Dhadak Typeface
Nitya Kumar
Hindi is one of the most popular languages in India, and has approximately 366 million speakers. In this project, I wanted to design a new alphabet that would pay homage to a rich tradition of Hindi calligraphy. I also wanted to question some of the conservative values of my Indian heritage, and to imbue the typeface with a more contemporary voice. While I am proud of my cultural heritage, I am a critic of the social norms it sustains. The unusual form of Dhadak in many ways symbolizes these contradictions.
Based on exact mathematical geometries, I also wanted the typeface to allude to India’s rapid technological advancement in recent decades. A related set of Roman characters allows Dhadak to be used in English.