I just love great calligraphic design . And devanagari design is so rare . We havent explored what we can do with muhavaras, dohas, shlokas . Each one is a dance of breath, and it needs to be made into a dance of image . Professor R K Joshi was born 1936 in Kolhapur, Maharashtra, India. He designed the core Indian fonts used in Microsoft Windows. He passed away in 2008. He brought the concept of multilingual ad campaigns in India, opening up to languages crossing states. The first ever such campaign was the Ashok Jain Campaign. One of his challenging works was the design of the Adi Shankaracharya stamp on the occasion of Shankaracharya (Philosopher) Commemoration. There were conflicts about highlighting the picture of the saint, Prof Joshi found the solution as a logo for the philosophy itself of Advaitvad (non-dualism). This stamp was released on 17 May 1989. His passion for letterforms brought a new trend on the streets of Bombay. Around 16 Multilingual ‘Happenings’ were staged in a single year. The main aim was to expose the rich heritage of Indian scripts to the common man. The look and sound of Indian alphabets were brought out as an experience through music, theatre and dance. He held several exhibitions like Aakar in Delhi, Prathama in Mumbai, Akshara in Germany. He actively conducted national and international workshops, seminars and lecture tours for the spread of typography. His R&D in Indian Paleography, Epigraphy and Manuscriptology are phenomenal works to inculcate a new generation of aesthetic Indian typefaces. He also wrote poems and undertook the first ever calligraphic research in Indian manuscripts and epigraphic writings. When interviewed on Type radio in Lisbon ,Portugal (2005) he stated: I dont have any claim to any of the work I have done. There is a power up there - it is taking my hand and doing something. I am just a tool. He was one of the rare contemporary designers deeply rooted in culture and tradition. Whilst all of us struggle to understand contemporary interpretation of Indian tradition, he made it look as easy. He was one rare designer who transcended design and art with ease Unmesh Kulkarni designinindia.net/design-thoughts/teachers/r-k-joshi/
Posted on: Mon, 14 Jul 2014 13:44:02 +0000
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