In May, I facilitated a three-day workshop at the National Institute of Fashion Technology, Bangalore that centred on documenting street lettering.

Students of publication design explored public lettering and signage in Ulsoor, and then made prototypes for zines that tell typographic stories from the neighbourhood. The activity was a way to introduce them to new ways of thinking and seeing that I have learned through documenting and studying street lettering in India, which compel us to discard prescriptive rules that come from Western typography, appreciate local visual histories and artists, and build knowledge about Indic script letterforms. In making zines, we talked about the importance of trial and error in the design process, and different approaches and methods that can be used to organise photographic materials, and make meaning from them.