Zines

India Street Lettering zines celebrate the diversity of letterforms on signages in India’s streets. Like turns of a kaleidoscope, they illuminate patterns — established and unexpected — to expand our understanding of typographic forms and styles, and conventions for their use.

The theme of each zine bundle is catalysed by a medley of influences such as material, script, location, function and historical context. Since 2023, two batches have been published: the first focused on the use of tiles in street lettering, and the second features cinema signs from Lucknow, Hyderabad and Kolkata.

India Street Lettering zines have been exhibited at Opn Art House by Gaysi, the City Scripts 2024 festival by Indian Institute for Human Settlements, and as part of Paper and Play by Pulp Society; and accepted into the collections of the Letterform Archive, the erstwhile Snap, Snap, Sizzle Library at the University of Arkansas’ School of Art’s graphic design program, and Kannadi Cupboard.

Cinemas Bundle

A long-time admirer of cinema signs, Pooja traveled to three state capitals — Lucknow in the north, Hyderabad in the south and Kolkata in the east — in 2023–24 in search of the most compelling examples from those cities.

What stands out in this set is the domination of Art Deco as the pre-eminent style of architecture for cinemas. The zines offer a look at the different kind of letterforms that were matched with these buildings, and the materials and techniques used to fabricate them. The sign on Kolkata’s Ellora provide a clue as to how Deco sensibilities were applied to local scripts, not only through formal interventions but also by using the same materials as the murals that adorn the façade. But not all examples show visual matching: the savage Devanagari sign for Lucknow’s Sahu stands in stark contrast to the well-preserved ornamental charms of building. All four cinema signs from Hyderabad are in neon, and neon appears in Kolkata and Lucknow as well. However, most of these signs are in poor condition.

Many single-screen cinemas are on their last legs in large cities, and in February 2024, Elite in Kolkata was demolished along with its stunning neon sign. See more cinema signs in the archive, and read about the making of this zine bundle.

Tiles Bundle

Tiles may not be the first material that comes to mind when one thinks about street lettering in India, but look closely, and one finds that they are used in several ways to create recognisable lettering that is rooted in local culture.

This bundle of zines recognises three such themes — azulejos, or hand-painted, glazed tiles seen in Panjim which are striking visual reminders of Portuguese influence in Goa; fast-disappearing tiled signage in New Delhi, which is distinctive in its use of monospaced letterforms in two scripts; and mosaic signs, which are a provocation to appreciate and understand how vastly different letterforms from Devanagari and Latin scripts adapt when they are rendered in a limiting medium.

Explore more signs rendered in tiles.