Nastaliq, Devanagari and Latin come together on this sign for a traditional medicine centre, where space is expertly carved out for each script without cramping their styles.

📍 Shastri Market, Amritsar (Punjab)
📅 December 2017
🔗 https://indiastreetlettering.com/house-of-surgery/

#IndiaStreetLettering #Devanagari #Nastaliq #Amritsar

An Art Deco postcard from Mumbai 💌

📍 Oval Maidan, Mumbai (Maharashtra)
📅 May 2016
🔗 https://indiastreetlettering.com/queens-court/

#IndiaStreetLettering #ArtDeco #Mumbai

One of the things I miss about living in Bangalore is the old neon signs on MG Road, many decrepit now. This one is a favourite: from the swash of the “V” to pairing the narrow script with the squarish sans, and the ampersand to the subtly similar “k” in both styles.

📍 MG Road, Bangalore (Karnataka)
📅 October 2019
🔗 https://indiastreetlettering.com/vijayalakshmi-silks-sarees/

#IndiaStreetLettering #Neon #Bangalore

An unexpected bit of Cyrillic in the heart of Delhi on this bilingual plaque marking the statue of Russian poet, Aleksandr Pushkin. Over the years, the bloated Devanagari श in this sign has gone from pet peeve to something I have a soft spot for.

📍 Mandi House, Delhi
📅 November 2018
🔗 https://indiastreetlettering.com/alekasandr-pushkins-statue/

#IndiaStreetLettering #Cyrillic #Devanagari #Delhi

This hand-painted sign is so clever to use the eyes usually associated with the goddess Kali to create the chandra bindu in the word माँ (Hindi for mother). The flourishes are not a bad touch either.

📍 Swaroop Nagar, Kanpur (Uttar Pradesh)
📅 January 2019
🔗 https://indiastreetlettering.com/maa/

#IndiaStreetLettering #Devanagari #Kanpur

On every trip to Ahmedabad, I am struck by how easily the Gujarati script is moulded into to geometric forms, sometimes abstract enough to stump me and my novice reading skills. Last time around, I noticed this sign for a cycle repair shop that I loved: its compact shapes, gently curved strokes and undulating baseline.

📍 Shahpur, Ahmedabad (Gujarat)
📅 December 2018
🔗 https://indiastreetlettering.com/naveen-repairing-centre/

#IndiaStreetLettering #Ahmedabad #Gujarati #Handpainted

Go for the birds, stay for the hand-painted letters! If I was responsible for getting people to Okhla Bird Sanctuary, that’s what I’d be telling them.

Take this welcome sign for instance, well-intentioned but lovingly crooked. The ध in the द्ध conjunct is beyond tiny and my favourite bit: the shrike has pushed the ै matra off the stem in the है.

📍 Okhla Bird Sanctuary, Noida (Uttar Pradesh)
📅 February 2022
🔗 https://indiastreetlettering.com/okhla-bird-sanctuary/

#IndiaStreetLettering #Noida #Handpainted #OkhlaBirdSanctuary

That loopy cursive has my heart!

📍 Car Street, Bangalore (Karnataka)
📅 August 2016
🔗 https://indiastreetlettering.com/champaka-distributors/

#IndiaStreetLettering #Bangalore #Kannada #Handpainted

These two signs for the same building are in gold, on ground-level, and most importantly, completely and utterly dismissive of visually matching Devanagari and Latin scripts. I wrote a little bit about them in my newsletter https://mailchi.mp/05e0957f4a95/typographic-eye3-cp-type-tour a few months ago.

📍 Connaught Place, Delhi
📅 November 2019
🔗 https://indiastreetlettering.com/indra-palace/ + https://indiastreetlettering.com/indra-palace-2/

#IndiaStreetLettering #Devanagari #Latin #Delhi

When I visited Chennai five years ago, I spent a morning photographing signs for hardware stores in George Town. Among them was this one for Quality Machine Tools, which featured the most delicious, high-contrast Tamil lettering.

📍 George Town, Chennai
📅 March 2018
🔗 https://indiastreetlettering.com/quality-machine-tools/

#IndiaStreetLettering #Tamil #Chennai #Madras

Gotta love the sign for a century and a half old temple, which features three scripts — Devanagari, Latin and Nastaliq — and a suggestion, perhaps, of a more syncretic time.

I don’t think I recall the word “pandit” being abbreviated with a raised “T” ever before.

📍 Kankhal, Haridwar (Uttarakhand)
📅 February 2023
🔗 https://indiastreetlettering.com/temple-of-ganga-and-bhagirath/

#IndiaStreetLettering #Devanagari #Nastaliq #Latin #Haridwar

I am always drawn to signs that turn up on homes, like this one warning visitors and burglars of the resident canine. The illustration of the agitated dog and the flamboyant “W” are such nice touches.

📍 Defence Colony, Bangalore (Karnataka)
📅 February 2016
🔗 https://indiastreetlettering.com/beware-of-dogs/

#IndiaStreetLettering #Kannada #Latin #Bangalore

I’ve been fascinated with the Modi Flour Mills building and the letters on its façade for as long as I can remember. Growing up, it was the location for many a detective story I concocted.

I finally got some images of its signs last week. Must go back for more on a sunnier day, but until then, please enjoy these larger than life wood letters in Devanagari and Latin — pigeons for scale 🤭

📍 Okhla, Delhi
📅 August 2023
🔗 https://indiastreetlettering.com/tag/modi-flour-mills/

#IndiaStreetLettering #Devanagari #Latin #Delhi

It wouldn’t be a type walk https://bangaloreinternationalcentre.org/event/men-of-faith-letters-of-commerce/ if I didn’t notice a sign for the first time while showing folks around a neighbourhood where I’ve rambled so much.

Hidden in an alley off MG Road is this beautiful sign. It has sent me down a rabbit hole trying to learn more about Yusuf Sait, who was I believe was the royal tailor to the erstwhile Maharaja of Mysuru.

📍 MG Road, Bangalore (Karnataka)
📅 June 2023
🔗 https://indiastreetlettering.com/gulzaray-yoosoofi/

#IndiaStreetLettering #Nastaliq #Latin #Bangalore

This mural celebrating Rabindranath Tagore on the wall of the Bengalee Association’s building in Bangalore is a treat, especially for its cursive Bangla letterforms.

📍 Ulsoor, Bangalore (Karnataka)
📅 September 2019
🔗 https://indiastreetlettering.com/bengalee-association/

#IndiaStreetLettering #Bangla #Bangalore

Halloween 👻 has come early to India Street Lettering because it is awash with pictures from the Nishatganj Cemetery 🪦 in Lucknow.

📍 Nishatganj Cemetery, Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh)
📅 September 2023
🔗 https://indiastreetlettering.com/tag/nishatganj-cemetery/

#IndiaStreetLettering #Lucknow #NishatganjCemetery #GravestoneTypography

When in Haridwar earlier this year, I photographed a collection of signs that all featured the conjunct श्र (as part of the word श्री) in an effort to document the myriad ways in which sign makers interpreted the same shape in different styles and materials. These and other signs feature in my latest newsletter https://mailchi.mp/matratype/typographic-eye-10-karthik-malli-interview about script standardisation.

📍 Kankhal & Mayapur, Haridwar (Uttarakhand)
📅 February 2023
🔗 https://indiastreetlettering.com/tag/%E0%A4%B6%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%B0-collection/

#IndiaStreetLettering #Haridwar #Devanagari

I am all for this marriage of Mirza Ghalib with art deco in the sign for a cultural institute in Delhi that celebrates the famed poet’s work and legacy.

📍 Nizamuddin West, New Delhi
📅 November 2018
🔗 https://indiastreetlettering.com/ghalib-academy/

#IndiaStreetLettering #Latin #Delhi #Ghalib #GhalibAcademy #ArtDeco

Signs on government buildings are usually rather insipid, and so I was pleasantly surprised to see this delightful sign for Bapu Bhawan बापू भवन on the state secretariat in Lucknow.

I love its complete lack of curves and large open knots: there is something so rigid yet playful about it.

📍 Hazratganj, Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh)
📅 September 2023
🔗 https://indiastreetlettering.com/bapu-bhawan/

#IndiaStreetLettering #Lucknow #Devanagari

Lucknow sure knows how to party 🕺🏼 I was mesmerised by this DJ/band tempo and the excellent hand-painted letters on it.

📍 Lalbagh, Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh)
📅 September 2023
🔗 https://indiastreetlettering.com/ram-dj-band/

#IndiaStreetLettering #Lucknow

Long time, no #IndiaStreetLettering. Today’s spotlight is on this excellent sign for a DTP shop in Kolkata. I would trust a print shop with such impeccable taste, wouldn’t you?

📍 Sahitya Parishad Street, Kolkata (West Bengal)
📅 December 2023
🔗 https://indiastreetlettering.com/art-life/

#IndiaStreetLettering #Kolkata

A street lined with hardware stores in Kolkata. The extra, extra wide Bengali on the K. C. Mookerji sign is just fantastic ♥️

📍 Nirmal Chandra Street, Kolkata (West Bengal)
📅 December 2023
🔗 https://indiastreetlettering.com/k-c-mookerji-son/

#IndiaStreetLettering #Kolkata

I had long wanted to go see this sign for Tipografia Sadananda in Panjim, and I finally made it last year.

It is a beautiful design, whether you look at the dots on the “i”, or the sinuous, headline-less Devanagari.

The shop was closed when I visited, but a Government Gazette from 1967 tells me that it had been around in the early 60s, with proprietors Dattaram and Vinaeca Vamon Naik.

📍 Altinho, Panjim (Goa)
📅 November 2023
🔗 https://indiastreetlettering.com/tipografia-sadananda/

#IndiaStreetLettering #Goa #Panjim

More from Panjim ⬇️

One establishment, but two signs in two languages, albeit in one script.

How would you even describe the style on the English sign?

📍 Altinho, Panjim (Goa)
📅 November 2023
🔗 https://indiastreetlettering.com/g-x-verleker-sons-jewellers/ + https://indiastreetlettering.com/g-x-verlecar-joalharia/

#IndiaStreetLettering #Goa #Panjim

Several parts of India are reeling under a devastating heatwave. Temperatures where I live, for instance, are set to touch 47°C today 🥵 This sign for an ice-cream shop in Lucknow feels most apt to share.

📍 Lalbagh, Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh)
📅 September 2023
🔗 https://indiastreetlettering.com/india-ice-cream/

#IndiaStreetLettering #Lucknow

A small collection of signs from Kolkata for names folks have given their homes. I love how the letterforms have been poured into containers of different shapes and have adapted their forms: a reminder that Indic scripts are more flexible and playful than what most fonts would have us believe.

📍 Chandni Chowk, Kolkata (West Bengal)
📅 December 2023
🔗 https://indiastreetlettering.com/tag/residence/

#IndiaStreetLettering #Kolkata

The sign for Singbal’s Book House, near Immaculate Conception Church in Panjim, really stands out for how well-preserved it is. Two layers of wood stuck together, the soft edges, and arched baseline all come together rather beautifully in this sign.

📍 Altinho, Panjim (Goa)
📅 November 2023
🔗 https://indiastreetlettering.com/singbals-book-house/

#IndiaStreetLettering #Panjim #Goa

This sign in the busy streets of Lucknow’s Aminabad took my breath away — so unexpected and beautiful. It adorns a building in a state of pretty serious disrepair. No clue what the sign was for or how much longer it will survive, but at least I have this photograph.

📍 Aminabad, Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh)
📅 September 2023
🔗 https://indiastreetlettering.com/salazar/

#IndiaStreetLettering #Lucknow

Flipping the pen angle of Latin letterforms is one of my favourite tropes in painted signs in India. This one is so elegantly executed too 👌🏼

📍 Fontainhas, Panjim (Goa)
📅 November 2023
🔗 https://indiastreetlettering.com/yog-mandir/

#IndiaStreetLettering #Panjim #Goa

An unexpected trio of scripts in Hyderabad — Latin, Nastaliq and Gujarati. Not to mention, an especially fancy, golden sign for what is essentially a fruit shop.

📍 Near Charminar, Hyderabad (Telangana)
📅 February 2024
🔗 https://indiastreetlettering.com/haji-abdulla-sidick-co-general-fruit-merchant/

#IndiaStreetLettering #Hyderabad

How does one even begin to make sense of this sign? Chop suey letters (https://laughingsquid.com/chop-suey-font/) to spell out the name of a Hindu god. A bird for an “S” — don’t miss it backward claws. And all this for a tailor who specialises in women’s clothing.

📍 Nowshera Market, Leh (Ladakh)
📅 September 2024
🔗 https://indiastreetlettering.com/shiva-tailor/

#IndiaStreetLettering #Leh #Ladakh

I’m always fawning over Devanagari letters that hang from undulating headlines (case in point https://us12.campaign-archive.com/?u=00db3d2423772a3f86d6e22a1&id=3b703e5ecb). These ones, crafted in wood, are particularly delicious.

Of course, nothing is perfect. The sign also features my favourite pet peeve — unconnected half and full letters in a conjunct 🤷🏽

📍 Kankhal, Haridwar (Uttarakhand)
📅 February 2023
🔗 https://indiastreetlettering.com/tyaagmurti-swami/

I photographed these two signs for tent houses in Chandni Chowk yesterday. Definitely not in the best shape anymore, but that takes nothing away from just how beautiful and decorative the shop names are 🤩

Any guesses for what’s oozing out of जगदम्बा? 🙈

📍 HC Sen Marg, Delhi
📅 October 2024
🔗 https://indiastreetlettering.com/tag/tent-house/

#IndiaStreetLettering #Delhi

Monospaced, tiled signs on Delhi’s old government housing are a disappearing breed and long-time favourites. I adore them so much that I put them in zine last year https://www.matratype.com/shop/zine-03-tiled-wayfinding-delhi.

📍 Lodhi Colony, Delhi
📅 May 2023
🔗 https://indiastreetlettering.com/1926-2/

#IndiaStreetLettering #Delhi

Adore this charming, counterless sign 🤩

📍 Patto Colony, Panjim (Goa)
📅 November 2023
🔗 https://indiastreetlettering.com/camilla/

#IndiaStreetLettering #Panjim #Goa

Building a bungalow is a far-fetched dream for me, but if I could, I know the lettering on it would have to be this great.

Things to notice here — layers of wood build the letterforms up to be deliciously 3D; the split stem terminals are a lovely touch reminiscent of Tuscan styles from the Latin universe; and the presence of Calcutta-style letters and numerals that aren’t canonical.

📍 Aishbagh, Lucknow (UP)
📅 December 2024
🔗 https://indiastreetlettering.com/sighting/lakshman-ashram/

#IndiaStreetLettering #Lucknow