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Alona Zhemchugova
alena.zhem@gmail.com
Linkedn
Hello, I’m Alona — a product designer with a background in graphic design. I’m now focusing on UX and product thinking, and I really enjoy making complex flows clearer and easier to understand. I’m still growing in this field, learning fast, and building work I can genuinely be proud of. Now in THOM (Histore d’Or, Stroili, Orovivo, Marc Orian, Agatha).
Beyond work, I’m a mom, a philosophy learner, and someone who enjoys telling stories through photo.
CV
SELETED WORK > SANTA MARIA FONT
SANTA MARIA FONT
2025
My role - researcher, font designer
Scope - discovery, creation
CONTEXT
Since 2020, I’ve been diving deeper into the world of typography. It started with experiments, daily practice, and small exercises. Over time, I began noticing interesting lettering solutions in my surroundings.
Part of my research while traveling has become observing type: how different writing traditions, tools, and motions of the hand create new curves, shapes, and rhythms that feel unfamiliar and inspiring to my eye. I love studying how designers take these forms and turn them into functional, expressive typefaces.
Exploring typography always feels like touching history. Each typeface is connected to the method of its creation — whether carved in stone, written with a quill or a ball-point pen, or produced by mechanical press or digital tools.
And then there is form itself: what feels familiar to us, and where does it become almost unrecognizable? I’m fascinated by how simple geometric components can evolve into a complete system of letters.
PROCESS
Santa Maria began with a discovery at the Louvre, where I noticed a beautifully carved inscription whose proportions and tension immediately captivated me. That moment became the starting point for a broader study of historical lettering and the way stone-cut forms translate into digital type.
I began by collecting references from the same period and recreating the shapes with a slanted nib to understand the original stroke logic. These calligraphic studies helped me explore contrast, rhythm, and the subtle asymmetry that gives historical letterforms their character.
Using tools such as Glyphs and Photoshop, I started translating these analog sketches into vector form—refining curves, adjusting proportions, and developing a consistent serif structure. The process became an exercise in balancing tradition with clarity: preserving the engraved sharpness of the reference while creating a contemporary, functional typeface.
Santa Maria is currently in the drawing and refinement stage. The project continues to evolve as I test letters in words, polish spacing, and refine the personality of the alphabet.
My goal was to create a bridge — a connecting link to a long-gone era.
When I visit exhibitions dedicated to the Late Middle Ages or the Renaissance, I often realize how little I actually know about those periods. Surrounded today by digital devices and social media, we rarely stop to think about how people communicated without them — what they talked about, how they shared ideas, and how information was passed on.
This typeface is an attempt to spark curiosity about the past — a time that is, in reality, full of beauty, meaning, and thoughtful design. Through Santa Maria, I wanted to bring historical letterforms into a contemporary context and invite a quiet dialogue between past and present.
THIS PROJECT TAUGHT ME
Working on this project helped me deepen my understanding of type design fundamentals: how letterforms are constructed, which elements require the most attention, the role of contrast, and how rhythm is maintained across an alphabet.
Equally important was the research process itself — learning how to search for and select references, collect visual and historical material, form my own hypotheses, and test them through sketches, iterations, and digital refinement.