I started looking into how the newspaper can become a much larger investigation. I sketched out a few ideas on how I can achieve this. I liked two of my ideas. One of them was the newspaper having more smaller pamphlet-like (Fig. 96) papers inside that individually don’t make a lot of sense but when it comes together it becomes a larger conversation. The newspaper also unfolds in different directions revealing a new piece of information. While this idea had potential, I couldn’t wrap my head around it as it would involved me sticking individual pages together so it unfolds as I want. Also because there is no paper in the size I would want. I wanted to figure out another way where I could keep the original newspaper format and still turn it into a larger piece.
My second idea was to unravel the newspaper so the spreads individually come together to form a larger piece of art. The spreads may overlap creating a strong visual languages rather than just being puzzle pieces (Fig. 97) My idea was to handwrite my manifesto in Hindi inside this that can only be read when the spreads come together and form the larger piece of art. The reason behind writing the manifesto in hindi was because it was meant for the Indian audience as a call-to-action. This way the newspaper caters to both the audiences individually. Through the main newspaper, it would cater to the UK audience, showing them a narrative of how the world would be if printers were invented in India. Inside the newspaper would be a story of what happened to the script due to Industrialisation, and once read the entire piece unravels and reveals the bigger picture of ‘So now what?’.
To design the inner art piece, I placed 4 artboards on illustrator the way I wanted them to overlap in the actual piece. The dimensions were as per the broadsheet sizes on Newspaper club - 350 mm by 500 mm on one side, so the spread became 700 mm by 500 mm.
For the content, I combined ink impressions, handwritten calligraphy letters, and the manifesto text—all handwritten by me—scattered across the entire area. The flow of information is designed so that each individual page stands alone as a complete visual piece, yet when viewed together, they coalesce into a single, cohesive narrative.
This newspaper serves as a holistic reflection of my investigation into several critical topics:
The Inability of Latin Printers to Handle Devanagari: The alpha-syllabic nature of Devanagari scripts, which Latin printers couldn’t comprehend, draws inspiration from David Carson’s grunge typography. The chaotic, layered aesthetic mirrors the disconnect between the rigid Latin-first design principles and the fluid, intricate structures of Indic scripts.
Challenges of Applying Latin Typography Rules to Indic Scripts: The newspaper visually explores how Latin-centric design norms fail to address the complexities of Indic scripts, particularly Devanagari, highlighting the need for a more nuanced approach.
Historical Impact and the Resulting Gap: The design delves into how the history of industrialisation and modernisation has widened the gap between Latin and Indic scripts, erasing many traditional elements along the way.
Fading Conjunctions in Devanagari: By emphasising the impressions of conjunctions that are gradually disappearing, the piece comments on the oversimplification of Hindi. As we become accustomed to a streamlined version of the language, the richness and depth of traditional script forms are at risk.
A Call-to-Action for Indian Type Designers: The manifesto itself is an urgent appeal to Indian type designers to preserve and innovate within the Indic type tradition, pushing back against the dominance of Latin script rules.
This layered, complex visual presentation aims to engage readers not just as an information source but as an immersive experience that mirrors the depth of the topic.
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