Study on Malayalam Script.pdf

STUDY ON MALAYALAM SCRIPTBY NANDINI JOSE SUBMITTED TO NIFT IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENT FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF DESIGN SPACE DEPARTMENT OF DESIGN SPACE FACULTY GUIDE: ASSISTANT PROFESSOR SUSMITA DAS PAL, DEPARTMENT OF FASHION COMMUNICATIONS NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF FASHION TECHNOLOGY MUMBAI 2013 DECLARATION I, the undersigned, hereby declare that this dissertation entitled ’A study On Malayalam script’ is my own work and effort and that it has not been submitted anywhere for any award or degree. Name of the student: Nandini Jose Signature of the student: Place: NIFT, Mumbai Date A study on Malayalam script ABSTRACT Kerala is witnessing a new wave – There is a huge appeal for products that combine the traditional and the contemporary. Particularly interesting are new trends that pay tribute to the roots, bringing back to light certain cultural elements that were once lost or forgotten. Methiyadi rubber footwear, inspired from ancient wooden padukas is a perfect example of this phenomenon. Avial – the band, fuses Malayalam folk and rock music in their music; the result – sound that the audience has never heard before but are familiar to in some way. Giving a new outlook to something local, while maintaining its essence is the ongoing trend. This new trend could be applied to the beautiful Malayalam script as well. The application of script as well should evolve with changing times, without stripping it of its essence. Malayalam lipi [script] is beautiful on its own; the loops, the swirls, the rounded turns. Although Malayalam script has been experimented with in the context of communication, it has not been explored much beyond that. To explore, an understanding of the origin, evolution and uses of the script becomes necessary. The objective of this research is to collect information about Malayalam script that would prove useful for anyone who hopes to use it in design. A qualitative research was conducted to understand the subject, through observation and by interviewing several artists and designers in the field. Through this research certain interesting things have come to focus – the need for archiving lettering and typographic works, new trends in design, increasing appreciation and importance given to the script, a changing market that is open to western concepts yet takes pride in their roots, and the huge scope that is there for products that include Malayalam script based designs. Title Page no. 1a Grunge font Pampa 16 1b Serif font Ambili 16 2a Kasturi font family 17 3a Netholi Oru Cheriya Meenala poster 20 3b Aamen poster 20 4a Changes in movie posters over the years 21 5a Comparison between the old and the new 22 6a Movie title ‘Kuttykuppayam’ 24 . IIT Bombay. I thank my faculty mentor. IDC.Sreekumar. Mumbai. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT First and foremost I would like to thank God for giving me the wisdom and capabilities to carry out this project and complete it on time. for her valuable guidance and support. I would also like to acknowledge Professor G. LIST OF PLATES Plate no. for giving me a basic introduction to Malayalam typography and for referring Hashim Padiyath. Secondly I wish to express my sincere gratitude to Hashim Padiyath of Design Difference for helping me from the start to gain an understanding of Malayalam typography and lettering. helping me chose my area of study and for continually clearing my doubts and queries through the course of the research. without which I would not have been able to conduct the research to the best of my abilities. Assistant Professor Susmita Das Pal of Fashion Communications department – National Institute of Fashion Technology. I also would like to acknowledge the support of my family.V. 7a Book cover -Title –‘Thakarna Hridayangal’ 33 7b Book cover -Title – ‘College Kuruvikal’ 33 7c Book cover. 45 16a Minimal designs inspired Malayaleegraphy 47 posters 17a Via Kerala font 48 17b Akam book cover 48 .Title – ‘Theeram thedunna thirakal’ 33 7d Book cover –Title – ‘Kattutharavu’ 33 7e Book cover –Title –‘ Chuvanna Kadal’ 33 7f Book cover –Title –‘Mahar’ 33 7g Book cover –Title – ‘Parvathangalile Kattu’ 34 7h Book cover –Title – ‘Thiranedutha kathakal’ 34 7i Book cover –Title – ‘Randu Penkuttikal’ 34 7j Book cover –Title – ‘Themmadi Rashtram’ 34 7k Book cover –Title –Nammukku ‘Gramangalil 34 Chennu Rapaarkaam’ 7l Book cover –Title – ‘Barsa’ 34 8a Clutter in the streets 41 9a Space oriented lettering 42 10a Hand painted lettering 42 11a Increasing Usage of English 43 12a Use of Rachana old lipi in a poster 44 13a Aggressive graffiti styles found in the streets 44 14a Different hand lettered styles in the streets 45 15a Movie Ustad hotel’s title. LIST OF FIGURES Plate no. 1a Illustration of movie title Nirmala 23 2a Iluustration of title ‘Kandavarundo’ 24 3a Illustration of title ‘Poombata’ 25 4a Illustration of title ‘Snehadeepame 26 Mizhithuraku’ 5a Illustration of title ‘Thapaswini’ 27 6a Illustration of letters from the title 27 ‘Kammath and Kammath’ 7a Illustration of letters from the title 28 ‘Season’ 8a Illustration of letters from the title 28 ‘Thoovanathumbikal’ 9a Illustrations of letters from the movie title 29 ‘Kili Poyi’ 10a Illustrations of letters from the title 35 ‘Namukku gramangalil Chennu Raaparkaam’ 11a Illustration of title ‘Chandana Marangal’ 35 12a Illustration of title Barsa 36 13a Illustrations of letters from the title 37 ‘Chittagong Viplavam’ 14a Illustration of title ‘Lust’ 37 15a Illustration of letters from the title 38 ‘Smruthidarpanam’ 16a Illustration of letters from the title ‘Randu 38 Penkuttikal’ . Title Page no. 17a Illustration of title ‘Ente Katha’ 39 18a Illustration of title ‘ Parvathangalile Kaate’ 39 19a Illustration of title ‘Sahara’ 40 . TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter no.4 Malayalam script 8 3 METHODOLOGY 3.4 The streets 45 4.3 Significance 2 1.2 Cinema titles 24 4.1 Understanding the difference between typography and lettering 4 2 2.2 Schedule 13 PRIMARY RESEARCH ANALYSIS 4 4.4 Scope of Research 2 1.2 Objectives 1 1.1 Methodology 12 3.1 Introduction 1 1.3 Book Cover designs 35 4.2 Evolution of lettering and Typography 4 2. INTRODUCTION 1 1.1 Need for archiving 55 .5 Limitations 3 REVIEW OF LITERATURE 2.1 Typography 19 4.5 New Avenues 50 5 CONCLUSION 5. Title Page no.3 The Indian context 5 2. 3 Scope 58 LIST OF REFERENCES BIBLIOGRAPHY GLOSSARY .5.2 Design Characteristics 58 5. However. Avial – the band. This is just a mere beginning to what is an area that could be studied for a lifetime. People do not notice the script by itself. bringing back to light certain cultural elements that were once lost or forgotten. fuses Malayalam folk and rock music in their music. Many new trends pay tribute to the roots. A few significant areas where the language has been used in different ways have been studied. lifestyle. This study hopes to aid anyone who wishes to know details about a few ways in which Malayalam script has been applied and could be applied. the result – sound that the audience has never heard before but are familiar to in some way. and a growing interest in reviving things of old. many changes have been taking place in different spheres. and in the process. 1 . while maintaining its essence is the ongoing trend. which had to be gathered through several interviews and observation. the loops. alter the way one sees letters. A tiny bit of observation makes you separate the elements that make the script. Malayalam lipi [script] is beautiful on its own. the rounded turns. One tends to get immune to the beauty of my one’s own language. the swirls. movies. and shows you that it is an art by itself. Giving a new outlook to something local. inspired from ancient wooden padukas is a perfect example of this phenomenon. even this short study conducted from January to April 2013. This documentation is an attempt to collect details about Malayalam script which could be used in design. Getting accustomed to a script has one drawback. they miss the aesthetic and normal design elements. has revealed interesting factors about the script.1 Introduction Kerala has been witnessing a new wave. from the communication tool that it is. Methiyadi rubber footwear. It does not boast to be a complete study of the usage of Malayalam script. Chapter 1: INTRODUCTION 1. music. There is a huge appeal for products that combine the traditional and the contemporary. 2 .1.2 Objectives The objective of this research is to understand and document how various characteristics of Malayalam script has been used in design and analyze what further explorations could be done with it. 1. Malayalam art lettering works are not usually documented or studied. a lot more exploration could be attempted. It is hoped that this study will help one notice and understand the aesthetic potential that a script could possess.  Understand how the script is used in different areas.4 Scope of Research  This research is helpful in understanding interesting ways in which Malayalam script has been applied in design.  Find out new trends in the usage of this script. in the context of design.  Understand elements of the script that are/ could be manipulated for use in designs. A great amount of work has been done in this area.  Although much research has been done on Malayalam typography. is a curvy-linear script composed of round and linear features. which hails from the Dravidian family of scripts. To attain the core objective. these are the areas that will be studied-  A thorough study of the origin and evolution of the script.3 Significance Malayalam script. Listing some of the lettering styles that have been applied over the years is a step towards archiving and maintaining records of what has been worked on previously. 1. The script by itself is beautiful to look at. most of it is not documented. Also. however. This research aims to understand and document some of the many ways in which Malayalam script has been used. Hence. Familiarity in this area would have positively improved the findings of the study. 1.  Exploration is futile if a background study is not carried out. What one person thinks is significant could be considered irrelevant by another. it was difficult to find any other resources in the concerned area of study. I had to select and study a few and base my analysis on those findings. On lacking such training.  Studying about the aesthetic application of a script tends to become subjective at certain points.  Due to the time limit of the concerned project. the research was tuned to focus more on the artistic characteristics of the script and hence the problem was avoided. the technical parts of the script have not been analyzed in detail by the researcher. yet due to the time limit. Many old lettering works had to be redone on Adobe Illustrator because only images of poor quality could be procured.  Although documentation on the origin and evolution of the script is easily available. There are tens of thousands of lettering works that could be studied. during the initial stages. However. it was not possible to analyze beyond a point. 3 .5 Limitations  Typography is a vast area which requires months or even years of training to be an expert at. at times it was difficult to procure usable material from the earlier years.  Much of the older works have not been archived. was very often what another considered as inadequate. Further understanding could be attained only by interviewing various artists and designers in the field. Which typeface one designer considers suitable. It is conceived that this research will benefit anyone who wishes to explore more in this area. Lettering on the other hand is based on draftsmanship. because it is the study of letters applied to typefaces. Calligraphy is based on penmanship. and typesetters would arrange the type character by character. Often lettering is hand-drawn. [Joseph Alessio. While calligraphy and lettering are once again related. 2013]1 2. In 1439. Typography is actually a subset of lettering. as with typography. which involves writing letters.1 Understanding the difference between typography and lettering Most people are under the misconception that typography and lettering are one and the same. 4 . they are different disciplines. he gave the world a practical solution to printing. Calligraphy on the other hand is much more likely to be used in longer passages of text. In simple terms. although now.2 Evolution of lettering and typography over the years [Western context] The arts of both lettering and calligraphy have been around for centuries. when Johannes Gutenberg built his printing press. Chapter 2: REVIEW OF LITERARTURE Exploring Malayalam lettering styles 2. It is important to understand that although lettering and typography share many of the same concepts. there is a central difference between the two. Both these arts evolved alongside each other. This gave rise to the discipline of typography. which involves drawing letters. with pens. Each letter had its own type block on which it sat. some directly work on computer software. It is a specific combination of letterforms crafted for a single use and purpose as opposed to using previously designed letters as components. lettering can be defined as “the art of drawing letters”. Lettering is almost exclusively used as display text. graphite or brushes. along with other letter-related arts such as engraving. Spoken languages developed into writing systems. They moved with the times. During the Victorian era and Art Nouveau. 2004]. the industry as a whole was continuously changing to introduce faster and improved techniques. [Joseph Alessio. typography as a discipline looks very different from what it was. In 1884. and culture and human need that drive language. which revolutionized the newspaper industry. Lettering artists were hired by type foundries to design new typefaces. Many artists. Typography was explored in the various art movements. they adopted ornamental shapes. their similarities and differences is essential. lettering and typography are still different concepts.” [Ellen Lupton. for posters and ads. panels in Illustrator or InDesign are used today. 2013]1 2. technology used to create typographic language. Through the latter half of the 20th century. This digital amalgamation has been largely responsible for the confusion of lettering and typography.3 The Indian context “Typography -‘what language looks like’ cannot be separated from the circumstances in which language lives and grows. With the end of the Rococo era. lettering and calligraphy still played an enormous role in communication. however still stay loyal to analog media by hand-drawing lettering. experimental and traditional. The worlds of type and lettering constantly intermeshed. 5 . and understanding them. These include place but also use of language as seen by the tools that influence it. the new modernism of the 80′s. lettering has also moved into the digital format through which much of our design work is produced. Today. or a drafting table and linotype matrices. German inventor Ottmar Mergenthaler succeeded in building the linotype machine. logotypes and book covers. from Dada to Modernism and beyond. Although some people still hand-set type. Similarly. evolved. the organic styles of the 70′s. these art forms became simpler during the early 19th century. since they are now often created using the same programs — the difference between the two is no longer the difference between a brush and a letterpress machine. and the grungy 90′s styles. the techniques moved from phototypesetting to the digital methods. Thought was given to ways in which type could be used to give better expression and meaning. Lettering figured strongly through Art Deco and Modernism. [Joseph Alessio. As typography.During this period of experimentation with printing. Instead of setting metal type and locking in forms. However. lettering went through many transformations. 2013]1 There were continuous efforts made to accelerate typesetting and printing processes during this time. calls “Indo-Deco.3. socio-cultural. design emerged as a response to industry and mass production and is considered separate from art. so did the materials. During the industrial era. each seeking inspiration from one other and each trying to outdo the other. the Art Deco aesthetic developed into what Jon T Lang.1 Printing in India In 1556. there has always been a direct link between design and art and craft traditions and this is evident in the Indian approach to typography which sees the ‘character’ as an ‘image’. worked better in India. In India. In Sanskrit (as in most Indian languages) the word for ‘design’ is the same as the word for ‘art’ . The affordability and ease of the lithographic process allowed printers to produce books at low cost in different scripts without having to buy a full set of type. town and city was home to its own community of painters.” The clean. In the West.kala.3. According to Francesca Orsini (Ulrike Stark’s . and that is not just physical but physiological.Similar to what happened in the west. The letterpress was not a preferred medium of printing in India. which came much later. Lithography also allowed for a variety of scripts and required the use of brush and pen work resulting in a more visual experience of the page. the Portuguese brought letterpress printing to India and lithography was introduced to India in the 1820s. Lithography. Singanapalli Balaram a well-known Indian educator perceived that ‘human need is the origin of design.An Empire of Books) only books that were guaranteed sales or were commissioned by a patron or the government were printed by letterpress.2. This gave way to the paintbrush. Bombay became home to a large collection of Art Deco buildings. who were used to handwritten manuscript. retail stores as well as cinema halls .’ 2. The time of the painter had arrived.2 From hand-painted lettering to digital lettering Post-Independence. wood and metal were mainly used for lettering. others utilized the drop shadow effect and others almost 6 . made the letterpress expensive and complex. Over time. The need for metal type in Indic scripts and oil-based inking for printing. Every village. The lithographic printed page seemed more familiar to the Indian audience. ecological and spiritual. geometric lines of the sans-serif type gave way to more decorative and ornamental counterparts seen at the time in the signage of small businesses. As time changed. Painters had their different styles: some painted only on white backgrounds. an urban design expert and author of A Concise History of Modern Architecture in India. It allowed printers a chance to celebrate the visual (and calligraphic) traditions of the page. always gave their lettering a distinctive Bollywood poster aesthetic. Kurnal Rawat says “I see a possibility of an outburst of the regional stuff in a completely modern way. Designers with little knowledge of typography opened DTP (desktop publishing) shops across the country. Mahendra Patel [Retired Senior faculty at NID] believes that design and typographic education have become even more critical.3. Designers across disciplines now talk about engaging with local artisans – for both preservation and exploration.” So does this mean that we will return to the days of 7 . These painters were not just shaping the country’s landscape. This was a time when commercialism and art worked in perfect harmony. I think Indian typographers should go beyond just the Roman alphabet and think more regional. juice shops and billboards. Not so long ago. Given the present scenario. shop signs. for which the city is renowned. These shops began producing posters. a history of recognition. India also produced a large number of desktop designers. “Unfortunately. banners. [Mohammed Rizwan. Rawat discovered that many of the city’s beautiful signs. small advertisements and business stationery. disappeared as the buildings themselves were torn down. Ogilvy and Mather in Mumbai commissioned local painters in the southern city of Chennai to create a print campaign that was a pastiche of giant. Along with software engineers. In the project’s initial year. 2.” [Mahendra Patel. documents the loss of Bombay’s lettering in his project. the IT revolution in India changed this scenario. 2010]2 There came an evident shift from the painter who lovingly decorated the public spaces. The regional work can be surprisingly stronger than the English work. they were bringing into emergence a new kind of art – the kitsch typography that India is famous for. Grandmother India. So I think there is scope for that. founder of the design studio. 2010]3 There is also a broader trend in India to merge hancrafted work with technology. Or shall we say. many of which were engraved into building walls. You see mobile companies forced to do their ads and promotional material in regional type to connect with the audience. in India design does not have good documentation.3 Growing interest in hand lettered styles Another thing that has become increasingly significant is the need to document the older styles of typography or lettering. Typocity. Kurnal Rawat. However. hand painted political posters. to any man with a computer and programs like Photoshop or Word. And it was visible on every corner: tea stalls. which flourished between 3500 and 2000 BC. Bengali. The origins of the current Indian scripts came to happen much later in the fifth century BC with the appearance of Brahmi script. a region known as the Indus Valley.4 Malayalam Script The Malayalam script is used by nearly 40 million people in Southern India. these signs/symbols seem to have no direct connection with any writing used in India today. and the group of the South. mostly in the state of Kerala. From here there are two major groups: the scripts of the North. 2011]5 The Malayalam language has existed independently since the eighth century AD and has been written in several different scripts. whose main exponents are Devanagari. Found in the far north. [Daniel Sabino. in the eight century AD. the first person to apply Arya-ezhuttu script. The change was well accepted by the general public and spread rapidly. Malayalam belongs to the Dravidian family of languages. better known as Dravidians and whose principal scripts are Tamil. At around mid-seventeenth century AD. from which derive almost all current Indian writing systems. It is believed that the first graphic manifestation of the Malayalam language came through script Vattezhuttu. Gujarati. previously used only for Sanskrit in Malayalam. [Daniel Sabino.1 Origin The earliest evidence of writing in India is in the pre-Aryan civilization. Telugu and Kannada.4. The person responsible for this change was a Malayali poet named Ezhuthachan. These are Vattezhuthu. Kolezhuthu. Gurmukhi and Oryia. Grantha script and Arya ezhuthu. the Dravidian and Indo-Aryan share many structural features. Due to their common origin. Malayalam. 2. the role of typography in shaping cultures and environments will remain crucial. According to historians. [Kurnal Rawat. 2011]5 8 . or Indo-Aryan. Vattezhuthu was replaced by Arya- ezhuttu.considered typography and design across disciplines? Will the need for local language scripts demand a closer collaboration with local artists and painters and could this collaboration lead to an altogether new aesthetic? Whatever happens. 2010] 3 2. Malayalam script had undergone four variations till it transformed into the modern script. English dictionary. The CMS Press. [Daniel Sabino. Bailey proved a tireless worker and achieved great achievements in the areas of lexicography. This change began when Ezhuthachan came up with his new manuscripts. sent the young Rev. In the early nineteenth century the Church Missionary Society. translation and typography. which he founded in 1821 in Kottayam is known as the first press of Kerala and was a cultural landmark in the history of the state. Benjamin Bailey to Kerala in order to start a press and a Catholic school. After the emergence of printing presses. printed in 1846 and the design of new metal types cast to be used in CMS Press. 2011]5 9 . In the late 1960s the script was reformed by the Government of Kerala. experiments were done to refine the script. the printing of the first complete book in Malayalam in Kerala.4. the publishing of the first Malayalam. Among Bailey’s achievements are the translation of the Bible into Malayalam. the script achieved its new form. The goal was to simplify the writing system to allow its adaptation to the typewriters of the time and to linearize it in order to simplify text composition. during which time he was there.2. He decided to design new types for his work and made more rounded script for Malayalam. journalism. From 1817 – 1850. Bailey was uncomfortable with the large size and square form of the script. The modern Malayalam script is very much round in form. Bombay. which was used to print the first Bible at Courier Press. In the process of transformation from the old Vattezhuthu to the modern Malayalam script. After when printing started.2 Modern Malayalam Script It is known that what we understand as Malayalam today is really quiet recent. He was inspired from the Aryaezhuthu manuscripts of ‘Bhagavata’ by Ezhuthachan. and the exclusion of some conjuncts. the form of the characters changed from square to circular. a Catholic congregation with activities in South India. A team of experts has developed some significant changes such as reducing the number of glyphs from about 900 to 150. They were more or less square in formation and called ‘Chatura Vativu’ in Malayalam. Portuguese and Tamil were printed. the first Malayalam book – the Malayalam bible was printed in India. Taking this as the model. Types were cut by a Jesuit priest John Gonsalves. This was achieved by Thomas Maistry of Allapuzha. Modular Systems and CDAC Pune played important roles in the development of various Malayalam fonts. CMS Press was found by Dr. A number of Malayalam words were used in this. the types were cut. Benjamin Bailey with the help of a blacksmith and two goldsmiths. Phototypesetting was introduced in 1979-1980 in Malayalam. However. It took many years for the language to get a good typeface. a Malayalam grammar book was written by Dr. In the 1980’s Desktop publishing took the place of hot metal composing and typesetting methods like photosetting. printing presses were established in India. In 1799. In 1811. Malayalam types were cut by one Behramjee Jeejibhoy. which was easily available in Kerala. Phototypesetting did not stay for long. only Latin. The first Malayalam book was printed in Rome in 1772.4.3 Printing in Malayalam and Malayalam Typefaces Soon after the arrival of the Portuguese.2. This set of types is the precursor for all typefaces that exist in Malayalam now. It was a catechism book called Samkshepa Vedartham. He cut a new typeface in English body size and called it Kerala Santhanam face.]4 10 . [Report on evolution of Malayalam script by Rajathi. It was in the leading newspaper Kerala Kaumudi. This followed the same square characters that were used in books printed at Rome. The formation of letters in these manuscripts is of a square character as the result of using the stylus. It was replaced by digital type setting when computers came into the printing industry. Books in Malayalam and Sanskrit were written with stylus on palm leaves. He got engraved the punches for types and completed the hundreds of characters required in Malayalam. Drummond and it was printed at Courier Press in Bombay. Many tried to improve upon the face initiated by Bailey and printing spread in Kerala. Many other foundries were set up and various fonts were produced from the 40s to the 70s. In 1821. This was the first book that was printed in India which used Malayalam types. nothing much has been done in Malayalam. In order to explore in terms of design. posters. Extensive exploration has not been done with Malayalam script in terms of design and it would be unfortunate if nothing is attempted with this curvy.2. is not well documented. while use of art lettering of other scripts such as Hindi and English goes beyond displays. publications and posters. have done considerable work in this area. as is the case of most Indian scripts. Artists like Bhattathiri. These however are not well documented and there is a need to acknowledge these artists and their skill with words. film titles. On observing early publications. Also. it can be seen that beautiful and experimental hand lettering is not a foreign concept in Kerala. beautiful script with all its potential.4 Malayalam Art lettering Malayalam art lettering. 11 .4. very little study has been done in the area of Malayalam art lettering. book covers and so on. Madanan and Bharathan to name a few. Considerable research and documentation has been done in the field of origin and evolution of Malayalam Lipi (script) and Malayalam typeface development. However. it is essential to learn about what has already been done in the field of art/ hand lettering in Kerala. 1. new articles and online articles.1 Methodology 3. including movie titles and book cover designs. to studying how characteristics of the script is used in design.  Increasing appreciation for usage of Malayalam script based designs. Methods Used: This information was attained through referring books.1.1 Secondary research On marginally modifying the objective of the research from exploring lettering styles. Chapter 3: RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY 3. The various steps that were involved included conducting interviews of artists and designers in the field of Malayalam lettering or typography.  Lettering and typographic designs in other languages. further secondary research was conducted in order to gain some knowledge in the following areas –  Contemporization seen in different spheres in Kerala. going through archives to understand usage of the 12 . 3.2 Primary research Primary research conducted was qualitative and visual in nature. Owner  Archives: The collection of books at DC Books and Eloor lending library. observation of Malayalam movie titles and a study of the usage of script in the streets. magazine covers were observed and photographed. or taken from the internet in order to do further analysis. 13 . o Hashim Padiyath [Design Difference] – Typeface Designer o Narayana Bhattathiri – Freelance lettering artist o Vipin Udayanan [Papaya Media] – Graphic designer o Tessa George [Via Kerala] – Creative head o Tessa George [Thought Factory Design] – Owner/ Creative head o Hiren Venugopalan [Malayaleegraphy] – Designer/ Typeface designer/ Member of Swathanthra Malayalam Computing o Melwin – Painter o Thilakan and Sunil – Painters o Thomas [Identity Advertising] – Technicalities of Malayalam coding o Sreekumar [DC Books] – Publishing o Syam Purushothaman [Identity] – Creative head o Manager at Valavi cards o Vivek Cherian [7 star production] . movie posters. This was to attain information in the following areas –  Usage of Malayalam typography and lettering  Different styles and ways in which the script is used  Local characteristics that could enhance usage of script in design  Scope for further exploration of Malayalam script based designs.script in book cover designs. This included.  Observation and Collection of images: Malayalam matter found in the streets. Methods Used:  Interviews: Interviewing various artists and designers who are involved with the usage of Malayalam script in various ways. book covers. 2 Schedule Stage Time allotted Actual Time Taken Collection and Analysis of 1 month 1 month secondary data Primary Research 2 months 2.5 months Analysis of information 2 weeks 3 weeks collected Compilation and 2 weeks 1 week Documentation of Thesis 14 .3. application in the streets. CMS Press was found by Dr. He got engraved the punches for types and completed the hundreds of characters required in Malayalam. because it is the study of letters applied to typefaces. it was essential to understand both these areas. information had to be gathered through observation and by interviewing various artists and designers in the field. Often lettering is hand-drawn. The usage of Malayalam script can be broadly divided into two areas – Hand/ Art Lettering and Typography. Typography is actually a subset of lettering. graphite or brushes. it is essential to recognize some of the different ways in which it has been used over the years. For this a study was done on book cover designs. some directly work on computer software. In order to gain further understanding of the Malayalam script. lettering can be defined as “the art of drawing letters”. In simple terms. The main purpose was to understand some of the many ways in which the script has been used. This set of types is the precursor for all typefaces that exist in Malayalam now.1 TYPOGRAPHY In 1821. with pens. Modular Systems and CDAC Pune played important roles in the development of various Malayalam fonts. Many other foundries were set up and various fonts were produced from the 40s to the 70s. as with typography. although now. in terms of medium. Benjamin Bailey with the help of a blacksmith and two goldsmiths. 15 . movie posters. design and context. In the 1980’s Desktop publishing took the place of hot metal composing and typesetting methods like photosetting. Since both methods are equally used in the application of the script. It is a specific combination of letterforms crafted for a single use and purpose as opposed to using previously designed letters as components. 4. Since adequate documentation has not been done in this field. Chapter 4: PRIMARY RESEARCH ANALYSIS Undertaking the secondary research helped to gain knowledge on how the Malayalam script evolved and gained the curvy-linear form that it has today. newer avenues and about Malayalam typography. Hence only those that are freely available get used and designers get discouraged to explore more in this area. This is why the same fonts are used everywhere.Hashim Padiyath. While at CDAC Pune. The most used 16 . [Report on Malayalam typography by Rajathi] Yet after all these years. He was the first to design a serif typeface in Malayalam called Ambili. Plate 1a: Grunge Font Pampa Plate 1b: Serif font Ambili Source: DesignDifference There is very little awareness about the significance of a good typeface. most people are not willing to pay a handsome amount for a good typeface. more exploration in the field of typography. a renowned typeface designer from Kerala.1 Need for more good typefaces Hashim Padiyath. has made over 30 Malayalam fonts in various styles. However many of his typefaces have not been made available to the public. Madhrubhumi and DC Books at a premium price in order to avoid piracy.1. He sells them to corporates like Manorama. Vasu Pradeep and Hussain are some of the significant contributors in this field. 4. anyone associated with the design scene in Kerala is of the opinion that there is a need for more good fonts in Malayalam and. Particularly in India. aebmfw DC Kasturi is slightly more ornate when compared to ML Revathi [top] Plate 2a: Kasturi font family 4. There is so much more that can be done in this field. Typefaces designed for print. It also gives DC Books its own identity. followed by Indulekha [designed by Hashim P] which is mainly used in titles. A typeface meant for newspapers may not suit books [Newspapers tend to have condensed type. For instance.Malayalam font is Revathi. the State Language Institute [Kerala Basha Academy] introduced several changes in the script in 1968.]. ornate typefaces. Hashim recently designed a typeface for DC Books. which makes it possible to fit in more words within a space. Serif fonts. personalized and meant for book reading.2 Movement to bring back traditional Malayalam The Malayalam script that had established itself as a distinct system in the 14th century had more or less retained its characters/ alphabets till the standardization efforts in the late 60s. a typeface meant for printing may not be apt for onscreen purposes or a typeface designed for signages may or may not serve its purpose well on some other medium. The new DC Kasturi typeface that Hashim has created is more ornate.These changes were necessitated not by any social demand to improve communicability or functionality 17 . Slab serif fonts. in line fonts.1. on screen application and books need to be differentiated from one another to ensure efficient communication.In order to fit the script to the Malayalam typewriter keyboard and to make typewritten Malayalam the means of official communication. electronics. Previously DC Books was using a typeface which was originally intended for newspapers. Fonts also need to be designed specifically for specific mediums. of the language but only by the need to adapt the script to the typewriter keyboard. Two voluntary organizations. a few characters were virtually discarded as redundant. spell checkers and other indic script based language computing specific tools across operating systems. Swathanthra Malayalam Computing: Swathanthra Malayalam Computing (SMC) is a free software collective engaged in development. A centuries-old language and the culture it embodied was debased for the sake of a mechanical tool that would hardly have a life of three decades. has applied developments in computer technology and desktop publishing to resurrect the Malayalam language from the disorder. Rachana Akshara Vedi. to create. input mechanisms. With the introduction of the new script in the school syllabus. 18 . Rachana Akshara Vedi and Swathanthra Malayalam Computing have been trying to bring back traditional Malayalam. which translates to "My language for/on My Computer". localization. SMC has been active since October 2002 and has been working to provideMalayalam language tools that work on all layers of computing including fonts. "എ്റെ ക്യൂടെ ന ് എ്റെ " is the slogan of the organization. a team of socially committed information technology professionals and philologists. two different script systems came into use. Hussein at the Kerala Forest Research Institute released "Rachana Normal" fonts with approximately 900 glyphs required to typeset traditional Malayalam. all the others were split into a series of basic characters.H. except for 16 conjuncts. Many vowel-signs previously used in conjunction with consonants were separated out. Rachana Akshara Vedi: Rachana in Malayalam means to write. translations (localization). fragmentation and degeneration it had suffered since the attempt to adapt it to suit the typewriter. standardization and popularization of various Free and Open Source Softwares in Malayalam language. K. text-to- speech engines. dictionaries. A new generation of children was brought up entirely on the new script and they found it difficult to read earlier texts and the treasures of Malayalam literature. A society and a culture is identified by its language . Many of the handpainted signages. or to fulfill a designer’s creative urge.few people use it. these cannot be entirely separated from each other. And. a client’s requirement. which motivates him/her to design a typeface out of it. Many a times a designer gets inspired on seeing some unique lettering somewhere. which appear to be works of art lettering. A good way to keep a language alive is to take it to the digital world. a typeface can be easily edited to be made to look like an art lettered work.1. wall advertisements and so on are essentially copied from some font.There are people who doubt the logic behind creating a computing environment with support for a language like Malayalam. the society starts losing its identity. A language like Sanskrit is virtually dead . it is usually because of one of the two reasons. With the aid of today’s technology.3 The relationship between typeface design and lettering Although typography and lettering use two different techniques. unless something drastically out of the ordinary is done. book covers and so on. are in fact edited fonts. When a typeface is designed. This is one context in which developing regional language computing environments and popularizing them has great significance. so what’s the point in putting in so much of effort? As one of the speakers pointed out. Sometimes it takes a little bit of attention to tell one from another sometimes. This is the story of the creation of many of the renowned fonts that we use today. There are so many different styles of lettering out there. especially because our eyes become so accustomed to the language we know. both for generating new typeface designs and in general. After all. almost all of us can read and understand basic English. some of the titles in book covers and movie posters. A closer look shows that these words are composed of so many intricate details that could be used in design. in the streets. 4. a language has to continuously evolve if it is to be alive. movie posters. 19 .once the language is dead. N. The audience is different. Now there are various design houses such as Papaya Media and Old Monks that have left their mark in the industry with their fresh new designs. One of his fortes was a title which has a 3d 20 . Kurian Varmashala. But a lot of experimentation and photo manipulation is taking place of late.2. Bharathan. Designers had to go through several steps even to create a colour photograph.facebook. 4.2 CINEMAS Malayalam films are going through a phase of revival. The technological advancements that take place during different periods of time affects design. owing to changes in technology. Recent posters of Aamen and Netholi Orun Cheriya Meenalla have come to one’s notice purely because of their experimental titles.1 Some factors that influenced poster designing: During the initial years. Poster designer Sreejith is of the opinion that Malayalam movie posters has always had great poster designers. 4." This is also reflected in the titles that are specifically created for the movies. poster designer Gayatri Asokan was the first to introduce the airbrush. the taste is different. P. There have been so many changes in movie poster designs over the years. R. There were times when creating a simple colour poster was an arduous task.com/MalayalamFilmPosters Some of the forerunners in this field were S.A Nayar. Plate 3a: ‘Netholi oru cheriya meenalla’ poster Plate 3b: ‘Aamen’ poster Source: https://www. creative ideas and fresh talent have brought about some sort of courage to experiment and do something out of the ordinary. poster creation was not an easy affair. trends and other influences. Kitho.Menon. New filmmakers.K Radhakrishnan. Gayatri Asokan and Sabu Colonial. Twenty years ago. "The market is changing. This was a new technique back then and it drew attention.facebook. It was used in movies such as New Delhi [plate]. Today’s designers do not have to manually struggle as in the olden days. There is a view that a lot of experimentation is done with the script these days perhaps because of the convenience and ease that technology provides. which was attained by using the airbrush.and shadow effect.use of airbrush – Digital age. Plate 4a: Changes in movie posters over the years Source: https://www.single tones – converting back and white images to coloured photographs . Technology introduced at different points of time does affect the designing process. A finer version of this effect can be attained in a few seconds by the click of a mouse today.com/MalayalamFilmPosters Transition [clockwise from top left] black and white . The different kinds of software that are available now makes work quicker and easier. ‘Computer graphics makes things much 21 . Plate 5a: Comparison between the old and the new. there are posters which don’t even show the actors. Sixties and seventies style lettering was used in Hollywood. showcasing mega stars in the poster was given most importance.easier. A title carries as much significance as the visuals.’ Vipin Udayanan. and the title is given a lot of importance. Certain other changes come with changing times. in some of the posters. Tamil. Source: https://www. Newer trends and generations affect design. However. Today. 22 . In the movie Aamen. the stars of the movie were more significant. This was because black is considered to be unlucky. Today’s designs are an amalgamation of different kinds of styles from different places and cultures. Beliefs also influence design. Similarly. Earlier. Bollywood and Malayalam movie posters. A lot of the experimentation that is seen today is because of the convenience that technology provides. designer –Papaya Media. Malayalam movie posters avoided titles that had black font or lettering. These days. the stars of the movie are not shown at all and the title covers a major portion of the space in the poster with some illustrations in the background. a lot of significance is given to the title. Vipin Udayanan - designer at Papaya media stated that 50% importance is given to the title of a movie these days. Victorian styles of ornamented lettering can be seen in some old titles as well. For years.facebook. simultaneously.com/MalayalamFilmPosters Earlier. Regional and International styles also shape Malayalam movie posters. while making Chaandupotte’s [Eye liner and Bindi] poster. 23 . drew the text as though it was written with eyeliner. designer Collin Leophilis. The movie was a grand success and this was an eye-opener for many superstitious people. He discarded the normal superstition that black is unlucky. The ‘Ra’ sound as a dot could be seen only in that period. These titles have been separated from the rest of the poster to clearly display the features of the script that have been used. Old Malayalam. Figure 1a: Illustration of movie title Nirmala നി ർ മ The letter ർ as ല a dot. .4. MOVIE: Nirmala [Nirmala] YEAR: 1948 DETAILS: Vertical type. It has been put in the shape of a bindi because Nirmala is the name of a woman. More than hundred posters were analyzed. Some of the distinct styles that have been applied have been picked out from the analyzed set. To the side of the designed title. how do the titles differ from each other? Taking a closer look at certain film titles over the years revealed many intricate details about Malayalam lettering.2 Design Analysis From a design perspective. a version of the same word without any manipulations is shown in grey. 24 . This is a very old type of writing. .2. Letterpress typeface that was designed in the 40s before the script reform. this seems to be from the foundry days during the 40s. The name of the movie suggests some kind of mystery or suspense. chiseled look. ฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀? MOVIE: Kandavarundo? [Where there any eye witnesses?] YEAR: 1972 STYLE: Bold. Edgy characteristic. characters have a broken. 25 . This is seen through the way the title has been designed. unfinished vertical lines. Especially before typefaces began to be used. ฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀ Plate 6a: Movie title Kuttykuppayam ฀฀฀ MOVIE: Kuttykuppayam [Small clothes] YEAR: 1963 DETAILS: Calligraphic style was very common during the early years. Figure 2a: Illustration of movie title ‘kadavarundo’ Semi sharp Edgy. edges not reaching the baseline and left hanging in the air. unfinished alphabets. Geometric. Semi-Sharp edges. The ് sound has a sharp cut on top. ฀฀ Figure 4a: Illustration of ‘Mizhi’ in Snehadeepame Mizhithuraku ฀฀ MOVIE: Snehadeepame Mizhithuraku YEAR: 1972 26 . possibly to give it the overall appearance of a butterfly. Sharp cut പൂ് െെ Figure 3a: Illustration of movie title ‘Poombata’ MOVIE: Poombata [Butterfly] YEAR:1971 STYLE: Uneven cuts at the edges. Some glyphs have been cut in between.STYLE: Thick outline [Very commonly found in titles in the 60’s.] Condensed letters. forming a ligature ฀฀฀฀฀฀ ฀฀ Figure 5a: Illustration of title ‘thapaswini’ MOVIE: Thapaswini YEAR: 1971 STYLE: Extremely sharp turns.in Tamil. where ഴ‘s terminal actually comes below the baseline to meet the terminal of ฀฀ ‘. ฀฀฀฀ Figure 6a: Illustration of letters from the movie title ‘Kammath and Kammath’ ฀฀฀฀ MOVIE: Kammath and Kammath [Kammath and Kammath] YEAR: 2012 27 . 70’s and 80’s . Bollywood and Hollywood movies as well. Beautiful manner of connecting the endings of ഴ and ฀฀. Further enhancing the geometric feel of the letters. Wide. Ornamentation is given at the midline and at the terminals. feminine look. Bold. Ornamented Letters.STYLE: Use of round. The terminals are hanging in the air. End result is a very ornate. This is giving it a very playful look which works with the comedy theme of the movie. This kind of ornamentation may be inspired from Victorian lettering or circus lettering. ฀฀฀฀ ന Figure 8a: Illustration of letters from the movie title ‘Thoovanathumbikal’ 28 . സ Figure 7a: Illustration of letters from the movie title ‘Season’ MOVIE: Season YEAR: 1989 STYLE: Serif + Ornamentation. incomplete alphabets. പപ Figure 9a: Illustration of letters from the movie title ‘Kili Poyi’ MOVIE: Kili Poyi [Getting High] YEAR: 2013 STYLE: Extremely lyrical lettering. 4. This kind of serif adds flourish to the letters. It suits the movie which had its moments of fantasy.MOVIE: Thoovaanathumbikal YEAR: 1987 STYLE: Semi-Serif.2. gives one a feeling of flowing which fits with the concept of the movie [Getting high]. a lot of flourish in the characters – Almost like calligraphy.3 Analysis Earlier. Previously people wanted to see images of the stars in the movie in these posters. the audience walked into the theatre to watch their favourite stars in action. The more linear aspects of Malayalam script has been entirely removed in this writing. Varying thickness. ‘ae’ and ‘pa’ have been intertwined beautifully. Mohalal’s stills in Irupatham Nuthaande or Mammooty’s posture in New Delhi were 29 . With the invasion of technology.huge drawing forces. heights. These changes are translated onto movie titles as well. A younger. On analyzing older designs and newer ones – Although lettering exploration in Malayalam movie titles was less when compared to languages such as Bengali. It must be stated that some of the lettering techniques found in older movies is pure genius. varying thickness. unconventional touch is felt in the movies. designers do have the benefits of ease. 30 . interesting ligatures. Earlier titles were not so much about magnificent twirls or computerized effects that are bound to grab ones attention. However things have changed with time. titles are usually fashioned to be loud and out there. These were the golden days of the super stars. Malayalam still has a lot to boast about. script writers and directors. A lot of western influence is prevalent. Now there is an influx of younger generation actors. it was about minor details that enhanced the design in an understated manner. Then. where people like Satyajit Ray had done astounding lettering explorations. and so on which sent out subtle messages. The audience has also changed. convenience and the ability to create various effects which former day designers could never have imagined. a new crowd that is open to seeing new faces and new stories on screen has emerged. increasing international influence and increasing influx of information clutter in the streets. Today. conveying the meaning of the word. owing to the ease and options that technology provides. Those had tiny details within the script – serifs. curved or sharp edges. certain patterns can be noted. however there was a noticeable invasion of digitized book covers during this period. Book covers had an obvious. lettering with shadow effect. and emphasized outlines.” Before analyzing design elements of the script used in book cover designs. 4. Some digital experimentation was done during this time which resulted in– metallic lettering.” Things changed in the last decade or so. There is bound to be repetition of images as far as cover design goes. 31 . Sometimes they are found even today. “Technology has made working easier but the individualistic stamp of the old days is lost. When many digital typefaces were designed. bevel effect. However during the late twenty first century. the transition of book cover designs over the years is shown to briefly understand how the script was applied then and how it is applied now. “even the titles were written by hand. certain designers such as Zainul Abid. hand painted feel about them. raw. These designs were used up till mid 2000’s.3 BOOK COVER DESIGNS “The cover is a book’s face and designing it comes with a certain degree of responsibility. and when computer usage was on the rise. Dhanya Sreejith and Priyaranjanlal brought fresher approaches to book cover design.R. Before that each book cover was painstakingly worked on by hand as most were paintings. Till the 90s. the nineties saw a lot more computer applied effects on book covers.1 Changes over the years On observing various book cover design during different decades. The illustrations were also hand drawn. letters were mostly hand drawn. “In this digital age book covers are designed differently.3. They continue doing so.” Udayakumar T. However differently you try to do things you can’t get that stamp. 3-D lettering. 4. Hand lettered and illustrated covers still existed. Although there are still plenty of books where a simple font which fails to express the meaning of the title is used. but to state that technological advancements. a lot more experimentation is seen today. As was found in the case of cinema posters. 32 . changing trends or international exposure and influence. changing trends and exposure allows much more room for experimentation. Not to state that lettering was not explored before technological advancements. there are some books that stand out because of the expressive lettering on their covers. This may be due to any of the several reasons – convenience that technology provides. First published: Chandramohan. Cover.Chuvanna Plate 7f – Title .1946.1965.Sankara Narayanan. First published: 1986. Cover: Nazeer. Poorna Published. Published by 1986.Theeram Hridayangal [Broken hearts]. thedunna thirakal. duck]. Published by Vidyarthi Mithram edition. First Cover.Plate 7a – title -Thakarna Plate 7b -title. Publisher: CICC Book House Poorna 33 . First poorna Published: 1999.College Plate 7c -Title.Udayakumar.1988 the author Plate 7d -Title Plate 7e – Title . Publisher: Vidyarthi edition: 1996. Cover: [Mahar]. Publisher: First Published.Mahar Kattutharavu [The wild Kadal [Red sea]. Kuruvikal (College birds). Publisher : DCB Published: 2008.Barsa. Publisher : DCB 34 . Zainul Abid. First Published: Cover: Zainul Abid. Publisher Published: 2010. First Cover: Zainul Abid.Randu Parvathangalilekaatu. Publisher : raapaarkaam. Plate 7h :Title -Thiranhedutha Plate 7i: Title. Plate 7k: Title.Namuku Plate 7l: Title . First gramangalil chennu Published: 2013. Published: 2012. Publisher : Published: 2011. Penkuttikal [Two girls]. Cover: Dhanya DCB Olive Sreejith. First Cover: Dhanya Sreejith. Plate 7g :Title . Cover: kathakal [Selected stories]. Publisher : :DCB DCB Plate 7j: Themmadi Rashtram. First 2007. Non uniform curves within the round alphabets.2 Design Analysis ഗന฀฀ ന Figure 10a: Illustration of letters from the title ‘Namuku Gramangalil Chennu Raapaarkaam’ Book: Nammukku Gramangalil Chennu Raapaarkaam Publishing year: 2012. Cover: Dhanya Sreejith STYLE: Extremely lyrical lettering.4. ฀฀฀฀฀ ฀฀฀฀฀ Figure 11a: Illustration of letters from the title ‘Chandana Marangal’ Book: Chandana Marangal [Sandal wood trees] 35 .3. Sandalwood is blockish in appearance. block-like lettering. maintiaing the block like appearance of the letters. ബർസ Figure 12a: Illustration of title ‘Barsa’ Book: Barsa [Barsa] Publishing year: 2013. Interesting usage of ‘el’s’ extension which makes the design more dynamic. 36 . Details: Bold. The extensions and the slanted positioning of the letters adds to the vibrancy of the letters. The beginning of cha which is usually smaller is brought to the same height as the other letters.Publishing year: 2012. linear. Dhanya Sreejith Details: Bold. curvi-linear lettering. The overall lettering has the feel of a Bahaus inspired typeface. this could be the reason why such lettering has been used. It gives out a strange expression and captures the essence of the word lust. At certain points it is smooth while at others it is edgy. the local association. revolutions and so on tend to use stenciled lettering for the titles. 37 . books on uprisings. Cover: Lijeesh Details: Stenciled Malayalam lettering is found in the streets and on trains very commonly. Besides. ฀฀฀ Figure 13a: Illustration of letters from the title ‘Chittagong Vipplavam’ Book: Chittagong Viplavam [The Chittagong Uprising] Publishing year: 2011. Hence. stenciled lettering is related to military application. ฀฀฀ ฀฀ Figure 14a: Illustration of title ‘Lust’ Book: Lust [Lust] ฀฀ Details: The lettering is neither sharp nor smooth. ฀฀฀฀฀฀ ฀฀฀฀฀฀ Figure 16a: Illustration of letters from the title ‘Randu Penkuttikal’ Book: Randu penkuttikal Publishing year: 2010. This works with the cover page with an illustration of two women almost about to kiss. Cover: Dhanya Sreejith Details: As seen in earlier observations. ് ത Figure 15a: Illustration of letters from the title ‘Smruthidarpanam’ Book: Smruthidarpanam Publishing year: 1994. 38 . when the usually curvy Malayalam script is composed of sharp edges and straight lines. It brings out a more personalized vibe. Cover: V N Ratheesh Details: This sort of calligraphic + script style is used a lot in biographies and autobiographies. an unconventional vibe is brought out. ฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀ ฀฀฀฀฀฀ Figure 18a: Illustration of title ‘Parvathangalilekaate’ Book: Parvathangalilekaate. The serifs are placed in such a manner that they bring about some balance within the characters. give a subtle feminine touch to the title.Interesting use of semi serifs is seen in this title. Cover: Zainul Abid 39 . Figure 17a: Illustration of title ‘Ente Katha’ Book: Ente Katha [My story] Publishing year: 1982. The curved extensions of ‘ell’ and ‘nna’. script or calligraphic type of lettering. 48th impression: 2012. Cover: N Ajayan. Genre: Autobiography Details: As stated before. Publishing year: 2007. autobiographies tend to use more personalized. research student A study of Kochi city was done to understand the usage of Malayalam in the streets. The language is beautiful. Cover: V N Ratheesh Details: Slab serif lettering is not often found in Malayalam. Addition of the thick slab serif to the bold. geometric lettering gives it a very western. “This is what people are exposed to everyday and how are they exposed to it?” The city is overloaded 40 .4 THE STREETS 'Listening to Malayalam is exactly the same as trying to decipher the signs around the city: strings of dips and swirls that all blend together. സ െ Figure 19a: Illustration of title ‘Sahara’ Book: Sahara Publishing year: 1994. Observing the streets helps to understand the script in another perspective. appearance.Details: Interesting usage of bold. and looks as friendly as it sounds with geometric curves & elaborate letter forms that loop back onto themselves. condensed vertical lettering. 4.’ -India Menninghaus. ads.4. Plate 8a: Clutter in the streets. posters. lamp posts. Name boards. This makes it all the more important that the message is put across in a catchy way. Posters.b SPACE ORIENTED LETTERING It is not unusual to find lettering done on the basis of space.” –Tessa George. Vehicles 4. Posts. “One peculiarity about malayalam is that it is a phonetic language so designing with malayalam offers more explorations in vertical typesetting. walls. signages and so on. 4. For instance. It is a rather overwhelming sight to anyone new to the city.1. trees. Graffiti – Political and others. it just goes on. rooftops. 41 . lot of vertical lettering can be found in Kerala. traffic signals. Thought Factory Design. Signage.1 Observations 4. political graffiti. Advertisements. .4.with banners.1.a CLUTTER An interesting fact is that these things are put up almost everywhere.4. This is so that the letters fit well in vertical spaces such as posts and pillars. These are some of the various things for which lettering is applied in the streets - Banners. City dwellers however get accustomed to this and mostly don’t pay much attention unless something new is brought about. signages and boards is much lesser compared to earlier times. Also.4. some of them have a lifespan close to ten years. Hand-painted designs take time and a lot of effort. many things which can be easily done through some software cannot be done by painting it manually. these can still be found in plenty. Plate 9a: Space oriented lettering 4. Hand-painted signs are expensive but long lasting.1.c HAND PAINTED Plate 10a: Hand-painted lettering Although the use of hand painted advertisements. hand painted products have a charm of their own which flex boards can never give. 42 . That being stated. Flex boards and posters on the other hand get damaged within a year or two. Plate 11a: Increasing usage of English 4. much of the lettering done in the streets is of English.d USE OF MALAYALAM Malayalam is used more in the outskirts.1.1. the more one finds the usage of Malayalam. Kochi city is a very urbanized area where the use of English is high. when computers were introduced.e OLD LIPI [script] and NEW LIPI When the typewriter was introduced in Kerala. the same limited number of characters was used in the creation of typefaces. The further one moves from the city. the Kerala Sahithya Acedemy decided to curb the number of Malayalam character to fit the typewriter.4. posters.4.4. However. Hence. However. Certain voluntary committees were formed such as the Rachana Akshara Vethi and Swathanthra Malayala Computing. Thus many digital typefaces that are used on advertisements. Thus pure Malayalam was lost in the process. Their aim is to bring back all the ligatures of the old lipi. signages and banners are still of the new lipi. this Unicode method still has not been properly implemented and many are not aware of the few old lipi Unicode fonts that are available in Malayalam. due to some political issues. 43 . lot of the lipi found in hand painted things are old. 4.cpm 4.4. Plate 13a: Aggressive graffiti styles found in the streets.1.4. It has a style of its own. The styles are usually very bold and aggressive. This combination makes it very hard to not notice these messages. Bright. Plate 12a: Usage of Rachana old lipi font in a poster Source: www.However.f GRAFFITI Political graffiti has for long been practiced in Kerala.malayaleegraphy. bold colours are used and 3D or shadow effect is very commonly found.g INSPIRATION 44 .1. Inspiration for lettering and type design can be found abundantly in the streets; styles such as stenciled, round, calligraphic and bold can be found to mention a few. Many of the Kochi corporation sign boards are still hand painted and the result is a multitude of lettering styles. Plate 14a: Different hand lettered styles in the streets. Iconic signages that are symbolic of local Kerala can be found. One such example is that of toddy or kallu [local name of brewed palm toddy.] shops. These are almost as common as tea stalls and these signs are still hand painted. These shops are usually located in small sheds on the side of the roads, mainly outside the cities. Almost all the toddy shop signs look identical. One type of signage system – Black lettering of the word ‘Kallu’, accompanied by ‘Toddy’ in bold black sans serif type over a white board, has been used throughout. Plate 15a: Movie Ustad Hotel’s title was inspired from local hotel signs. Source: https://www.facebook.com/MalayalamFilmPosters 45 4.5 NEWER AVENUES A font that includes characteristics of the Malayalam script in the Latin script, T-shirts and cushions that have Malayalam lettering on them, and posters of Malayalam movie dialougues are some of the new things that have been happening in the area of Malayalam lettering and typography. For ages, application of Malayalam script in design was limited to a few things. Via Kerala Design and Malayaleegraphy are two design projects that have been working on Malayalam lettering in a manner distinct from the norm. Understanding their ideologies and how they have been accepted helps to discern the scope of using Malayalam script in design. Via Kerala is a store that promotes the usage of the script in a contemporized manner. They have designed a typeface that includes Malayalam characteristics within a latin typeface. Also, the store uses Malayalam script as design in some of their products. These are both relatively unexplored areas in Malayalam design. Malayaleegraphy [Malayalam + Graphics + Calligraphy] is a facebook page that was started barely a month ago. Narayana Bhattathiri’s calligraphic exhibition on malayalam lettering which was held in December 2012 inspired two designers, Hiren Venugopalan and Orion Champadiyil to start this page. They were motivated to use malayalam as design. They make simple, Swiss style inspired posters that cover famous movie dialogues, quotes by famous people and poetry. The page went viral from day one, having over 2000 fans in two days. 4.5.1WESTERN INFLUENCE Minimal Design- The Malayaleegraphy page is greatly influenced by minimal graphic design and Swiss design. This can be seen in many of the designs in the page. A few principles they laid out while working on this concept were – 46 1.Rachana font is used primarily. 2. The line space is lesser than usual Malayalam print 3. Highlight significance of words by differences in font size. 4. Multiple fonts are not used in one design Plate 16a: Minimal design inspired Malayaleegraphy posters, displaying movie dialogues. Source: www.malayaleegraphy.com Minimalistic graphic design is where the work is brought down to its most fundamental features. Following the line “Less is More” minimalism is the art of arranging the numerous necessary components to create the masterpiece of extreme simplicity, by enlisting every basic element and detail to serve multiple visual and functional purposes. Similarly, emerging from the modernist and constructivist ideals, the Swiss Style can be defined as an authentic chase for simplicity. Most of the Swiss Style craft is devoted to 47 Spoken Malayalam has an increasing number of English words being used by all classes of people. schools today give the option to study languages other than Malayalam so the younger generation may not always be able to read it even though they speak Malayalam. The so- called 'new wave' cinemas also use this style of language. It is intentionally drawn in a 48 . The letters are readable by a non malayalee. Furthermore.Malayalam mixed with English.the minimal elements of style such as typography and content layout rather than on textures and illustrations. Malayalam also needs to become part of font family extensions so that they can be used along with the Latin script. ‘Manglish’. The internet and sms culture has propelled the use of 'manglish' . yet have a local (malayalam) characteristic primarily because of the rendering style. typographic experiments to make the two alphabets more readable together will become necessary. There is also an increasing number of NRKs (non-resident Keralites) who speak the language but may not be able to read it. Plate 17a: Via Kerala font Plate 17b: Akam book cover Source: Thought factory design Keeping this concept in mind. Eventually Malayalam and English will have to co-exist on paper. Thought Factory Design developed a font to incorporate malayalam glyphs into english letters primarily to be used for local product packaging titles. This is a generation who is reading and watching malayalam content and is really curious about Malayalam. 4. The effect would have been entirely different if the posters had English content. book covers. and finally took shape in 2010.” Tessa George 4.modern aesthetic.In general Viakerala has a strong lettering and typography background since all design is done by Thought Factory Design and this feature makes it stand apart from any other local product or store. After years of using malayalam in all the conventional mediums. The font evolved as part of experimental work done at Thought Factory Design over the years.” Hiren Venugopalan. Rachana font was part of an old project to support the 49 . Rachana font has been used because it is neat.5. posters etc .3 OLD LIPI According to Hiren Venugopalan. When the first store opened in thekkady people walked in out of curiosity just seeing the font and flying elephant logo! Once inside the unique product design and concept was a reason for customers to start dialogue & also purchase products as a piece of contemporary Kerala. Additionally. it supports the old malayalam lipi. The x height of the letters have also been tweaked to correspond with most malayalam font heights. readable and with the right amount of thickness which gives it a classic touch. this change is fresh and people are loving it.5. Of course it also appeals to the younger generation because of its fresh and innovative approach to Malayalam and Kerala theme. Their online community is also growing by recommendations. They also use this concept in designs for logos. The fact that the products are all locally made add to the strength of the concept . People are really enjoying the use of malayalam script in these posters. “The target for the Via Kerala store was travelers and malayalis who live outside Kerala.2 INCREASING APPRECIATION FOR THE SCRIPT AS DESIGN “We got a massive response. The Malayaleegraphy page went viral in a matter of a few hours. 5. a few other things also came to light. Hiren wanted to show how good the font is. 5. To understand about the application.1 FORM Malayalam script inherently has motif like characteristics. one has to talk to people in each field. the need for archiving lettering and typographic works. increasing appreciation and importance given to the script. new trends in design. a changing market that is open to international concepts yet takes pride in their roots. which by itself could be used in design. These were some of the observations that were made during the study – 5. yet not many use it. 50 .1 Need for archiving and documenting There is a lack of availability of old works of art and still not enough documentation of current works.2 Malayalam script and design The slightest alterations that are made to the basic form of a script can dramatically change the mood of the word of letter. it has been around since 2001. More systematic documentation must be carried out so that trends and patterns can be observed and studied easily. Chapter 5: CONCLUSION Although the main purpose of this study was to understand different ways in which the script has been used in design.2.old lipi. Through his designs. and the huge scope that is there for products that include Malayalam script based designs. • Round features: The rounder the script gets. bold lettering was a feature of the lettering from the sixties to the eighties. two different effects are established. use this kind of lettering which has less or no curves. Old lipi conjuncts grow vertically. when the curves are more swirly and less geometrically round. ornate expression. black. it also gives a whimsical. Serifs are very often placed in such a manner that the lettering is balanced out. the same letter when repeated in the word or sentence. feminine expression.This kind of lettering. x-height and so on. serifs. thickness. it sends out a very edgy. For this reason. Semi serifs are more found than serifs. the less serious is becomes. • Serifs: Serifs are often used to give a more sophisticated. • Thickness: Thick. Various characteristics of the script are manipulated to give different effects and meanings. • Linear features: The more linear the script gets. each giving a completely different feel. However. thereby adding to the complexity of baseline and new lipi conjuncts grow horizontally. comedy genre movie titles and so on. may or may not have the serif at the same point. This kind of lettering is used in children’s books. For instance if one letter has a semi serif on it. height. 51 . adds to the retro appearance of the letters. baseline. When either of the features are played with. movies and books that are of an unconventional nature. • Baseline: Malayalam script has a complex baseline since the conjuncts grow either vertically or horizontally. depending on whether old lipi is applied or new lipi is applied.Malayalam is a curvy-linear script. The glyphs are often manipulated to either have uniform x-height and baseline or to create a dynamic effect by having no uniform x-height or baseline. unconventional feel. along with thick outlines or 3 dimensional effects. edges. Design that combines both languages might be useful in such cases. the terminals of letters. the curves and lines within the letters. old lip should be used in design. with the increase in Keralites that settle abroad. • Extensions: The terminals of letters are often extended for reasons such as – manipulating space between two words or letters which may change the meaning implied. 5. • Use of old lipi to go back to usage of pure Malayalam. This factor can be applied more in designs. 52 . increasing the vibrancy of the word or to enforce the meaning of the word.3 LOCAL ELEMENTS Some of the local elements could be used in design to enhance the local aspect of the script. • Ligatures: Various parts of the Malayalam script can be used to create ligatures. a new generation that can’t read Malayalam is on the rise. forming ligatures. Hence. The audience may be able to relate to such use of the script. • Terminals: Terminals which are the end points of a letter are manipulated with.2. The loops within the glyphs. Sometimes some letters are left unfinished where the terminals do not reach the expected end point or baseline to create a particular mood. There is a movement to get back the usage of pure Malayalam. 5. Moreover.2. to stay true to the original script.2 USAGE Malayalam + English – Manglish: In the spoken language both Malayalam and English are spoken together. It is easy to associate this kind of format with the streets. 5. • Inspiration: The streets are filled with inspiration for typefaces and lettering requirements because a lot of hand painted lettering is still found. Many styles have already been experimented with such as usage of Victorian embellishments. slab serifs – which bring out a very western expression. Since many of the advertisements and signages found in the streets are still hand-painted. hotel signages and bright bold political graffiti. • Iconic signages such as ‘Kallu’. Aggressive. • Vertical usage of the syllabic script: Malayalam script is commonly found in vertical formats in the streets. form and placement depend on the space availability. Lettering artist Narayana Bhattathiri is a veteran in the field of expressive Malayalam typography. Retro effects. These can be used as inspiration for lettering styles.3. He has been practicing this art for over three decades yet people paid attention only last 53 . calligraphic experiments. • Hand painted Malayalam: It gives more of a local touch. Size. expressive typography. designs which have a hand-painted effect could create more of an authentic malayalee feel. For instance if lettering is done on a slanted wall. a lot more could be attempted. are some things that could work well as elements of design. loud styles found in political graffiti should also be explored into. Bahaus inspired typefaces and so on. Likewise Malayalam script is highly versatile and can be adopted in various different styles. chances are that the lettering will be slanted. Although so much has been experimented with. • Space based application: The lettering is often space based.3 Scope 5.1 VERSATILE SCRIPT: Most scripts can be manipulated to evoke some particular feeling. 54 . There is a lot of scope in introducing more Malayalam based designs and reviving the usage of Malayalam.2 INTERNATIONAL INFLUENCE: International influence is evident especially in the last few years. there is a much higher appreciation for Malayalam script and the many ways in which it could be used. Designers are exposed to international styles of designing through books. This is clearly seen in movie poster design. television and online resources. There is much scope for the application of the script in a new way. Kerala is going through a phase of contemporization.year when a collection of his work was exhibited. designs that include the local characteristics of the application of Malayalam script. A new wave has hit the state and this is the apt time for further exploration. 5.3. in new avenues. 5. could be made. A lot of effort is made by voluntary groups to bring back traditional Malayalam. that were found during the course of this research. Many more people are attempting to incorporate Malayalam script in their designs. Furthermore. 5. Moreover.3. book cover designs and advertisement layouts.4 INCREASING APPRECIATION – With the success of Bhattathiri’s exhibition and the launch of Malayaleegraphy. many designers have some training from abroad.3 BACK TO THE ROOTS – There is an ongoing trend of reviving things from the past.3. This can be seen in the case of Malayalam script itself. Expressive Malayalam typography with a contemporized touch is something that has a lot of potential. Evolution of Malayalam Script. 2010 “Old Malayalam film posters” March 2. Rajitha. Kerala. 2 Mohammed Rizwan. K. Kerala Sahithya Acedemy. 12.in/2010/12/blog-post_08. 2. Lipikalum Maanavasamkaaravum. 5 Sabino D (2011). Reports/Journals: 4 1. Pracheen Kerala Lipikal. 2010 “Typography in India has always reflected its dynamism” Designindaba January. 2012<http://minglemangles. Kerala. Kerala. Online resources: 1. Jeevan Navneet.designindaba. 1971.A Jaleel. “The Malayalam Writing System – a typographic approach”.com/news/typography> 2. 2006. LIST OF REFERENCES: Books: 1.Spain]. August 1.html> 55 . The State Institute of Languages. EINA [Barcelona.blogspot. 2. <http://www. December 8. 2013. “Kilukampetti Kunjunni kavithakal” April 29. Joseph Alessio. January 17. 10 March. 3 Ramanathan R. June 6. 2012. 2013. February 2. 2012. 2013 < http://www.indiantypefoundry. 2013.in/> 56 . “An Indian Typography” Indian Type Foundry February 10. 2013 “Understanding the difference between type 1 and lettering”.com/articles/5/> 5.smashingmagazine. 2013 <http://www. 2013 <http://www.indiatimes.timesofindia.com/2012-12- 13/thiruvananthapuram/35796622_1_calligraphy-words-malayalam> 6.<http://articles. Smashing Pumpkin February 5.3. December 13. Swathanthra Malayalam Computing.punchapaadam.com/forums/topic/71543-poem-kilukkampetti- kunjunni-kavithakal/> 4.<http://smc. June 13 2011.com/2013/01/17/understanding-difference- between-type-and-lettering> 7. “Breathing life into letters and words” Times of India.org. Glaser. Roli books. 2009. 57 . Samshing Pumpkin June 5. Looking Beyond – Graphics of Satyajit Ray. 2013<http://www.Cultural Connectives: Bridging the Latin and Arabic Alphabets. 2012. Die Gestalten Verlag Rjeily Rana. Arabesque: Graphic design from the Arab world and Persia. December 12.Kight. Mark Batty Publisher Reports/Journals: Cherian T. Meet your type Wittner Ben. “Mumbai slang an experiment in Expressive typography” April 25. 2011. 2012. Jayanti. Spiekermann Erik.behance.net/gallery/Mumbai-Slang-An- experiment-in-Expressive-Typography/2668303> C. Cochin Type Foundry Committee for Standardization of Malayalm Keyboard Layout and Character Encoding (2001). April 1. 2011. 2013 “Why subtle typographucs choices make all the difference”. “Story of Malayalam Types”. “Malayalam Standardization Report”. (Kerala) Online Resources: Shah Dhwani. BIBLIOGRAPHY Books: Sen. J. KR.timesofindia. 2013”Adobe help to spruce up Malayalam fonts” The Times of India January13.indiatimes. March 19. < http://www.com/2012/06/05/subtle-typographic-choices-make- difference/ > Strizver Illene.com/2013-01- 31/kozhikode/36659855_1_fonts-malayalam-designers> “Anatomy of a typeface” Typedia March 31.com/learn/only/anatomy-of-a-typeface/> C.creativepro. 2013 “The first Impression” The HinduApril 20.<http://articles. 2013.com/features/metroplus/the-first-impression/article4602375. “Herb Lubalin and Expressive Typography” April 27. March 26.com/article/herb-lubalin-and-expressive-typography> Rajeev.smashingmagazine. April 10.smashingmagazine. 2013. 2013 http://www.Shilpa.2013.<http://www. <http://www.ece 58 . 2012. 2013 “When typography speaks louder than words”.thehindu. April 1.com/2012/04/13/when-typography-speaks-louder-than- words/> A. Glaser. 2013<http://typedia. Samshing Pumpkin April 13. J.Kight. Serif: Is a small line trailing from the edges of letters and symbols. Terminal: Ending of a stroke in a letterform. Malayalee: Of or relating to Malayalam language or its speakers. Kallu: Palm wine or palm toddy – an alcoholic beverage.] 59 . Conjunct: Words or letters joined together Curvy linear: Having both curvy and linear characteristics Glyphs: is an element of writing: an individual mark on a written medium that contributes to the meaning of what is written. block-like serifs. GLOSSARY Baseline: It is the line upon which most letters sit and below which descenders extend. Slab Serif: A type of serif typeface characterized by thick. Lipi: Malayalam word for script. Ligatures: Two or more letters combined into one character make a ligature. a key distinguishing feature in a typeface design. X-Height: Distance from the baseline to the meanline[ Imaginary line across the top of lowercase letterforms.