Ilica (typeface)

Ilica (pronounced [ˈilitsa] EEL-itsa) is a typeface created for Zagreb's street signalization by typographers Nikola Đurek and Damir Bralić in 2012. It was named after the synonymous street in Donji grad, where new street signalization featuring the font was supposed to be put up first. The font features 16 variations and was designed as a "contemporary interpretation" of the secessionist inscriptions on the faces of many historical buildings in Zagreb, in combination with features from other old inscriptions in the city that constitute its typographic heritage.^[1][2]

Street sign featuring the Ilica font on King Petar Svačić's square, Zagreb

House number plate featuring Ilica on the British square, Zagreb.

The typeface was designed on specific request from the government of Zagreb to complement new regulations brought in 2013 to unify street signalization and house number plates across the city.^[1] It won an award for best professional design of spatial and graphical interventions and sistems from the Croatian Designers' Society in 2014.^[3]

Controversy

The face was a topic of controversy for Croatian designers Saša Šimpraga^[4][5] and Robert Štimec.^[6] Their complaints and critiques were by and large focused on the implementation of the singalization system itself, but placed emphasis on the plates' designs as well (which were all created by the authors of the face). Šimpraga judged that the typeface was "of lower quality than many of the authoring duo's previous works",^[4] while Štimec claimed that, aside from them being too small, the choice of making the numbers boldface and grotesque greatly affected their readability when compared to serif typefaces, a "cardinal mistake" according to Štimec.^[7]

References

1. Dorotić, Ivan (6 February 2013). "Intervju s Đurekom i Bralićem o novoj zagrebačkoj signalizaciji" [An interview with Đurek and Bralić about the new signalization system in Zagreb]. Društvo Arhitekata Zagreba. Retrieved 2024-07-28.
2. City of Zagreb (2012). "Tipografija i signalizacijski sustav zagrebačkih ulica i kućnih brojeva – Priručnik grafičkih standarda" [Typography and the Signalization System of Street Signs and House Numbers in Zagreb – A Manual of Graphical Standards] (PDF). Geoportal zagrebačke infrastrukture prostornih podataka. Retrieved 28 July 2024.
3. "Nagrađeni najbolji domaći dizajneri" [Awards Given to Best Domestic Designers]. Vizkultura (in Croatian). 2014-09-05. Retrieved 2024-07-28.
4. Šimpraga, Saša. "Nedojmljivi novi vizualni jezik Zagreba". Pogledaj.to (in Croatian). Retrieved 2024-07-28.
5. Vitas, Zoran (12 October 2015). "'Problem nije dizajn, već to što Grad pločice postavlja na pogrešna mjesta'" ["The problem isn't the design so much as the City is placing the plates incorrectly"]. Večernji list (in Croatian). Retrieved 2024-07-28.
6. Štimec, Robert. "Kako su uništeni kućni brojevi u Zagrebu: Neka se vidi tko je gazda i što može, blesavi purgeri" [The destruction of house number plates in Zagreb: Let the dumb Purgers see who's boss and what he can do]. Index.hr (in Croatian). Retrieved 2024-07-28.
7. Štimec, Robert (2015-09-21). "Kućni brojevi u Zagrebu" [House number plates in Zagreb]. Zagrebački likovni umjetnici (in Croatian). Retrieved 2024-07-28.