The need to create a pedagogic tool for the teaching of typographic design gave rise to the RUHA project, a stencil designed for the exploration of letter forms that also shares the purpose of the construction of messages.
RUHA evokes the sound and geometric rigidity of a landmark development in the history of typography, the Romain du Roi, a font commissioned by Louis XIV of France and developed by a committee appointed by the Académie des Sciences. While they were contentious because of their prétendues règles, the mechanical form of these fonts paved the way for the Transitional and Didones fonts. The character model presented by RUHA is the result of the synthesis and interpretation of Modern typefaces.
Despite this rigidity, the rationality of the basic model encourages graphic experimentation and creativity. Using the same base, the stencil makes it possible to explore Latin, Tuscan, Grotesque and many other styles, and the addition of decorative elements such as diamonds or terminals and other graphic elements is also possible.
The RUHA stencil has a number of features that set it apart from the conventional stencil concept. The letters are built using elements that are added on to or superimposed upon each other; their form may or may not feature the “cuts” that are normally characteristic of this technique.
