Lira

The revival of typefaces offers a vital pathway for preserving and reinterpreting Portuguese cultural heritage, addressing key gaps in the documentation of its design history. Figures like Manuel Pereira da Silva remain underrepresented despite their influence on generations of designers. His typefaces, trapped in obsolete digital formats and accessible only through rare, printed specimens, highlight the challenges of engaging with and preserving such legacies in contemporary contexts.

A type revival, reinterpreting Pereira da Silva’s work into a usable modern format, can bridge this gap, making his designs accessible to current graphic and editorial designers. This effort not only preserves his contributions but also hopes to spark interest in other overlooked figures. Guided by conceptual frameworks from Mosley, Shaw, and Kelly, and technical design insights mainly from and Unger, the revival process integrates historical fidelity with contemporary digital and analogue fabrication tools.

This seed project — developed within the context of the activities of the SIG Ligatures — aims to design and produce a typeface — Lira — both digitally and analogically, based on a revival interpretation of the original “Tia Lira” typeface, originally designed by Manuel Pereira da Silva. A Design and Product Development methodology will be used to design, implement, evaluate, and distribute the artefact in the OpenType 1.9 variable font format. The typeface will also be digitally fabricated into an analogue collection of physical characters for display and printing in letterpress typography to further explore and promote not only the cultural and design heritage of this Portuguese designer, but also to explore contemporary hybrid educational and professional design practices.

An important first step in documenting, publishing, and presenting to the public the legacy of this hidden figure of the Portuguese Design landscape, the presentation of the development process of Lira, and publishing of the final distribution formats will enable its dissemination through the use and exploration by the end-users. Along with the publication of documentation and specimens, and dissemination activities at conferences or public presentations, the project aims to stimulate the professional and academic communities towards the preservation and appreciation of this specific case and, by extension, the broader cultural heritage of national design.

This hybrid media design approach fosters intergenerational dialogue, enriching Portuguese design history through renewed relevance and exploration of historical design philosophies.