Resolution is a family of display typefaces that were developed as part of a creative response to the political situation in Northern Ireland. The project, by design studio Barnbrook, also encompassed photography, mural designs, artworks, infographics, user-submitted and student works.
Northern Ireland has a rich history of murals placed at the heart of communities (not always by choice) which directly express the political thought of the time. The Resolution typefaces are redrawings of lettering found on some of the most important murals in the region. The unique hand-drawn quality of the letterforms reflect a tradition of mural painting stretching back many decades.
The family includes six weights across three stylistic variants: Blackletter, Slab and Sans. The blackletter is based on a combination of loyalist and republican murals in Belfast. The sans is primarily drawn from loyalist murals in Belfast. The slab serif originates from one of the most famous typographic murals in the world. The mural, stating ‘You are now entering Free Derry’, was painted onto the side of a house to mark the self-declared autonomous republican area of Derry that existed between 1969 and 1972. The surrounding streets were the scene of the Battle of the Bogside in 1969 and Bloody Sunday in 1972. The house was later demolished, but the wall itself was retained as a free-standing mural. It has been repainted at frequent intervals.
