Arty party with a new type of hope

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Even as the city wears the tag of being the crime capital, protests continue about the ineffectiveness of the administrative system and cynicism is at an all-time high, a bunch of young Delhiites strongly feel that the need of the hour is also a spirit of positivity.

National Institue of Design student Kriti Monga got together with architects, type designers, graphic designers, fashion designers, writers, photographers and other volunteers and started a project, “Delhi Typerventions”. The project uses typographic installations at public spaces to display messages that inspire Delhiwallas.
“The word Typervention is a mixture of typography and illustration. Optimism and its expression through art and design is a bit of a personal obsession. I marvel at public cynicism often, especially about their city, governance and decided to counter all that through the use of public art. The idea is to spell phrases or words that act as affirmations of the beauty and happiness in everyday Delhi,” says Kriti.
The group has managed to do typographic illustrations in old Delhi, outer Ring Road, Hauz Khas, Lodhi Garden and Khan Market. “I have been associated with street art for quite sometime. However, I wanted to do something more than tagging my name or representing art forms. Typerventions gave me an opportunity to spread smiles. One of our ventures was in a blind school, where we used Devnagari and Braille to write Kabir’s doha, that talks about seeing everything in positive streak,” says Arun Jay, an editor with online magazine and a visual communication expert.
The group brainstorms together on a private Facebook group or via occasional meetings at Kriti’s studio. For some projects, they throw open an idea in a workshop-like format, to the open Facebook group, setting up events that people can join in.
Talking about another interesting project at Khan Market, Pooja Saxena, a type designer and member of Typervention says, “Inspired by the history of Khan Market and its pride of place in the nostalgia of anyone who grew up in Central Delhi, we picked history, reminiscence and culture as central themes for our project.”
The group plans to attract the attention of common people who have a heart but are mostly too tangled in the grind and noise of living in Delhi to bother scratching the surface and rediscovering and enjoying the little joys it offers in our everyday lives. “Although an architecture student, I have always been intrigued by graphic design and street art. Typerventions provided an interesting opportunity and unlike graffiti, was carried out after seeking permission of public authorities. We keep returning to old Delhi, off and on because of its vibrancy,” smiles Rohan Patankar.