By: Hanif Kureshi

Date: 2011

Keyword(s): Sign painters

Location: India, Asia

Resource Type: Video / Film

Handpainted Type was a project dedicated to preserving the typographic practice of street painters around India. These painters, with the advent of local DTP (Desktop Publishers) shops, are rapidly going out of business with many businesses and shops switching to the quicker, cheaper but uglier vinyls. Many painters have given up their practice altogether. The project involved documenting the typefaces of road side painters across India, digitizing it and archiving it for future generations.