NARI VARIABLE
TYPE DESIGN
As part of my MFA thesis at the Maryland Institute College of Art, Nari is
an experiment in variable font technology that attempts at answering the
question, “what would it mean for a typeface to be feminist?”. The result is
an interactive variable typeface designed by a woman of color, one that has
multiple voices, that represent choice, expression, and inclusivity; does not
belong to any one extreme, and is fluid in nature. It breaks away from the
traditional “acceptable” proportions of letter design and is anything but neutral.
The three variables are voice(weight), mindset(width), and fight(contrast).
Through a permutation and combination of these three variables, Nari—meanin woman in Hindi, can generate various different styles, similar to how a woman is a powerhouse of assuming different roles at given points of time.
Winner of Malee Scholarship Women of Excellence in Typography, 2020
Presented at Typwknd 2020, DePaul University School of Design Talks, 2021, MICA GD History of Graphic Design class Spring 2021, MIAD Art History class Spring 2021
Done under the guidance of Ellen Lupton and Jennifer Cole Phillips as a part of MFA Thesis at the Maryland Institute College of Art.
Date: May 2020
