Rounded Cyrillic M

Adam Jagosz · January 2020

I've been wondering whether this design, three vertical stems with rounded apices, would be good for the Cyrillic capital and small letters Em (М м). Latin Mm followed by Cyrillic in all samples.

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/5019405/uploads/editor/2b/d6zkj2y01szm.png

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/5019405/uploads/editor/np/7gbrkxclgutp.png

The above examples don't look too refined, but otherwise, apart from adding another set of verticals to a script overwhelmed by them, is there a legibility issue? Can this shape be mistaken for Cyrillic Te (Т т)?

I guess this is an example of such failure:

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/5019405/uploads/editor/ev/k6viz7i9c78l.png

Note how Zoo 300 tries to mitigate the possible confusion by nudging the apices outwards.

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/5019405/uploads/editor/o7/6ta9jra3x4ui.png

Some, if not most, of these typefaces avoid the issue altogether, for the price of style.

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/5019405/uploads/editor/0c/e8n7b5zlptjj.png

About these I'm not certain.

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/5019405/uploads/editor/ks/mp8kltorvy1o.png

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/5019405/uploads/editor/fn/fshqjd18wjkr.png

For Blackletter, this seems to be the only option either way.

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/5019405/uploads/editor/33/m4zq1gstalzy.png

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/5019405/uploads/editor/tk/dofxcjt5byoo.png

Vasil Stanev · January 2020

It is preferable to use the shape with the acute angles for both uppercase and lowercase. If the lc м has to be like the one in Bauhaus (two Roman arches), add a stroke above the т to differentiate them.