A Mumbai-Based Design Studio Is Reviving India’s Native Scripts
It was the year 2005 and the art of typography was still relatively alien to India. Almost two decades later, typography has rapidly grown as a sought-after skill set amongst illustrators and designers in the creative community. Curiosity, exploration, and experimentation can be considered significant factors in driving this change. Facilitators in this industry have been creative explorers who delved into India’s rich cultural treasury to study and discover the crafting of its range of native, hand-drawn scripts.
Mumbai-based Ek Type has been a veteran pioneer in this aspect. Originally a design studio that was called ‘The White Crow’ back in 2005 evolved into a collaborative type design studio that hosts emerging industry titans.
Founders Sarang Kulkarni, Noopur Datye, and Girish Dalvi bonded over their shared passion for exploring the potential of Indian typography and have fostered a growing community of artists, typeface designers, illustrators, and more since then.
With industry exposure growing with every passing year, the founders at Ek Type are looking forward to the development of a diverse community of designers that dive deep into India’s rich legacy of lesser-known, disappearing scripts.
“There’s so much variation in people’s backgrounds [in Mumbai], and people travel here from small cities, so you can’t always just have one solution and say ‘that’s right for any project.’ You have to consider making multiple solutions.”
— Sarang Kulkarni to Eye on Design
Ek type blends the cultural heterogeneity of Mumbai’s cosmopolitan makeup to delve into the smaller nuances of type design. It brings together the design understanding of native hand-painted scripts and revives it through digital design to give it a contemporary twist.
Check out Ek Type’s creation here.
If you enjoyed reading this, we also suggest: