KOCHI: What if ‘Sneham’ looked the way it feels, ‘Thira’ moved like waves and ‘Olam’ rippled across the screen? Malayalam is set for a typographic renaissance, with a new design philosophy dropping on the first day of the month of Chingam, which falls on August 17. A group of 12 Kochi-based IT professionals will release 103 new fonts, each with its own visual character, as a free contribution to the language.
“‘Nizhal’ has a shadow-like appearance, while ‘Thilakkam’ is designed to look as though it shines. ‘Urukal’ has a melting appearance and ‘Yanthram’ carries a mechanical feel. ‘Thread’, true to its name, gives the impression of letters being sewn together. ‘Feel what you write’ is the idea that we have built on,” said Akhil Sekharan, the lead developer of the project.
The collection is the work of a team of developers at Bigdates.ai, a startup project of Kochi-based Binary Technologies. “Malayalam has a limited number of types. We initially started with a mobile application — Malayalam Image Editor, which allows users to make posters and other creative content — before gradually focusing on fonts,” Akhil said.
The team’s first challenge was finding a way to create the fonts without spending heavily on specialised software. “We were looking for font creators to design fonts for our app. But the available options were expensive and difficult for us to afford. So we developed our own software for creating fonts,” said Brutus K C, creative director at Bigdates.ai and another of the developers.
The software made it easier for the team to experiment. Initially it started with five fonts but soon grew to 103 as the developers kept exploring different styles.
The types are currently being developed in FML format, a Malayalam font system used mainly for design and desktop publishing. The team plans to release Unicode versions by November, which will make them compatible with a wider range of digital platforms.
For now, all 103 fonts will be released on malayalameditor.com. Users will be able to click on the ‘font’ section, preview the designs and download them for free. The fonts can be used by regular users as well as those creating posters and other printed or digital material.
“These creations are timeless creations. They can carry the essence of a moment or occasion. We are excited to see our fonts being used by people,” the developers said.
And Malayalam may only be the beginning. With the software in place, the team plans to experiment with fonts in other languages, too. While the Malayalam collection will remain free for users, the developers hope to seek funding when they expand their work into other languages.
“Users like experimenting with typography. Even for simple Instagram posts and stories, people prefer variety. These 103 creations would be a delight to play around with,” said Brutus.
“Professional designers can download the FML fonts and use them directly on software such as Photoshop and Illustrator. Regular users can use the Malayalam Image Editor app or the website to effortlessly create well-designed content,” team members said.
