site.btaBTA Provides Its Custom-made LIK Typeface for Use by Diplomatic Institute

On Thursday, BTA provided its custom-made LIK typeface to the Diplomatic Institute under the Minister of Foreign Affairs, whereby the two institutions take the first step toward standardizing the visual identity in their documentation and design. BTA Director General Kiril Valchev presented Diplomatic Institute Director Tanya Mihaylova with a parchment featuring a QR code for the LIK typeface, which was specially designed to mark BTA’s 127th anniversary and the 60th anniversary of its revived namesake magazine.

The event took place at the BTA National Press Club in the presence of the Diplomatic Institute’s team, journalists, and guests.

"There is something symbolic in the fact that Bulgarian diplomats, together with Bulgarian legal professionals - the professions where work involves the most paperwork - are the first to adopt BTA’s newly created LIK typeface. We would like this typeface to be used only for good things," said Kiril Valchev.

"There has always been symbolism in our meetings and joint initiatives with BTA. This exquisite typeface, which we admired from the moment it was presented at BTA’s 127th anniversary, has found its perfect place. We will use it only for good purposes. The Diplomatic Institute was established to do good and to build bridges," said Tanya Mihaylova.

She added that the Diplomatic Institute will always acknowledge that the typeface they use is LIK. Kiril Valchev shared that BTA had considered whether to require users to specify that the typeface was created by BTA - similar to the BBC, which was the first media organization to adopt its own typeface. "However, we decided not to require that - Christian tradition teaches us that when one gives, they should do so humbly. Our only condition is that the typeface is not altered and is not used for texts containing falsehoods, offensive content, or threats," Valchev emphasized.

The typeface is rooted in the tradition of the Cyrillic script developed by the disciples of the saintly brothers Cyril and Methodius and was created specifically for BTA by a team from the National Academy of Arts.

"The idea is to gradually enhance and unify BTA’s visual identity with the new typeface - starting with the website, then signage, business cards for our team, and everything else, step by step," Valchev added.

At the end of the meeting, he showed the Diplomatic Institute’s team the renovated archive and newsroom facilities in the BTA building, which were officially inaugurated on February 16.