Canteen Typeface

Canteen is inspired by a civil war canteen within the University of Arkansas Archeological Survey building’s collection. The hand-painted canteen had consistent letterforms hand painted by a soldier after the battle of Prarie Grove. While designing, I focused on the lower half of the canteen with the date “DEC. 7TH 1862” to inform the typeface’s design. This font is not a direct copy of the painted forms, but rather, inspired by them and is important in preserving a piece of the past while transforming it into something new and usable today.