Ulta Angrezi Pen

Feedback from Mahendra Bhai

Thu, 16 Sep 2010 16:04:00 +0530

Overall Comments:

Works as title or display type.
Meta is not the best reference for body type. It is meant for titles and words that are to be printed in small sizes. Designed for postal usage. Stamps etc.
Render drawings in Indesign rather than Illustrator.
Print on a better printer.

Comments on the texture of the typeface:

Leading needs to increase.
reduce typesize by 5-8%
Keeping x-height constant, extend ascenders and descenders.
Weight is semibold.
Slightly condensed.
Let in more white space.
Reconsider the size of the space bar.

Comments on individual letterforms:

Lowercase “e” is problematic. Consider straightening the eye.
Kerning problems with “um” and “mp”
“n,m,h” etc joints still too heavy.
The sharp legs of most letter must go below the baseline.
Sharp angle on the stems are a characteristic. Do not loose them.
Lowercase “e” is slightly lob sided. Balance it out better.

A few more examples of the “ulta english pen”

Mon, 13 Sep 2010 03:16:51 +0530

A few more examples of the “ulta english pen”

Untitled in progress

Mon, 13 Sep 2010 02:16:00 +0530

I haven’t updated my blog for a while now. Thought it would be a good thing to start by putting up some of my process work of how the typeface is shaping out.

So here is my lowercase. I have enlarged them to make sure there are no problems with any of the curves. Here I am looking purely at the form and not spacing.

Comfortable reading requires generous amounts of white space. Using this particular angle has made that a little difficult to manage, but I have tried to stick with the inverted angle of the nib. I realized that the typeface is generally looking a little heavy. Maybe reduction in contrast between the thick and thin strokes might help.

After I printed the entire lowercase, I went on to jotting down problems that I could see in the letterforms and possible ways of solving them. Here are some closeups of my lowercase wall.

While fixing the problematic lowercase letterforms, I have simultaneously started work on the uppercase and basic punctuation glyphs. Here is and example of the thought behind a letterform. Here is and example of the thought behind a letterform.

Below are some iterations of the Q that I have been working on.

After several drawings, I have finally drawn out three possible...

Wed, 01 Sep 2010 13:13:34 +0530

Single corner counterform

Double corner counterform

Open counterform

After several drawings, I have finally drawn out three possible directions that my typeface could move into. By now I have a good idea what my letterforms will look like. I just need to lock on the characteristics in terms of structure.

I have been referencing the famous humanist typefaces such as Stempel Schneidler, Jenson Pro and Centaur since they well established typefaces that have set the path for other transitional typefaces that are known to read well. My x-height, ascender and descender measures are all inspired by these humanist typefaces.

“Letting in light” into my counterforms has made the letters far more readable than before. Went through a type history 101 on www.typophile.com. Its a great site with heaps of information on topics such as these.

Meeting with Mr. Mahendra Patel

Mon, 30 Aug 2010 02:38:30 +0530

I visited Mr. Mahendra Patel for some feedback on my project. I have been feeling a little disheartened regarding my project recently. Too many questions and too many decisions to be made - have made me loose a lot of confidence in what I have set out to do.

Mr. Mahendra Patel used to be faculty at NID and has also taken a course with us at Srishti. My first ever serious typography course was with him, and it left a lasting impression. He is a very senior person in the realm of visual communication and especially in the field of letter design. Unlike a lot of other well established and decorated design professionals, Mahendra Bhai is a very approachable and down to earth person.

This is what he had to say about my project:

About the project

He agreed to the fact that the Devanagiri angle is commonly used by small time signboard painters to write in English.
He also shared with me a set of photos that he shot of Devanagiri street typography in Pune city. This is a pdf file which he gave me.
Spoke about the importance of documenting street typography since it is fast disappearing.

Feedback on first round of sketches and rough vectorized letterforms

When reduced the letterforms are showing signs of distortion.
This could be avoided by exaggerating the small details.
Reduce contrast between thick and thin strokes.
Good understanding of counter forms.
Good understanding of kerning and spacing.
Explanation about the curve and how it behaves on reduction.
Spoke about classifying the typeface i am working on as a - Humanistic typeface with calligraphic influence.
He felt that the vectorized letters were inconsistent.
There is a need to define my decisions more clearly.
There is a challenge in achieving optimum legibility in a typeface that uses this angle of stylus.
The xheight is a little too tall as compared to the ascenders.
The typeface is semibold and slightly condensed.
Letters like W, M, X, might be problematic and must be dealt with carefully.
Set rules on the horizontal and vertical stress.

Presentation

Work primarily on one typestyle and develop only samples of a bold, condensed and italicized version.
Display alongside a devanagiri typeface is important to bring out the relevance of such a typeface.
Show relevant examples of where such a typeface can be used.(banknotes, religious centers with multilingual descriptors)
Dealing with diploma projects, deadlines and juries.

Miscellaneous

Spoke about doing things that have been tried before and how it is important not to be afraid to take up such projects.
Typography in today’s day and age
Attempts have been made to use the devanagiri angle to write in english and the other way around as well, but none have been systematically made into a good readable typeface that can be used for print.
Typography requires high levels of confidence since there are decisions to be made at all points of time. Without confidence these decisions will not be well defined.

References
Achyut Pallav, Manohar Desai, Manoj Gopinath, R.K Joshi, Satya Rajpurohit

"Thirty spokes unite at the single hub; It is the empty space which makes the wheel useful. Mold clay..."

Mon, 16 Aug 2010 14:03:57 +0530

“Thirty spokes unite at the single hub;
It is the empty space which makes the wheel useful.
Mold clay to form a bowl;
It is the empty space which makes the bowl useful.
Cut out windows and doors;
It is the empty space which makes the room useful.”

- Lao Zi - A philosopher in ancient China

Ulta angle maar ke...

Fri, 13 Aug 2010 17:39:00 +0530

Ever since I started exploring the option of drawing Latin script using the Devanagiri pen hold, I have been on the look out for examples on the street. On my short visit to Bangalore a few days back, I realized that this phenomenon of writing English using the Devanagiri pen hold would be non existent there since the local language is Kannada and the Kannada script uses a completely different stroke angle. However, in Mumbai and places around, this is commonly seen. There can be only one reason for this, and its quite obvious - The constant shifting between executing jobs in Devanagiri and Latin script.

Signboard painters have had to make a shift in the way they held their brush when there came a requirement for them to start writing in English. Today more experienced painters subconsciously flip their brush around while shifting between Devanagiri and Latin scripts. So this is where I start speculating… maybe amateur signboard painters and people who execute quick jobs dont realize the importance of flipping the angle of their brush while shifting between the two scripts. This produces a very recognizably familiar looking result and maybe this is that subtle essence that the street has left behind on the hand painted Latin script.

2nd review

Thu, 12 Aug 2010 14:34:00 +0530

9th August 2010

Review panel: Arvind Lodaya, Rustam Vania, Kumkum Nadig

Explanation of how the project has changed since my initial proposal.
A brief look at my blog and progress so far.
Need to create a new proposal that redefines the project.
Need to articulate intent.
Discuss project with Mahendra Bhai.
Discuss project with CDAC.
Explore the option of getting someone who has an experienced hand at calligraphy to draw out the Devanagiri script which I can later adapt into a Latin typeface.
Need to research more on fonts that have applied a similar approach.
Latin script must evolve from a pre-defined set of Devanagiri styles. This could be an existing typeface, photos of existing signs, etc.
Need to compile a well defined reference point.
Need to create substantial reason and backing for “why” such a project.

Deliverables:

Presentation along with revised proposal.

(20^th August 2010)

So far.

Mon, 09 Aug 2010 10:46:00 +0530

Initial Plan

To understand the visual cultrure of the streets of Mumbai through documentation and interview based research.
To develop a set of typefaces that takes inspiration from the above.

What I found

Plenty of hand painted signs still exist in and around the city.
Not many people do this kind of work.
DTP operators have replaced the signboard painters.

There is a meta level problem in such a project.

The beauty in street typography is in its individuality.
Mass producing it would only speed up the disappearance of this artform.
Customization is what letter artists swear by.
Visual clture of the streets is bound to change.
Lettering artists have started looking out for alternate professions since they are well aware of the flex and digital medium taking over.

PLAN B

Inspired by conversations with Mr. Guruji and other people I spoke to.
The importance of developing Devanagiri typefaces (Prof. R.K. Joshi)
Collaboration is still a large part of the project.

Plan of Action

Create Latin script typeface that implements structural similarities of Devanagiri script.
Direct/Commission/Colaborate with a signboard painter to develop a font using a set of pre determined rules as framework for the drawings.
The primary objective is to create 2 typefaces (Devanagiri and Latin) that work together as a unit.

So as things stand, Mr. Kashyap has been hit by the infamous bug...

Sat, 07 Aug 2010 03:17:00 +0530

So as things stand, Mr. Kashyap has been hit by the infamous bug thats been doing the rounds in Mumbai. Hes been out of action from the day he was supposed to start work (makes me wonder if he is still serious about working on this project)

Anyway, I have continued on my part since I cannot afford any more setbacks in my schedule. Still trying to implement the Devanagiri angle of the pen into Latin script. Built myself a stylus using some scrap wood the other day- just getting my hand free by scribbling a whole lot. This gave me some interesting results. My scanner is giving me issues all of a sudden so here are some photos that I took of the sketches along with some shots of my temporary workspace.

Next review coming up on Monday. We have lots to catch up on.

Inspiring words by Prof. R.K. Joshi

Sat, 31 Jul 2010 21:47:54 +0530

Inspiring words by Prof. R.K. Joshi:

An excerpt from an interview of Prof. R. K. Joshi.

Interviewed by Shruti Agarwal and Chetan Shastri, Mumbai, November 2007

“You see, India is a very complex object. Everyday, every minute, everything is changing. It is full of diversity, dynamism is constantly surrounding it. There are so many problems around, but still people have an urge to live, to fight with the odds. The Indian designers have not captured ‘this’ India. We can design beautiful chairs, layouts in Latin script or other languages, but we have to realize that India, take it in and express it through our works. The whole life here is bubbling with enthusiasm, ‘woh kya hai? That keeps India alive?” Every time I’ve gone abroad, I have come back becoming more Indian over the time. Even though my inspirations, exposures are also western, but every time I study I see, how to apply it back home. So I feel Indian designers should be true to that real India. To define the India is very difficult and it’s a challenge for the Indian designer to accept and express it through his works. I have nothing against the English language. Please, do not take me in that respect, but we cannot accept all that is western at the cost of our Indianness. It is complex, we have so many beautiful languages like english, we have a strong and complex philosophy, tradition, culture, we need to therefore imbibe and take those forward.”

Meet Ustaad Kashyap of J.K. Arts.

Sat, 31 Jul 2010 20:00:00 +0530

Mr. Kashyap runs J.K. Arts in a small gulli off Yari Road(Andheri). I had initially tracked down a signboard painter by the name of Ramlal who took up lettering jobs for number plates and wall advertisments across Andheri and nearby areas. Ramlal was supposed to meet me but was busy with work, so he suggested I meet Mr. Kashyap who he referred to as “Ustaad”.

Having honed his fine art skills in Lucknow under his ustaad, Mr. Kashyap came to Mumbai in 1962. He started out by working as a letter artist for the telephone exchange in Kalbadevi and went on to start up his own art studio - J.K Arts in Versova.

After speaking to him about my project and hand painted signage in general, I realized that Mr. Kashyap had genuine interest in this sort of work. He knows a little bit about fonts and DTP operations and seemed keen to help me out on my endeavor.

“Hamne bhi dekha hai, woh computer pe kaise banner banate hai. Lekin un DTPwale ko art ke bare mein kuch nahi malum. Woh log kaise bhi kar ke banate hai. Un log ko computer kaisa chalaneka… bas… utna hi aata hai.” This seems to be the cry of the most people who see value in hand painted signage. The DTP wala’s relentless murder of both typeface and aesthetic value is something that signboard painters will always look down upon. “Hamare zamane mein sab haath se hua karta tha. Deewar pe painting karne ke pehle hum paper pe banate the. Ismein lettering ke beech ka spacing bahut important hai, tho uska bhi planning hota tha - ke kitna bada rakhna hai, vagera.”

Once we got to know each other a little better, I spoke to Mr. Kashyap about my intentions. I pointed out to him the difference between Devanagiri calligraphy and Roman script calligraphy in terms of the angle of stylus. Being left handed, he didn’t quite understand me, but we got around it and he saw what I meant. He admitted that he had never really thought about this, but it always came to him naturally while working. He seemed interested in the result of this approach to writing Roman script using the Devanagiri brush angle. After making me a super sweet cup of chai, Mr. Kashyap and I officially drank to the occasion of embarking on a collaborative journey to create a typeface.

A simple difference between Devanagiri script and Roman script...

Fri, 30 Jul 2010 15:01:00 +0530

45 degree angle of the sylus

An example of a Devanagiri letterform

Roman script example - inverted stylus

Roman script example - inverted stylus

Roman script example - inverted stylus

A simple difference between Devanagiri script and Roman script calligraphy is the angle of the stylus. Here I have tried to use the Devanagiri angle to write Roman script. The result seems interesting, but I need to figure out whether people used to writing in Devanagiri apply the same knowledge while writing in Roman script. If I could validate that, it might be an interesting path to take this project towards.

Conversation with Mr. Guruji

Thu, 29 Jul 2010 23:51:00 +0530

Mr. Vinod Guruji runs Samarth Art Service in Dadar (Mumbai). I was keen on meeting him since his workshop has evolved from a banner and signboard painting workshop to an art direction studio. Today his studio takes on a host of different jobs that require an artistic approach. From designing elaborate theater and film sets to designing high end recording studios - Samarth Art Service boasts of a 60 year old tradition in the commercial art industry. During my conversation with him, we touched upon a number of subjects.

The letter artist’s current situation and how he has had to evolve his trade.
The relevance of cost and durability when considering hand painted signage versus flex printing.
The fact that signage has now become more about who says it louder than who says it more poetically.
The heart of street typography is that no two signs will ever be similar.
The rupee symbol and classical devnagiri calligraphy. Attention to detail in terms of angle of brush/pen. A contradiction.
DTP walas are people with technical knowledge. They do not bother with artistic customization and why should they? They have no time to do that.
The spacing of letters is just as important as its shape and structure. DTP walas believe all they have to do is select a good font and stretch or skew it to fit it in the space available. They do not respect negative space.
The visual culture of the streets will change and there is no doubt about that. It is inevitable.
Need for standardization of government stationary and paperwork.
Need for standardization of Roadway signage.
Easy and systematic access to information

The story of the fading tradition of hand painted advertising....

Thu, 29 Jul 2010 16:54:00 +0530

The story of the fading tradition of hand painted advertising. Shot by Mekanism’s Malcolm Murray for Stella Artois (in conjunction with Mother NY)

Lisa Pro by Underware

Thu, 29 Jul 2010 16:42:52 +0530

Lisa Pro by Underware:

Liza Pro is made to look like it is hand painted. During the digital drawing process we often went back to sketching by hand, to find natural shapes, rhythms, constructions and letter combinations.

Liza Pro combines the crafts of sign-painting and computer programming. During the design process these skills travelled hand in hand, both adding to one another.

An extensive linguistic research on the structure of language helped us to become closer to Liza Pro. With the help of the results we modified Liza Pro to be strong enough for all linguistic adventures. No matter what language you’re talking.

Examples that I found interesting during my walk around...

Thu, 29 Jul 2010 15:18:04 +0530

Examples that I found interesting during my walk around Kalbadevi.

The BEST no parking you will ever find… Do it. Park here.

Thu, 29 Jul 2010 15:09:00 +0530

The BEST no parking you will ever find… Do it. Park here.

Flock, the Ceiling Light Made from Preserved Sheep Stomachs

Tue, 27 Jul 2010 16:33:25 +0530

Flock, the Ceiling Light Made from Preserved Sheep Stomachs :

Flock’s designer Julia Lohmann likes to provoke with her creations, and remind people that we are using more animal products than the steaks we might eat ocasionally. She started researching the contradictions in our relationship to animals during her studies at the RCA, and found new ways to use leftovers from the meat industry as materials.

The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction

Sun, 25 Jul 2010 13:54:52 +0530

The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction:

The article “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction” by Walter Benjamin examines the meaning of art at a time when it can be easily manipulated and distributed to the masses. He mentions art and its aura. According to Benjamin, this aura does not consist of the artwork itself. But instead consists of an artwork’s history, authenticity, ritual and exhibition values. The mechanical reproduction of art in the form of film brings it to the control and gaze of the mass audience. This leads to the disruption of the aura because the artwork is freed from its time and place. There is no history or authenticity of these mechanical reproductions. Benjamin claims that the withering of aura can be a positive thing because it makes art accessible to more people.