Xicheng Yang In recent years, designers and researchers have increasingly turned their attention to digitising extinct or under-represented scripts — both to preserve their cultural legacies and to enable their reuse in contemporary typographic environments. These efforts often require the translation of traditional manuscript forms into digital typefaces, a process that requires significant research into the script itself: the conventions of its appearance and arrangements, as well as adaptations of historical forms to digital environments.
This research focuses on the Tangut script, an extinct writing system used in the Tangut (Xixia) Empire (1038–1227). While it has been well documented and researched by linguists and historians, it has received little attention from typeface design research. This project aims to fill that gap by developing typefaces based on Tangut’s historical forms, adapted to function in contemporary use.
The study operates on two levels: first, archival analysis of Tangut manuscripts and inscriptions, producing a systematic visual framework for understanding the script’s morphology; second, experimental typeface development, testing how Tangut can function alongside Hanzi, Latin, Japanese Kanji & Kana and other scripts in multilingual settings. By documenting this process in detail, the project provides one of the first comprehensive accounts of reviving a sinoform script (the broader family of scripts that developed by the inspiration of Hanzi) in digital typography.
Beyond Tangut, the framework provides a transferable methodology for reviving other scripts, such as Khitan or Old Uyghur script. It also addresses the lack of detailed documentation for the revival of CJK and other sinoform scripts, offering essential resources for future research. In this way, it highlights the potential of typeface design research to expand belonging in the digital age, ensuring that even extinct scripts can find a place on our “homescreens”.”