Explore the wonders of Devanagari letterforms. From hand-painted signs to modern printed letters, discover the rich typographic tradition of South Asia as expressed through the Devanagari script.
Practica Program: Intro to Devanagari
Wednesdays and Fridays, April 5–May 9, 2025
Wednesday classes are 2.5 hours. Friday classes are 1.5 hours.
Bonus sessions on April 8 & 15 are 1.5 hours.
Classes begin at 7:30pm Mumbai, 4pm Berlin, 10am New York time.
24 total course hours, live classes held over Zoom. Students should expect to spend roughly two hours a week on homework or research outside of class.
What you’ll learn:
- Understanding of the construction and proportions of Devanagari letterforms
- A visual survey of the past, present, and future of Devanagari letterforms
- Creating new styles for Devanagari letterforms through several exercises
- Introduction to drawing a Devanagari typeface in Glyphs 3
- Creating a brief for a new typeface project
- Looking at how the script functions and the rendering of Devanagari in text input tools.
Students begin by learning about the structure and evolution of the script, and then experiment with making their own Devanagari letterforms through prompts and weekly assignments. Individualized feedback helps students improve the quality of their letters, but also develop their own ability to critically analyze Devanagari forms. The final classes are devoted to understanding what happens when students move from sketches to a font editor — from manipulating Béziers to an overview of the programming involved. By the end of the course, students will have a holistic overview of the Devanagari script and a foundation for creating their own Devanagari typeface.
Class schedule:
- April 4: Course introduction, lecture: an overview of the script and its evolution plus visiting lecture with Aashim Tyagi
- April 8: Optional: phonetics of Devanagari script
- April 9: Feedback session: hand-painted letters
- April 11: Lecture: proportions, terminology, metrics, and the influence of tools
- April 16: Feedback session: TypeCooker exercise
- April 17: Optional: basics of drawing good curves in Glyphs with Sol Matas
- April 18: Lecture: the type design process and state of Devanagari type design
- April 23: Feedback session: missing letter exercise
- April 25: Demo: moving to a font editor
- April 30: Feedback session: marks and conjuncts
- May 2: Lecture with visiting instructor Salomi Desai
- May 7: Feedback session: the design brief and an initial word
- May 9: Lecture: expanding from idea to typeface and next steps
Who?
Kimya Gandhi (Mota Italic)
For Whom?
No prior experience with Devanagari is required, however a basic grasp of drawing in vector programs, like Illustrator or a font editor, is needed for most of the homework.
How Much?
Starting at USD 395. For additional tiers, see the course page.
Enrollment opens March 25, 2025.
Language
English
Prerequisites
- Basic materials for sketching letters: pencils and paper or a sketchbook
- Paint, a brush, and paper (a small amount of poster paint or paint of choice, a ¼” to ½” flat brush, plus a couple sheets of paper suitable for the paint)
- Access to a printer is preferred but not necessary.
- Mac with Glyphs 3 preinstalled.
- A Miro account (free)
- Plus, the basics for joining an online class.
