Recommended by: Zeenat Kulavoor
Zeenat Kulavoor is a Mumbai-based multidisciplinary artist and a typographer, graphic designer, and printmaker. She is the co-founder of Bombay Duck Designs, where she takes on various projects for clients ranging from MNCs to indie musicians. She’s actively involved in self-publishing and book design. Her personal work focuses on multilingual Indian scripts, specifically Urdu type, lettering, and calligraphy, attempting to blend traditional and contemporary elements in her work.
Everyday India
Price: INR 3500
Why Zeenat recommends this
In a rapidly changing India, marked by nationalistic trends and the influence of the internet, it is vital to celebrate and document the often overlooked diversity of formal and informal graphic design that reflects our nation’s multiculturalism. ‘Everyday India,’ initially an exhibit and later documented as a book, represents dedicated research and an illustrated documentation of the multiplicity in India’s graphic art and design landscape.
The book offers a collection of both broad and meticulous observations, examining design beyond the confines of digital screens and exploring the intersection of formal and informal design in the streets. It questions the boundaries between design and art and explores their intriguing overlaps.
The book consists of four series of observations, each seeking to demystify the apparent chaos, shedding light on often-neglected details and inviting readers to perceive their surroundings in a fresh, enlightening way:
- Storefronts and Signages creates a unique, fictional urban landscape by blending elements from diverse regions, showcasing the convergence of formal and informal design.
- Illustrated Specimens features 200 digitally illustrated examples of graphic design in print from across India, uniting formal and informal design to represent the nation’s diverse visual language.
- Brand Guides explores the unspoken rules and visual conventions governing product and service packaging, highlighting the informal yet consistent language of visual identity.
- Oh Flip documents the ubiquitous iconography of everyday urban life, including danger signs, “NO” signs, “Work in Progress,” “Sulabh,” and more.
This book is a great addition to the libraries of artists, designers, design studios, and design schools. Embracing the Indian tradition of personalisation, the book cover is a canvas for creativity, with a masthead and two sticker sheets (screen print and offset) included, allowing readers to design their unique book cover
