MODULE METRICS SYSTEM FOR LETTERFORM
A grapho-analytical study of typefaces began at the very outset of Yakov Chernikhov’s creative life. Even in his working albums from his student years, he meticulously composed his pages and carefully selected typefaces for the titles of his topics. A small notebook from 1915, which Chernikhov titled «My Companion,» contains tables of various alphabets—Latin, Greek, Phoenician, and Arabic—among other themes he planned for further research.
In 1945, Chernikhov began research that was originally intended as a guide for architects on the rules of type reproduction. Becoming engrossed in the subject, Yakov Chernikhov discovered a wealth of material on Russian writing and typography, which he collected and systematized over several years. He compiled an extensive bibliography on typefaces and other documents of writing. The literature list from the V.I. Lenin Library archives includes about 200 publications on the alphabet and alphabets in various languages. By gathering and organizing material in libraries and archives, Chernikhov completed numerous sketches and notes, made tracings of complex typefaces, and selected quotations from great architects of the past.
From a letter from Yakov Chernikhov to Stanislav Zemtsov, dated June 22, 1950:
Dear friend, I have become engrossed in the modular construction of classical typography. Initially, I intended to limit my work solely to a piece on «Architectural Typefaces, ” but I unexpectedly expanded the scope when I discovered extraordinary resources within the works of classical architects and painters: Leonardo da Vinci, Piranesi, Alberti, Serlio, Dürer, Pacioli, Torri, Giorgione, and many others. In our Russian context, such studies are scarce, but we possess an astonishing wealth preserved in our Slavic manuscripts. I have located materials of civil script dating even prior to the Petrine reforms. The typeface approved by Peter is one of Russia’s most valuable creations. Russian Baroque, Elizabethan script, Russian Empire style, and so on—the material is so rich and refined that it long required mathematical substantiation, and today I have managed to achieve this by applying Modulus-Part and Second.
Yakov Chernikhov’s work expanded beyond its initial scope, moving into the realm of the theoretical foundations of typographic graphics. Chernikhov applied specific principles from the theory of architectural forms—which share significant commonalities with letterforms governed by the same patterns—to font construction. Possessing brilliant graphic skills, Chernikhov conducted a universal graphic analysis and established an accurate geometric basis for font creation. The modular metric system he developed for letters allows it to be adapted with various modifications across all types of fonts, even those lacking apparent systematic patterns in their designs.
Rendering of the letter «Д» in the Russian typeface. Fragment of a chart. Archive of M. Chernikhova.
Academic font. Tab fragment No. 21.
Old Slavic Alphabet, 16th–18th Centuries. Y. Chernikhov, N. Sobolev. Font Construction. Moscow, 1958. Fragment of Table No. 3
The author intended to complete his research work in 1951. He managed to prepare 171 tables on the topic «Analysis of Modular Construction of Classical Typefaces» (most of which were drawn by his first wife’s daughter, Vera Chernikhova). The completed work represented only a third of the scope of his planned research, which was intended to cover all typefaces in the world, including the most exotic ones with arbitrary lettering. The book, «Typeface Construction» (Moscow, 1958), with an introduction and commentary by N. A. Sobolev, was published after Yakov Chernikhov’s death and contained 22 tables reproducing the most significant and interesting Russian and Latin typefaces from various historical periods, dating back to the 11th century.