Parsons School of Design
BFA Communication Design
Thesis 2021

Parsons School of Design
BFA Communication Design
Thesis 2021

Cultural attachment and adaptation
Maya Eapen

The influx of western influences and globalization in India have increased the popularity of English as a spoken language among the urban, Indian youth. English connotes status. As a result, many young Indian, including myself, have grown up without learning or practicing our mother tongues. My typeface, Bangalore Display, questions whether typography can change the attitude of the Indian youth and inspire them to learn and speak their regional languages.

Bangalore Display is a playful, and bold Kannada (a South Indian Language) typeface inspired by the hand lettered street signs scattered across my childhood home of Bangalore, India. The friendly and bubbly appearance of the typeface intends to appeal to a younger demographic and make the language accessible to them. It is displayed on an interactive microsite that breaks down the nuances and stylistic choices behind the typeface to help users appreciate the details that went into the design. The typeface is accompanied by a type design compendium that documents my process of learning the language Kannada while designing the typeface. It includes personal reflections about experimenting with different materials followed by deeper conversations with type experts. By making the language accessible to young Indians, I hope the project inspires them to appreciate the beauty of Indian languages and encourages them to engage with their mother tongues.

(Red)

Dotun Abeshinbioke

Darina Abuzarova

Sung Hyun (Julie) Ahn

Anisa Al Raisi

Hazal Aysel

Vivek Bajaj

Sunayana Bali

Elliot Bohlen

Madison Brang

Allison Bynum

Rachel Chang

Lilliana Checo

Jizheng Chen

Lena Chen

Mi Chen

Raghav Chhabra

Shreya Chittaranjan

Christopher Chu

Shenny Chuang

Calen Chung

Mae Craford

Chengcheng Cui

Rebecca D'Agostino

Dani de los Santos

Nika Diomidovskaia

Aira Dolfo

Maya Eapen

Yaron Erkin

Louis Falisse

Xiaoke Fei

Bernadette Figueroa

Shih-Ju Fu

Ana Furtado

Martina Gallo

Chenxi (Lisa) Gao

Sierra Glicker

Danielle Beatriz Go

Danni Gomez

QingYing (Mimi) Guan

Peiru Guo

Siyu Hang

Trudy Hoang

Will Howell

Annie Hua

Wallis Huang

Charis Huling

Sana Jamali

Aeva Karlsrud

Lake Kennedy

Byunghyun Kim

Destiny Kim

Yeji Kim

Zen Koo

Padmaja Kothari

McKayla Lankau

Hyunseung Maddie Lee

Jade Lee

Jiwoo Lee

Juna Lee

Victoria Lee

Emma Lepore

Scarlet Li

Sunny Li

Sohyunn Lim

Misty Lin

Stephanie Lin

Yu Tong Tiffany Ling

Lilian Liu

Phoebe Lo

Charlotte Lomas

Kevin Loumeau

Wen Hsin Lu

Dirm Luawo

Peiyun Luo

Youran Mao

Imani McIntosh

Rebecca Mesonjnik

Velimar Molina

Matilde Sofia Monti

Gavin Mullally

Syalsabila Karissa Munaf

Michael Mungai

Sanjana Navar

Katelyn Paik

Aileen Pan

Chanjoo Tiffany Park

Namjoon Park

Storey Pearson

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Simran Rao

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Rainier Salas

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Eva Serrano Reisner

Anvita Shah

Suditi Shah

Amal Shaheedi

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Claira Smith

Hyunji Song

Carolina Stierli de Abreu

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Rachael Tomaszewski

Tiffany Tong

Svasti Ujagar

Ariana Ushiki

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Zheng Wang

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Summer Wojtas

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Ricky Xie

Connie Xu

Karrie Xu

Ellen Yang

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Emily Yun

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