[Reader-list] typocity update

[ustadv at yahoo.com]

TYPOCITY UPDATE

Sorry for a much delayed posting, but much happened in
the meantime. Here is a report:

[TYPOCITY is a project that aims to document and
analyze interesting and rare instances of typography
throughout the city of Bombay from the point of view
of graphic design, production technique and social
significance.]

Excursions and Observations:
In the last few months we have been making excursions
into different parts of the city and photographing
interesting typographic instances. These journeys have
made us tourists in the city we know well. 

We are like alien observers in a city of typefaces. 

In the topography of typography some texts occupy
lofty hoardings while others exist on lowly mud flaps,
some texts never move out of their con-text, while
some letters litter everyplace. Texts occupy all parts
of the ecosystem, they can be found on rice grains to
road markings, from tall buildings to manhole covers… 

On the city is superimposed a Typocity.

We have uncovered an entire society of text with its
own class and caste systems - font families with
different tastes, habits, customs and aspirations.
There is the working class font and the high society
type face, the conservative types and the flamboyant
sorts, the left aligned, the right aligned and some
with no justification. What significantly demarks
these communities from one another is their dress
sense, the stance they pose in, the status symbols
they are adorned with… 

In the different styles and attitudes of these
calligraphies we see the different facets of Mumbai
proclaimed.

Although most excursions are planned and the area and
route pre-determined, we are often led away into
bylanes of fresh discovery. As we encountered
expressive calligraphy and indigenous typefaces we
were also struck by the knowledge that how rapidly
these might disappear. 

The ominous sign-age:
We were looking for a single image which could define
the purpose of this project. We found this: A hoarding
carrying a message from the Traffic Police, sponsored
by an advertising agency. It has two vehicle license
plates stuck on it. One license plate has the
alpha-numerals written in a simple, clear,
straightforward font. Next to this a comment says
‘Fine’ - implying that this is the way a proper
license plate ought to be. Next to this is another
license plate which has a decorative font and a border
design with hearts and arrows. The comment next to
this says ‘Fine (Rs 500/-)’. The traffic department
which has already outlawed whimsical number plates on
vehicles and introduced a standardized format is going
to begin implementing this law very soon. 

The writing is on the wall.

However the day we went to photograph this hoarding we
found that the overnight squall had damaged it. The
proper number plate had come unstuck and fallen on the
footpath while the faulty number plate was intact. 


Research and Documentation:
To focus our research we have demarked areas for
detailed study. This classification system has been
devised to study specific things in detail, discover
themes within them and follow their evolutionary
paths. The material to be documented and reinterpreted
within each category will be chosen based on factors
such as production technique, unique design, location,
time period, social significance, danger of extinction
etc.


These categories have been chosen based on our initial
research:

Transport 
sticker art on taxis
number plate design 

Food 
hawkers and vendors - signage on thelas and vans
restaurants - menu cards and wall menus

Shop Signage 
art deco shops 
hairdressers
tailors
jewelers

Posters
hand painted - film posters and political posters
cheaply printed - posters of circuses, nautankis,
C-grade movies

Hand Bills and Stickers
lottery tickets
bills and stickers of - sexologists, astrologers,
political activists

Street
street signs
street shops
graffiti
collages
streets with a typographic character

Architectural
signage on old textile mills and buildings
typographic forms on places of worship 
typographic forms on monuments and heritage structures


Technology
old technology - lettraset, block printing,
typewriters, dot matrix printouts
archaic electronic displays - at railway stations, old
elevators, hotel lobbies

Iconography
the ‘dubbawalla’ city code 
markings on rail fare charts, tickets, lamp posts,
benches

Personal signage
name plates and door plates
letterheads and visiting cards of magicians, quacks
and performers

Festival
text in rangoli, thermocol cutouts, hand embroidered
on cloth         

These categories are fluid and evolving and may be
reorganized as needed to better express the intent of
the project.

See images on typocity.com. Launching shortly


Production:
For the purpose of documentation we are using two 35mm
SLR manual cameras. 

We shoot an average of three rolls in a single
excursion thus collecting more than a hundred
typographic instances in a day.

We process the negatives and directly scan them at a
high resolution.

The most interesting photographs are then chosen and
sorted into different folders in the computer
according to our classification system.


Archiving and Interpretation:
We are currently in the process of building a website
for the project where the photographs shall be
uploaded for public access. We are also evolving ideas
to present the collected material  in ways which
elucidate its importance interestingly. 

The website shall grow to include interactive essays,
design layouts and games using the collected material.
Rare and interesting typefaces shall be converted to
digital fonts which shall be freely downloadable form
the website.

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