tremulous.
Letters & Layouts
Typography • Experimental • Motion
Advisor
Prof. Luciano Cardinali
Collaborators
Bruna Melo • Vinícius Blauth Chaim
The inspiration came from a notebook found in Florianópolis, where someone with no academic background had tried to imitate serifs and contrasts. It was precisely that freedom to play with type, even without knowing the rules, that captivated us.
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Study whenever you can, but typographic design cannot be a privilege only for those who have the money to learn.
What's next?
Balburdia is a vernacular type design project that reinterprets everyday letterforms created authentically and spontaneously, often without formal training. The idea is to take these everyday references and bring them into contemporary design, celebrating their originality and deep connection to a fundamentally Brazilian street culture.
The inspiration came from the cover of a notebook found in Florianópolis, where the lettering, though imperfect, showed an intriguing interaction between chaos and structure. The drawing told a clear story: someone genuinely trying to imitate a formal, familiar typeface, with mock serifs and an attempt at contrast (albeit reversed). And it was precisely that story that caught our eye.
From that, we created a typeface that plays with the irregularity and uncertainty of letterform design, offering a new take on vernacular typography.
The variable axis "Algazarra" allows for dynamic control over the intensity of instability in the letters, resulting in a more fluid and expressive typeface.
Balburdia plays with typographic conventions, using stylistic sets of incorrect or alternative contrasts, creating an experimental, vernacular effect, all while incorporating variable technology.