Héctor Gómez Digital Imprints of Ancient Mexico is a typographic research project whose starting point is the compilation work Sellos del antiguo México by Jorge Enciso in 1947. (That work explored an ancient printing system used by Mesoamerican civilizations, prior to the arrival of the colonizers, in territory that today, corresponds to Mexico.)
These prints are the result of the manufacture of stamps made from a mixture of clay and water, and are of flat or cylindrical in shape. Subsequently, the stamps were subject to high temperatures in order to increase their hardness and were used to print on various surfaces, such as amate paper, textiles and ceramic objects with concave shapes like vessels.
This project contemplates the digitization and concentration through a Dingbat Font of some of the most representative stamps from Enciso’s catalog and others stored in anthropological institutions and museums in Mexico. An innovative element of this project is the inclusion of OpenType features to simulate the functionality of cylindrical stamps, which were used as rollers to print continuous patterns on flat surfaces. It also consists of a variation axis that represents the progressive wear of the stamps over time. This time axis begins in the year 1325, founding date of Mexico-Tenochtitlan, and increases in 100-year intervals until it reaches 2025, resulting in seven static fonts that also reflect the wear and tear of the stamps over time. It also could be used for teaching Nahuatl language.
The main objective of Digital Imprints of Ancient Mexico is to rescue and preserve the graphic symbols that are part of the country’s visual heritage. It also seeks to revitalize their popular and traditional use. This effort not only contributes to the historical study of Mesoamerican graphic systems, but also promotes their adaptation to new digital contexts, ensuring their validity in the collective imagination.