When encountering the Indian streetscape, one is struck by the diversity of competing signs – combining the informative, persuasive and the decorative to varying degrees in a visual cacophony of styles. Though digital technology is present much typography is still commonly hand-lettered – on the street, for the street. Here, Meena Kadri presents an exploration of such work as applied to vehicles, walls, signboards and all manner of surfaces with vernacular flair by painters who have often gained their skills on the job. Though usually not formally trained they collectively evolve styles that are pervasive to Indian visual culture. Kadri will scratch below the surface and give insight through investigation of the painters, their work and its communication context. She will explore the results of extensive interviews of Indian sign-writers and sticker-cutters and photographic capture of their works. Issues such as multiple language, globalised brands and competing technologies will be touched upon alongside the flamboyance of such idiomatic typography.
