as those who may have never heard these
of these names — like the hard-to-master
‘Hermes’ or ‘Christian Louboutin’ for instance.
You may have noticed that the texts
across different scripts don’t visually ‘match’
or ‘fit’. Letters are sometimes spaced out so
that they can fill the selected spot for the sign
or be read easily from a distance. When this
is done to Devanagari letters, it can actually
hinder readability; the script requires that the
letters be connected through the shirorekha,
the horizontal straight line that runs on top of
some of the letters. Sometimes, serifs — those
tiny pointy things you see at the end of letters
in English fonts — are forced onto the tips of
Devanagari and other scripts. This happens
if the designer is not familiar with the script
they are working with. In the Devanagari part
of a sign, on occasion, the shirorekha may also
be placed incorrectly, which makes it harder
to decipher. These issues are mostly seen in
printed signage because with handwritten
signs it’s easier to control the placement of
the shirorekha. The improper positioning of
letters may be due to printing technologies
being inadequate for scripts that are
connected by the shirorekha. Improved and
better quality fonts are available now, but it’s
hard to tell from the evidence at hand. If the
letters are unreadable then a sign fails in its
function — to communicate. And no matter
how visually exciting it might be, it could
deter possible patrons. Young designers
need to be educated, and they need to keep
updating their skills, but we also need more
designers and typographers to design for theBELOW: A MENU BOARD IN MARATHI
RIGHT: SIGNAGE IN ENGLISH AND
GUJARATI AT A MEDICAL CENTRE IN
BORA BAZAAR