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/
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/
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/
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/
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/
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/
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/
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/
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/
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/
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/
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/
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/
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/
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/
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/
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/
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/
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/
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/
Adore this charming, counterless sign 🤩
📍 Patto Colony, Panjim (Goa)
📅 November 2023
🔗 https://indiastreetlettering.com/camilla/
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/
From last post’s bungalow to a palace this time — check out the sign for the exquisite Art Deco building, Dhanraj Mahal, in Mumbai. @tanyatypes tells me this new sign was installed last year after the building underwent renovations. The letter widths are admittedly wonky, but the play of light and shadow makes it 👌🏼
More about the building and its architecture here https://www.artdecomumbai.com/research/princely-states-and-the-emergence-of-art-deco-in-bombay/
📍 Fort, Mumbai (Maharashtra)
📅 November 2024
🔗 https://indiastreetlettering.com/sighting/dhanraj-mahal/
In 1858, the East India Company officially extended its mission from trading to colonising the Indian subcontinent, as a result of which the British implemented direct and indirect rule in the region.[1] An area under direct rule would be controlled entirely by the British, which included departments like education, health, judiciary, municipality, and police, to
Meet the first faux-script sign on India Street Lettering, coming straight to you from Panjim. I’m always annoyed when I see Samarkan https://www.dafont.com/samarkan.font in the wild, but this makes me less mad 🤷🏽
📍 Altinho, Panjim (Goa)
📅 April 2025
🔗 https://indiastreetlettering.com/sighting/ganesh-prasad/
If you attended BLAG Meet @blag recently, you’ll know I am improving style-related tags on India Street Lettering, starting with Devanagari signs like this one.
Remarkable not only for its vertical setting and Art Deco shapes, the sign has outstrokes on vertical stems, a Bombay style श and a playful floating ै matra.
Describing the parts hopefully helps make understanding, even recreating, the whole easier.
📍 Mapusa (Goa)
📅 November 2023
🔗 https://indiastreetlettering.com/sighting/vaishya-bhuvan/
Two fire stations, more than 2000 kilometres apart, both with mosaic signs.
The one from Delhi (left) kicks itself in the foot with the arched baseline. Honestly, it is hard to say why anyone thought the lettering looked good enough to be installed on a public building 🤷🏽
The sign from Chennai (right) fares much better, despite its four pixel height. Of course, it doesn’t use just square tiles.
📍 Delhi & Chennai (TN)
📅 2025 & 2018 respectively
🔗 https://indiastreetlettering.com/type-of-establishment/fire-station/
What’s happening in this sign for Kothawala Flats?
A conventional “O” in an otherwise counterless design, which even has beefy horizontal strokes in the “T”, “L” and “S” (oh that “S” 🫠) to match the chunky vibe. Was this “O” added later by a less accomplished designer/craftsperson? Who doesn’t love a typographic mystery 🕵🏽♂️
📍 Ahmedabad (Gujarat)
📅 January 2025
🔗 https://indiastreetlettering.com/sighting/kothawala-flats/
Last week I went type-exploring in Bangalore’s Russell Market (thanks to Vishnu https://www.instagram.com/vishphotoblog/’s tip), and was pleasantly surprised to see this Deco sign for a local dairy. It felt like it had been dropped there straight from Mumbai’s Oval Maidan https://indiastreetlettering.com/collection/oval-maidan/
📍 Bangalore (Karnataka)
📅 May 2025
🔗 https://indiastreetlettering.com/sighting/curzon-dairy-farm/
Perhaps it is my own limited (atheist) imagination, but I often find myself surprised by the ingenuity and unexpected beauty in signs on different places of worship around India.
Today’s photograph is from St. Peter and St. Paul's Church in Kochi, which has these lovely Art Nouveau-ish letterforms stencilled out of a whitewashed parapet.
📍 Kochi (Kerala)
📅 May 2025
🔗 https://indiastreetlettering.com/sighting/st-peter-st-pauls-orthodox-syrian-church/
Today let’s put two clock towers side-by-side. On the left is Dinbai Clock Tower erected in Ahmedabad in 1961, and on the right, the public clock on the Industrial Assurance Building in Mumbai, built about 25 years prior.
Which numerals do you like better? I am partial to the counterless Deco ones 🤩
📍 Ahmedabad (Gujarat) & Mumbai (Maharashtra)
📅 2025 & 2024 respectively
🔗 https://indiastreetlettering.com/type-of-establishment/clock-tower/
Sometimes you see the letterforms on a sign and all you want to do is experiment with turning them into a full typeface. If I didn’t have tonnes on my plate already, I’d be doing that to this Devanagari sign for Sancheti Chambers. That blocky स is simply chef’s kiss 👌🏽
📍 Pune (Maharashtra)
📅 May 2025
🔗 https://indiastreetlettering.com/sighting/sancheti-chambers/
In April, I went to the Broadway Book Centre in Panjim to hunt down books about Goa by local historian Vasco Pinho https://www.heraldgoa.in/Cafe/Panjim%E2%80%99s-evergreen-story-teller/122031, and was delighted to find that the shop is housed in a building I had visited before to photograph its sign.
The multi-use Ashirvad building has the loveliest metal sign with ribbon-like cursive letters. Not in the best shape at the moment, but still very striking!
📍 Panjim (Goa)
📅 April 2025
🔗 https://indiastreetlettering.com/sighting/ashirvad/
Simplification and geometrization of Devanagari has been on my mind lately (psst, TypeTogether’s upcoming, multiscript Futura® 100 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nmdi2VWVmBY). I’ve been sifting through past examples and this sign stood out.
So many ideas here despite streamlining — the obtuse leaf shaped foundational form, horizontal strokes of ज न standing in visually for the headline, the differentiation of ु ँ. What’s not to love?
📍 Pune (MH)
📅 May 2025
🔗 https://indiastreetlettering.com/sighting/gunjan/
Sign painting shops have the best signs (duh!).
📍 Kochi (Kerala)
📅 May 2025
🔗 https://indiastreetlettering.com/sighting/arts/ + https://indiastreetlettering.com/sighting/arts-2/
Marking Madras Day https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madras_Day with one of my favourite signs from the city — a hand painted one for a screen printing supplies store.
📍 Chennai (Tamil Nadu)
📅 July 2025
🔗 https://indiastreetlettering.com/sighting/advance-screen-supplies-2/
I am so happy that this metal ribbon lettering has survived in Bangalore. It is affixed on the façade of the building where I worked over 15 years ago. That time in life was my first taste of #adulting — new job and new city. Seems like a lifetime ago!
📍 Frazer Town, Bangalore (Karnataka)
📅 May 2025
🔗 https://indiastreetlettering.com/sighting/padmalaya/
This long weekend I got back to putting in the hard work into India Street Lettering https://indiastreetlettering.com/, starting with building a new collection for signs on homes in Pune https://indiastreetlettering.com/collection/pune-homes/.
Even if you own the book, you’ll find some new lettering to enjoy here 🤩 I really wanted to include मालती माधव in the book but didn’t manage it, so its publication on the archive makes me very happy ✨
Pooja Saxena
Sam at BLAG