Neelakash Kshetrimayum

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Neelakash Kshetrimayum Indian graduate from the type design program at the University of Reading in 2010 currently based in Goa. He is a partner and cofounder of BrandNewType, an independent type and typography design studio. He studied Graphic Design at the National Institute of Design, India and received a master's degree in typeface design from the University of Reading. He develops typefaces for Indian scripts, working in close collaboration with Fiona Ross and John Hudson. He designed Frijky at Reading, which he introduces as follows: A progressive family of Latin and Bengali typefaces. Based on the calligraphic stroke movement, Frijky is fluid yet sturdy. Intended for publications, Frijky gives news extra bite with its aggressive edge. Frijky was used for the logo of the ATypI 2011 meeting in Reykjavik. Neelakash has designed two typefaces---Pakhangba and Sanamahi---for Meetei Mayek, the native script of Manipur. In 2011, Neelakash co-founded Mayek Projects with Anand Naorem, which offers design solutions for type, news and branding. Speaker at ATypI 2011 in Reykjavik and at ATypI 2019 in Tokyo on the revival of Meeti Mayek. He writes: In the beginning of the 18th century, as a result of political and cultural changes, the Bengali script replaced Meetei Mayek---the indigenous script of Manipur (a north-eastern state of India bordering Myanmar). Since then, the people of Manipur have been using the Bengali script for writing Meeteilon, the main spoken language of Manipur. This led to the introduction of new sounds in the Meeteilon from the Bengali script. Hence, during this period some new and modified letterforms were added for these sounds in Meetei Mayek. However after a number of conferences, the scholars have finally concluded that Meetei Mayek consists of 27 letteforms with their supplements. After almost 250 years, in 2005-06, the Government of Manipur officially approved the Meetei Mayek and included in the academic curriculum of Manipur Education. The new generation is learning Meetei Mayek instead of Bengali script to read and write Meeteilon. As the new generation is learning Meetei Mayek and it is slowly replacing the Bengali script, new typefaces will also be required for various forms of communication [...]. At present there are only a few typefaces, of questionable quality. Very limited research has been done on Meetei Mayek from the typographic point of view. Besides, there is a need to develop a system or guideline for designing Meetei Mayek typefaces. [...] This presentation discusses the typographic evolution of Meetei Mayek with examples from inscription, manuscript, letterpress, sign-paintings and digital typefaces. It reflects on the existence of multi-script communication in Manipur and its influence on Meetei Mayek. In 2017, Adobe Type released Myriad Devanagari and Myriad Bengali. Designed by Vaibhav Singh and Neelakash Kshetrimayum, respectively, these typefaces translate the design of Adobe's popular Myriad family (by Carol Twombly and Robert Slimbach) to the most-used writing systems of India. Between 1978 and 1982, Tim Holloway and Fiona Ross designed Linotype Bengali based on Ross's research for her doctoral studies in Indian palaeography. In 2020, Fiona Ross and Neelakash Kshetrimayum were commissioned by Monotype to update that popular typeface, still called Linotype Bengali. Designer of Adobe Bengali (2021; with help from Bengali script expert Fiona Ross).	EXTERNAL LINKS Neelakash Kshetrimayum [Designer info] MyFonts search Monotype search Fontspring search Google search INTERNAL LINKS Type designers ⦿ Type designers ⦿ Bengali fonts ⦿ Indic language fonts ⦿ Type design in India ⦿ Letterpress ⦿