Baybayin, the ancient script used in pre-Hispanic times, has found many modern fans of late. Look closely, and you’ll find it in public signage, in Philippine passports, and in pop culture.
There’s no shortage of Baybayin fonts—as of 2002, it’s also been added to Unicode—but for Buwan ng Wika, the multi-disciplinary digital artist who goes by the handle Lucius Felimus has created something new-old: a Baybayin Cyber font.
“I want to create more futuristic-themed Filipino fonts since there is currently a severe lack of them. It’s a result of my design philosophy to blend cyberpunk futurism with Filipino culture,” says Lucius, who specializes in cyberpunk and futurist themes. “It’s all part of my vision to worldbuild a cyberpunk Manila through different mediums of art…Not only is this my way of showcasing our culture in the realm of sci-fi/cyberpunk art—but also my way of making sci-fi art that feels close to home.”
Lucius’ Baybayin Cyber font is free for download on Behance, as are the work of other font designers. In fact, Lucius says, downloading and using Baybayin fonts are a good way to become familiar with the ancient alphasyllabary. “I learned Baybayin through downloading fonts by other font designers—namely Lloyd Zapanta, Norman ‘Nordenx’ de los Santos, and Neon Tabafunda—and using these fonts extensively,” he says.
Read: Learn to write ancient Philippine script Baybayin in this workshop
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