T he typeface industry in India seems to be on an upswing. Monotype Imaging, one of the world’s top typeface firms, which owns popular fonts such as Times New Roman, Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, Helvetica, Gills Sans, and so on, has set up shop in India. The company aims at establishing this centre (in Noida, Uttar Pradesh), as its global research, development and innovation hub. Neeraj Gulati, Managing Director, Monotype Solutions India Private Limited, takes a few questions on the typeface industry in India and the company’s plans. Excerpts…
On India as the destination for Monotype’s R&D centre
Monotype operates at the intersection of technological innovation and creative design. We envision our fonts and technologies to empower every word and experience, across digital and print media. We are developing advanced cloud-based solutions, display technology offerings, typeface design, enterprise solutions and e-commerce products from our India centre. Research in some of these areas is also being undertaken here. India has a strong foundation in technology and a rich creative heritage and offers world class talent. We believe we can continue to achieve amazing results by scaling our presence in India.
Targetting the Indian market
The Indian market is of great interest to us. There are two key drivers for this. Firstly, India represents a growing and multilingual market, which has inherent typeface requirements for digital and print. The second driver is the impending mass adoption of data-enabled user devices in the region. We believe Monotype can enrich the typography and related technology ecosystems in India in the years to come.
On India’s said need for a basic and functional typographic design
Effective, beautiful, legible, scalable type lends effectiveness to the written word, across digital and print media. Great typography attracts, holds attention, aids recall and promotes brand recognition. When executed well, great typography inspires reader delight and sets content/brands apart. Classic fonts such as the Helvetica and Gills Sans designs have been part of reader interaction across cultures and generations. India has a rich and creative type heritage, which can inspire some amazing modern designs. A case in point is Monotype’s recently launched Devanagari font called Frutiger Devanagari, at Typography Day 2013, held at Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati. We believe that brands, publishers and advertisers in India would greatly benefit from a wider choice of such creative and functional typography.
