Kyiv Type Foundry (KTF) offers retail and custom fonts, opens new perspectives on Cyrillic-based heritage, and creates typographic means for the modern man.
It is founded in 2021 by Yevgeniy Anfalov and Oleś Gergun and is operating between Kyiv, Bar, Hannover and Barcelona. Our catalog reflects our belief in tradition and synthesis. Our activities range from hunting the ghosts from the “behind-the-iron-curtain-past” to collaborations with older masters to bridge the generation gap and preserve knowledge.
KTF's typefaces spring from our necessities as visual designers and we are aware of the technological circumstances they are going to be used in.
We are fascinated by internal values of form and external values of context, both being inseparably one. KTF moves between academia and streets, analog and digital, high- and low-brow, artistically appropriating, reviving, and remixing ideas that go at the pace of our time.
Be it cyrillization, curious finds, concerns, proposals – we are always interested in a dialogue, so please don’t hesitate to contact us. Since 2022 we’re also taking interns. Our ex-intern Vadym Axeev has became our full-time collaborator. This text is typeset in KTF Forma, drawn by Viktor Kharyk after Aldo Novarese’s "Forma".
We think of typefaces as tools. As graphic designers, we are making them for us, being the first instance to crash-test them. If it goes well, the rest is a matter of measurement, channeling, and pipeline.
What’s not in the catalog gets done within custom projects.
Like its place of origin, KTF was made to be a playground at the intersection of Latin and Cyrillic scripts. Our ongoing research sparks from the central question: how do they enrich each other? “Mobile-first”, they say. We say “Cyrillic first”.
KTF isn’t just a shop, but a place for ideas, many of which spring from our passions and mutual interest in culture. We’re looking at the world through the lens of type and vice versa. Keeping it open and frivolously entering new terrains – with the help of our elder and younger colleagues. However, we’re conscious and aware of Tschichold’s eye looking down on us and not intimidated by the word “revival”.
When fonts are out, they are out. See for more in our “In use” section.
We like sharing. Our Kyiv School initiative organizes workshops around visual culture, our internship program allows upcoming type designers to exchange and expand mutual knowledge.
Yevgeniy Anfalov
Yevgeniy Anfalov is a designer based in Kyiv and Hannover. Born in Kyiv (Ukraine) in 1986, Yevgeniy Anfalov moved to Germany in 2003. He studied Visual Communication at Hannover University of Applied Sciences and Arts, and he launched his design practice in 2010. From 2015 to 2017, he completed the MA Art Direction at ECAL/University of Art and Design Lausanne, with a major in Type Design under Francois Rappo and Kai Bernau. He obtained an award of excellence for his graduation book project on the history of electronic music, ROTARY. Geschichte des Studios für elektronische Musik WDR Köln 1951–81.
His practice as a type designer grew out of his activities in the fields of visual design alongside research in design history, editing and photography. His first published font is LL Heymland. Released on Lineto in 2020, it won Modern Cyrillic 2021 competition. Other releases: KTF Jermilov, KTF Rublena, and KTF Compact. Upcoming releases: LL Chernobyl, FSL Alt Medieval. Clients included Lineto, Studio Aurèle Sack, Snøhetta, Think Work Observe, ONY, Studio ARD, Jan en Randoald, Dima Barbanel, etc.
Oleś Gergun
Oleś Gergun is a digital designer and developer based in Kyiv with a background in Cultural Studies. He gained a degree of Master of Arts in Culturology at Kyiv-Mohyla Academy. Subsequently, he became a designer through an autodidact will, not least because of his interest in creative coding.
In his practice, he applies both design and code for commercial and non-commercial clients. Being a critical mind and a dedicated practitioner, he applies his analytical and strategic approach to KTF.
His type design practice is a continuation of his Kyiv Type Digest, being anything but rational: on a guard of vernacular typography, restoration of "historical justice" and a sense of nowness. His typographic debut is a contribution to our shared project KTF Jermilov. Upcoming fonts include Ekran, as originated in our logo drawing, and Ostgothic and Sanitarna from recent design povera findings.