Brygada 1918 is a revival project created for the celebration of the 100 years of independance of the Republic of Poland in 2018, with the support of the "Independent" program and the President of the Republic of Poland. The typeface is based on the catalogue entry of the National Type Foundry from 1954, and a set of matrices found at the Book Arts Museum by Janusz Tryzno in 2016. More information is available on the project's website and Google Design.

To contribute, see github.com/kosmynkab/Brygada-1918.

### Reviving a forgotten font: Type detectives give life to Brygada

Mysterious Polish font matrices spark interest in a lost and forgotten pre-World War II typeface

A man uncovers an unused font in dusty piles of metal plates and blocks. He is intrigued by the mysterious letters “K” and “R” with curly legs, and a handwritten note on old brown paper that says “Brygada.” He starts an archeological quest to research the origins of the font–and inspires a team to revive the font with 21st century software and a microscopic camera.

Is this the plot line for a new “Indiana Jones” movie or the origin story for a remade digitized font?

It’s the latter. It’s the story of Brygada, a lost and forgotten 20th century typeface remade for the 21st century.

Handwritten note with “Brygada” name in Polish

It was the summer of 2015 and Mr. Janusz Tryzno was the owner of the Book Art Museum of Łódź located in a 19th century villa in Łódź (pronounced “Woodge”), Poland. He dug through piles of font matrices (metal blocks with letter shapes used to cast letters) and metal plates wrapped in brown paper from the Polish National Type Foundry. After uncovering the Brygada matrices, he asked museum volunteers, Przemysław Hoffer and Borys Kosmynka, to examine the matrices to see if they could bring the font back to life.

To learn more about Brygada, visit: Reviving a forgotten font: Type detectives give life to Brygada(English), Rewitalizacja zapomnianej czcionki: nowe życie Brygady(Polish).