Designing typeface in Indic scripts is a much more complex and time taking process compared to Latin. Over the last decade, one can see a considerable amount of efforts by Indian type designers in providing complete, refined, and universal solutions in Indic scripts. However, considering widened boundaries of media and increased audiences, the need to make more and more Indic fonts seems never-ending. Digitization of Indic fonts with Unicode has led to boost their usage on multiple devices for numerous purposes. A single font, if optimized, can work efficiently in both media - print and web due to font technology advancements.

The modulated feature of Devanagari letterforms provides elegance to its complex construction. It is visible in the letterpress specimens, where these intricate letters were cast and widely used for publication. A bold and a light font having such strokes can be used as good display fonts. At the same time, the regular weight will work well for body text purposes. When we look at existing solutions with multiple weights, such fonts appear less than display fonts, specially modulated fonts.

The technology in font encoding is reaching newer milestones, such as variable features, SVG fonts, etc., but the same isn’t fully reflected in the Indic type-scenario yet. There should be more than enough amount of solutions available to designers for Indic typographical needs. With an extension of variable font features, one font can suffice various needs with optimized file count and size. Being a native script user and calligrapher encouraged me to design this font in multiple weights with variable features. With further improvements and additions, this one font can be produced as a universal solution for every typographical design need.

Objective of the Project
This project aims to design a Devanagari font in multiple weights using variable font features. This project is a continuation of my work done for P2, i.e., designing a modulated Devanagari font.

Type design is a long and iterative process, and this phase includes the addition of weights. There are various ways a text font is utilized nowadays, depending on the medium, user, and application. Different mediums have different typographical needs. Apart from a typical regular weight, light and extra bold weights also find their own space in visual semantics. To provide a complete solution for typesetting in the Devanagari script, coming up with a family of multiple options could complement my previous work. The variable font technology opens up a new dimension in the type design allowing the designers to widen their visualization and experimentation limits.

The project could be just a starting point for exploring the field because designing a working font in the Devanagari script is challenging. Due to the simple skeleton of the font, it still holds potential for experimentation in the future. But, the current project fits the scope to provide its usability on multiple weights across the variable axis.


Case Study Download:
• Designing a Variable Devanagari Font......