David Březina is a typeface designer, writer, researcher, and managing director at Rosetta Type. He has designed typefaces for a diverse palette of the world’s scripts, but focuses mostly on Gujarati and Latin. David holds a Master’s degree in computer science from Masaryk University in Brno (Czechia) and an MA in Typeface Design and PhD from the University of Reading (UK). His cross-disciplinary PhD thesis studied visual similarity and coherence of characters in typefaces for continuous reading in Latin, Cyrillic, and Devanagari scripts.

Contact

Email: hello@mrbrezina.com
ORCID: 0009-0007-4410-0133
RSS: feed.xml

Main projects

• Rosetta Type – a leading type design studio and distributor of high-quality fonts for a growing number of the world’s scripts
• Hyperglot – preview basic characters needed to write in the world’s languages (concept and art-direction).
• Design Regression – a journalette (mini journal) publishing texts that are about design for reading and reading-related research

Typeface design (design)

• Only Yours (Latin, 2025). Design.
• Gridlite PE (Cyrillic, Greek, Latin, 2020). Design.
• Handjet (Arabic, Armenian, Cyrillic, Greek, Hebrew, Latin, 2018–20). Design.
• Yrsa & Rasa (Gujarati, Latin, 2016–2021). Art direction, design with Anna Giedryś.
• Skolar Sans PE (Cyrillic, Greek, Latin, 2014–16). Designed with Sláva Jevčinová.
• Adobe Gujarati (2013). Design for Adobe, art-direction Fiona Ross.
• Nirmala UI Gujarati (2012). Design for Microsoft within Tiro Typeworks, art-direction Fiona Ross.
• Skolar Gujarati (2012). Design.
• Skolar PE (Cyrillic, Greek, Latin, 2009–2012). Design.
• Veto Devanagari (2009). Design for Linotype (now Monotype).

Typeface design (art direction)

• Adapter Georgian (2024). Art direction, design by Ana Sanikidze.
• Adapter Tamil (2023). Art direction, design by Aadarsh Rajan.
• Adapter Mono PE (Cyrillic, Greek, Latin, 2022). Art direction, design by Tania Chacana.
• Adapter Hebrew (2020). Art direction, design by Sláva Jevčinová.
• Adapter Arabic (2020). Art direction, design by Borna Izadpanah.
• Adapter PE (Cyrillic, Greek, Latin, 2019). Art direction with William Montrose. Design by William Montrose and Sláva Jevčinová.
• Skolar Sans Arabic (2016). Art direction, designed by Titus Nemeth.
• Skolar Devanagari (2012). Art direction, design by Vaibhav Singh.

Academic articles

• Březina, D. (2025). What is a (universal) script grammar?. Design Regression.
• Březina, D. (2024). Context-sensitive study of the visual similarity of characters in Cyrillic, Devanagari, and Latin scripts: effects of typeface design and expertise. (preprint) https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/cfgdp
• Březina, D., & Dyson, M. C. (2024). Can we selectively attend to the top halves of letters and ignore the bottom halves?. Design Regression.
• Dyson, M. C., & Březina, D. (2022). The sequel to exploring disfluency: Do we remember the visual appearance of words?. Design Regression.
• Březina, D. (2022). Elements of multi-script typography: paragraphs and pixels. Design Regression.
• Březina, D. (2022). Elements of multi-script typography: codes, keys, and word shapes. Design Regression.
• Březina, D. (2022). Elements of multi-script typography: introduction. Design Regression.
• Dyson, M. C., & Březina, D. (2021). Exploring disfluency: Are designers too sensitive to harder-to-read typefaces?. Design Regression.
• Březina, D. (2021). Character complexity and redundancy in writing systems over human history [review]. Design Regression.
• Březina, D. (2018). Coherence in typeface design: visual similarity of characters in Cyrillic, Devanagari, and Latin. The University of Reading. (PhD thesis) https://doi.org/10.48683/1926.00085141
• Boček, V., & Březina, D. (2012). Typography follows linguistics?: on some parallels between the Prague School of Linguistics and Karel Teige’s typographic program. Hyphen: a typographic forum, 9(15). Institute for the study of Typography and Visual Communication.
• Březina, D. (2007). The evolution of the Gujarati typographic script. The University of Reading. (unpublished MA dissertation)
• Březina, D. (2007). General issues in multi-script typography. The University of Reading. (unpublished MA essay)

Other articles

• Březina, D. (2021). Ten years of Rosetta. Rosetta Articles.
• Březina, D. (2019). The making of Adapter. Rosetta Articles.
• Březina, D. (2016). Yrsa & Rasa released. Rosetta Articles.
• Březina, D. (2016). Harmonizing Rasa Gujarati and Yrsa Latin. Rosetta Articles.
• Březina, D. (2015). Introducing Yrsa.. Rosetta Articles.
• Březina, D. (2015). Considerations in multilingual type design. Rosetta Articles.
• Březina, D. (2014). Rethinking type experience. Rosetta Articles.
• Březina, D. (2013). A critical approach to typefaces. Smashing Magazine.
• Březina, D. (2013). Balkan Sans [typeface review]. Typographica.
• Březina, D. (2012). Indian type: An opportunity for real design innovation. TYPO, 49. (In Czech and English)
• Březina, D. (2012). Challenges in multilingual type design. Codex, 2.
• Březina, D. (2010). Celeste [typeface review]. TYPO, 41. (In Czech and English)
• Březina, D. (2010). Tomate & Lavigne Display [typeface review]. TYPO, 39. (In Czech and English)
• Březina, D. (2009). On diacritics. I love typography. (See also the Russian translation by Vasily V. Melenchuk)
• Březina, D. (2009). Klimax [typeface review]. TYPO, 36. (In Czech and English)
• Březina, D. (2009). Odile & Elido [typeface review]. TYPO, 36. (In Czech and English)
• Březina, D., & Vlachou, I. (2008). Maiola [typeface review]. TYPO, 33. (In Czech and English)
• Březina, D. (2008). Greta [typeface review]. TYPO, 31. (In Czech and English)
• Pecina, M., & Březina, D. (2008). Type Anatomy 1.0.. Typomil. (In Czech and English)
• Březina, D. (2007). Non-Latin Typefaces [exhibition review]. TYPO, 29. (In Czech and English)

Lectures

• Březina, D., & Štepanovská Anna (2025). Useless Fonts. Brno Bold Typo 02, Brno, Czechia.
• Březina, D. (2025). Hyperglot – a toolkit for discovering language support in digital fonts [poster presentation]. Language Technologies for All, Unesco, Paris, France.
• Březina, D. (2025). What is a universal script grammar [keynote]. Automatic Type Design 3, ANRT/ENSAD, Nancy, France. (watch the recording)
• Dyson, M. C., & Březina, D. (2024). Do we process characters as shapes, nothing special?. Grapholinguistics in the 21st Century, Venice, Italy. (watch the recording)
• Březina, D. (2024). Structural analysis of the visual appearance of scripts. WAVE conference, University of Cambridge, UK. (watch the recording)
• Březina, D. (2024). Elements of multi-script typography: the wayfinding edition. The University of Reading, Reading, UK.
• Březina, D. (2022). Písmo jako základ vizuálního stylu. Brno Bold, Brno, Czechia.
• Dyson, M. C., & Březina, D. (2022). Questioning the obvious: different ways of seeing. ICTVC, 8. Thessaloniki, Greece.
• Březina, D. (2022). Hyperglot – a database and tools for discovering language support in fonts. ICTVC, 8. Thessaloniki, Greece.
• Březina, D. (2022). About Rosetta and research. ANRT/ENSAD, Nancy, France.
• Březina, D. (2022). About Rosetta and research. TypeParis Talks, Paris, France. (watch the recording)
• Březina, D. (2021). Několik poznámek k modernismu v písmu. VOŠG, Hellichova, online.
• Březina, D. (2021). Několik poznámek k modernismu v písmu. SSUD, Brno, Czechia.
• Dyson, M. C., & Březina, D. (2019). Challenging design training: do designers suffer more with harder to read typefaces?. ICTVC, 7. Patras, Greece.
• Březina, D. (2019). Character similarity and coherence in typeface design. ICTVC, 7. Patras, Greece.
• Březina, D. (2019). Několik poznámek k modernismu v písmu. FaVU (Faculty of Visual Arts) VUT, Brno, Czechia.
• Březina, D. (2018). Recent projects from Rosetta. FaVU (Faculty of Visual Arts) VUT, Brno, Czechia.
• Březina, D. (2018). Recent projects from Rosetta. Brno Design Days, Brno, Czechia.
• Březina, D. (2018). Character similarity and coherence in typeface design. Graphemics in 21st century: From graphemes to knowledge, Brest, France.
• Březina, D. (2017). Some of the things I do not know about typefaces. Typostammtisch, Berlin, Germany.
• Březina, D. (2017). Recent projects from Rosetta. Typostammtisch, Berlin, Germany.
• Březina, D. (2015). Recent projects from Rosetta. Du monde entier au cœur du monde, Paris, France.
• Březina, D. (2015). Letters of Rosetta: from Brno to Bern. TypEast. Bern, Switzerland.
• Březina, D. (2013). Challenges in multilingual type design (II). ATypI conference. Amsterdam, Netherlands.
• Březina, D. (2013). Rethinking type experience. Smashing conference, Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany.
• Březina, D. (2012). Challenges in Indian type design. Association of British Scholars, Vadodara, India.
• Březina, D. (2012). Challenges in multilingual type design. Typography day. IID, Mumbai, India.
• Březina, D. (2012). Challenges in multilingual type design. NID, Ahmedabad, India.
• Březina, D. (2011). Písmo je na webu to nejdůležitější. WebExpo, Prague, Czechia.
• Březina, D. (2011). Specifying type consistency. TypoTopo talks. Bratislava, Slovakia.
• Březina, D. (2012). Specifying type consistency. The University of the Arts London, London, UK.
• Březina, D. (2010). Thinking in typeface design. ICTVC, 3. Nicosia, Cyprus.
• Březina, D. (2010). General issues in multi-script typography. ATypI conference, Saint Petersburg, Russia.
• Březina, D. (2010). General issues in multi-script typography. 4th International ConTeXt Meeting, Brejlov (Prague), Czechia.
• Březina, D. (2010). On typeface design. University of Ostrava, Ostrava, Czechia.
• Březina, D. (2010). On typeface design. Academy of Fine Arts in Poznań, Cieszyn, Poland.

Workshops

• Březina, D. (2022). Guest feedback sessions. TypeParis Talks, Paris, France.
• Březina, D. (2019). Návrh logotypu pro neznámý skript. Masaryk University, Brno, Czechia.
• Březina, D. (2016). A brief introduction to Python for data visualisation. The University of Reading, Reading, UK.
• Březina, D. (2015). A brief introduction to Python for type designers. The University of Reading, Reading, UK.
• Březina, D. (2013). Concepts for originality in typeface design. The University of Reading, Reading, UK.
• Březina, D. (2012). Type design workshop focused on webfonts. Seznam.cz, Brno, Czechia.
• Březina, D. (2012). Concepts for originality in type design. The University of Reading, Reading, UK.
• Březina, D. (2012). Type design workshop. University of the Arts London, London, UK.
• Březina, D. (2011). Type design workshops. FaVU (Faculty of Visual Arts) VUT, Brno, Czechia.
• Březina, D. (2011). Type design workflow and running a Type Foundry. The University of Reading, Reading, UK.
• Březina, D. (2009). Type design workshops. FaVU (Faculty of Visual Arts) VUT, Brno, Czechia.
• Březina, D. (2010). O písmu. Pellico5 workshops, Brno, Czechia.
• Březina, D. (2009). Multilingual typography workshop. The Academy of Fine Arts in Poznań, Lanckorona, Poland.
• Březina, D. (2009). Type design process & automation. The University of Reading, Reading, UK.
• Březina, D. (2009). A brief introduction to Python for FontLab. Monotype Imaging, Salfords, UK.

Interviews, profiles, and other appearances

• Tom May (2025). Only Yours: a bold new approach to typography based on unique variants. Creative Boom.
• Unknown (Sponsored) (2023). Rosetta is a foundry that prioritises thorough research, design exploration and multilingual typefaces. It’s Nice That.
• Ayla Angelos (2021). Rosetta Type’s David Březina on his interchangeable and variable typeface Handjet. It’s Nice That.
• Mikulcová, K., & Smělík, P. (2024). Identity: the story of Czech graphic design [film]. Mowshe.
• Poppy Thaxter (2024). From Expressive Experiments to Aesthetic Extremes, Rosetta Type’s Latest Releases From Signify an Exciting Shift in Pace. Type 01.
• Serret, G. (2022). Q&A David Březina. TypeParis News.
• Murphy, Z. L. (2021). How important is harmony when designing multiscript type systems? An interview with David Březina. Type 01.
• Michailidis, S. (2021). Fenomén: česká typografie včera, dnes a zítra. ČT Art. Czech TV.
• Hartmann, T., Thoma, S., & Wittner, B. (2018). Forget your knowledge: Interview with David Březina of Rosetta Type. Bi-Scriptual: Typography and Graphic Design with Multiple Script Systems.
• Pecina, M. (2014). Nowe Terytoria. 2+3D, 52.
• Middendorp, J. (2013). Rosetta Type Foundry: Vaibhav Singh, Titus Nemeth, David Březina. Creative Characters: The faces behind the fonts, 71.
• Stuttard, J. (2013). What is multi-script typography all about. Rosetta Articles.
• Falvey, C. (2012). Award-winning Czech typographer takes on Gujarati. Radio Praha.
• Lutonský, F. (2012). Interview for the Czech National News TV. ČT 24. Czech TV.
• Pathak, B. (2012). This Czech is a Gujarati ‘type’. Times of India.
• Stocks, E. J. (2011). David Březina. 8 Faces, 4.
• Fojtů, M. (2011). Březina: Vytvářet písma je jako mluvit různými hlasy. Magazine of the Masaryk University.

Design awards

• Jevčinová, S., & Březina, D. (2019). Award for Adapter PE. Modern Cyrillic.
• Březina, D., Jevčinová, S., & Saraiva, R. (2015). Silver award for Skolar Sans Latin. European Design Awards.
• Březina, D. (2013). 2nd prize (Indic category) for Skolar Gujarati. Granshan.
• Březina, D. (2009). 1st prize (Cyrillic category) for Skolar Cyrillic. Granshan.
• Březina, D. (2009). Special diploma for Skolar Cyrillic. Modern Cyrillic.
• Březina, D. (2008). Silver for Skolar & Surat (Skolar Gujarati). European Design Awards.

Exhibitions

• (2016). Granshan exhibition (ATypI Warszaw). Warszaw, Poland.
• (2013). Granshan exhibition. Bangkok, Thailand.
• (2012). 24th International Biennial of Graphic design in Brno. Brno, Czechia.
• (2010). 23rd International Biennial of Graphic design in Brno. Brno, Czechia.
• (2008). 22nd International Biennial of Graphic design in Brno. Brno, Czechia.
• (2006). 21st International Biennial of Graphic design in Brno. Brno, Czechia.
• (2010). Collective type design exhibition at Klingspor-Museum Offenbach. Offenbach, Germany.
• (2009). Modern Cyrillic exhibition (ATypI Mexico City). Mexico City, Mexico.
• (2011). TypeTogether collective exhibition. Poznań, Poland.
• (2010). TypeTogether collective exhibition. Cieszyn, Poland.
• (2008). TypeTogether collective exhibition. Rosario, Argentina.