[Dima Grenev](https://t.me/bolotospeaks) and I had two very similar fonts that have been awaiting release for at least 3 years, so we decided to join forces and create a font named Backthorn, which would combine our current work and even expand its functionality. It's a narrow grotesque with variable axes for stroke width and reverse contrast.

My version of the font was called Retrodelica, and it began in 2019 with lettering on the cover of a Soviet fashion magazine (found in one of St. Petersburg's second-hand shops). It appeared to be a Cyrillic version of ITC Zipper, or a sans-serif slab serif with reverse contrast. In any case, I really liked the look of the font with reverse contrast, but I wanted to make a modern version of it, without the Soviet flavor.

This was my first font created with a more or less deliberate approach, after gaining skills at [Campus](https://campus.designworkout.ru/). Early versions were more brutal, with square internal spaces, square ink traps, and a geometrically simplified form that allowed for variable adjustments in letter width and stroke thickness. However, after creating the Cyrillic and Latin alphabets, the process stalled: at that point, I lacked the technical skills and understanding of the overall product picture, and my attention shifted to an interest in UX/UI.

I've discovered Dima Grenev's works at the Playfaces community in 2023.  We discussed our unfinished projects and discovered that a couple of our fonts shared similar logic, after which we decided to combine our efforts to finish them. We defined the future family of styles, Dima created a variable concept with a couple of symbols, and after some minor adjustments to the concept, we began work. Our process is a biweekly ping-pong with glyphs files — this way, we maintain a small but steady progress on the font and constantly review each other's design decisions.

Currently, the Latin, punctuation, and numbers in all 4 styles are ready, and work has begun on the Cyrillic. The release is planned for the summer of 2024.