Across much of the digital landscape, Afrikan writing systems remain unseen. Tapiwanashe Garikayi set out to change that. His latest project, Nyora, explores how tradition and technology can converge through type, giving new life to scripts that rarely find space online.
Developed to address the lack of digital representation for Afrikan writing systems, Nyora is a contemporary, multiscript typeface designed to support native Afrikan scripts that are often underrepresented in typography.
According to Tapiwanashe Garikayi, “The project's primary goal is to provide a high-quality, modern, and accessible digital tool for Afrikan scripts that are often underrepresented in typography.”
IIn the works since 2020, the initial release of Nyora provides support for three distinct scripts: N’ko, Bamum, and Bassa Vah. Each script carries its own heritage and linguistic depth, yet remains largely absent from the modern typographic landscape.
Garikayi explains that this absence has created a significant digital divide. “The lack of modern, well-designed, and easily accessible fonts forces users to rely on outdated or inconsistent typefaces, or worse, prevents them from using their native scripts online and in print.”
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The challenge for Nyora was about preservation and accessibility, coupled with visual cohesion. “To create a font that treats these Afrikan scripts with the same level of design care and technical precision as their Latin counterparts, thereby encouraging their use and ensuring their digital preservation,” says Garikayi.
He adds that achieving visual unity was just as important. “To design a single typeface where Bamum, Bassa Vah, and N’ko could be used side-by-side (along with a supporting Latin script) and feel like they belong to the same visual family. This is crucial for multilingual documents, branding, and educational materials.”
For Garikayi, Nyora is more than a typeface. The name itself carries a message. “The name Nyora serves as a permanent invitation: ‘Write.’ Write your language, write your stories, and write your future.”
Through Nyora, he brings attention to the cultural and visual richness of Afrikan scripts, giving them the space and design quality they deserve in the digital world.
