FROM Bazaars TO BILLBOARDS

Visual designers take inspiration from Indian street typography as a bridge between heritage and contemporary design, finds Aabha Sewak

- Aabha Sewak

A growing wave of Indian artists and typographers is finding inspiration in an unlikely place: the vanishing hand-painted signs of Indian streets. From Mumbai's film posters to the ornate shop signs of Kolkata's College Street, these creatives aren't just documenting disappearing letterforms—they're revitalising them for contemporary design and art.

Archiving street lettering is not just an act of honouring nostalgia but also about preserving historic artefacts. By documenting and digitising these scripts, designers ensure they remain in cultural circulation. Tracing typographic histories uncovers cultural connections, colonial influences, and the creativity of street lettering artists who have kept India's roads vibrant for centuries. The act of archiving culture is resistance-reclaiming the local design language and decentering global modern design.

LEARNING & UNLEARNING

Pooja Saxena's archive isn't just about collecting images; it's about tracing influences. An award-winning typeface designer, Saxena started her own independent practice, Matra Type. Based in Delhi, she subtly conjures specific times and places through research-driven design. Born in the late 80s-she belongs to a generation that witnessed the shift from hand-painted signage to mass-produced prints. Her project India Street Lettering Zines Nº 1-3 documents shared typographic culture across 16 cities and 11 scripts. Saxena says, “I use this archive for educational workshops and lectures, type walks, as inspiration for new work, and to broaden my own understanding of Indian typographic cultures and design.”