Aurelija Slapšytė

Typographic project ENDANGERED DUNES

Slow extinction is a natural process that has been taking place from the first day of the Earth’s existence. Due to the constant human assimilation with the environment, the process of extinction is difficult to notice until the very last minute when the critical damage is already done. While the Earth’s glaciers are melting, deforestation is reaching its limits and the cities which stood for centuries are falling apart, in Lithuania the dunes of the Curonian Spit* are slowly disintegrating. Every year due to changing weather conditions and irresponsible human behavior dunes are increasingly changing and disappearing little by little.

With the typographic project “Endangered Dunes” I try to eternalize the uniqueness of the Curonian Spit and to show the consequences of irresponsible behavior in this national park. In pursuit of this I created the font “Naglis”. This font is like the Baltic Sea amber that was formed from the rarest plants of the Curonian Spit. Also, 122 separate deformed versions of the “Naglis” font were created that, just like the dunes, are deformed by the West wind. On the font’s webpage, every attempt to download “Naglis” will destroy it more and more. Only a responsible choice when downloading it can encourage the longevity of the project, just like the conscious behavior of visitors to the unique Curonian Spit landscape. In the book specially created for this project the viewer will find information not only about the history, uniqueness, and problems of the Curonian Spit, but also more detailed information on this creative project.

Although it is impossible to stop the extinction, by acting together it is still possible to slow it down. The first job for everyone is making responsible choices in the future.

Mes naudojame slapukus. Slapukai reikalingi, kad svetainė galėtų tinkamai funkcionuoti. Nuo jų priklauso funkcinis svetainės veikimas ir išvaizda.