Whitescape 02

white scape

Previous issue: Whitescape 1: November 2022

https://issuu.com/ mitidgraphicdesign/docs/ whitescape_gd_newsletter_01

Dear Readers,

Whitescape is back! While the format has become shorter the volume has gone up with the number of pages and promising new articles. The issue number “TWO” (with its near and far associations) binds the pages together.

What stays in the new format - few consequential projects, inspiring faculty works and brain churning Gutterspace. Highlight of this volume is how the screen-printing lab by Khyati and Avanti brought students of different batches together. Fresh entries of photo-essay, poetry with some clues to spot two birds found in our evergreen campus will ensure you look forward to the next issue.

Post the release of first issue, work began for the second one and it has been a longer journey than we expected. The team of students across batches from MDes and BDes volunteered for content and design roles with an important takeaway – clear and timely communication is crucial for successful collaboration.

Compliments to the effort of the entire team of students and faculty to curate this issue of Whitescape.

Dr. Nachiket Thakur Director, MIT Institute of Design

Riverside has some really unique species of birds. Sirrr! You should go there for spotting...

BTS_MOMENTS

by Prof. Rohit Keluskar

Really! Why don’t you write about a few unique birds for whitescape?

Sir may even ask the birds to contribute

“Baat Ban Jaye”Self-initiated Project

by Vedant Samel, BDes Sem 8

Hand-painted titles of bollywood films from inside pages for a quick glance.

Neutral typeface to compliment the visuals and imagery.

Concept:

I was going through a phase in which I was fascinated by the world of retro Bollywood film and music. The style of music and the aesthetic surrounding it deeply resonated with me, and I couldn’t help but channel my creativity through this topic. In tune with the retro revival that we’re going through, I had the idea of a vinyl cover that came with a book that you could flip through that told you more about the music that’s there in the record.

When you come to know the story and ins and outs about how a piece of music was

made, you develop a deeper understanding and fascination towards the music. So, I began looking for content from this era that had the most potential for such a project.

I zeroed in on the popular disco song, “Aap Jaisa Koi / Baat Ban Jaaye” from the film “Qurbani” (1980), whose backstory is awe-striking.

The zine features hand painted images and my very own hand-lettered font, all meant to emulate the retro bollywood style aesthetic.

Slango! - Simple Design Project

by Jayesh Patil, B.Des Sem 4 under guidance of Prof. Rohit Keluskar and Prof. Parag Chitale

Project Brief: A Design Solution to Encourage grandchildren who have moved away for education purposes to reduce the communication gap with their grandparents.

52 Cards

2-6 Players

5/7 Cards Each

Solution

A game in which gen-Z slangs used by grand children can be taught to grandparents to start interacting and communicating with each other which may lead to reduction of communication gap in the family.

HOW TO PLAY THIS GAME ?

- Each player will be provided with 5/7 cards in English(E) and/or Hindi(H).

- Players have to form pairs of cards having slang word in H with corresponding word in E or vice versa.

- If a player does not have a required card to form a pair, he/she can pick cards from the remaining deck in turns.

- Once a pair is formed, player has to show it to other players and place it down.

- The first player to pair up all the card wins if and only if he recalls his first pair.

- If the player forgets the first pair he/she has to pick another set of 5 cards from the deck and the game goes on.

not elaborate, showy, modest or restrained.

by Eshanika Roy, BDes Sem 3

by Shraddha Domkawle, BDes Sem 3

under the guidance of Prof. Mathew Kurien

Legends of “Type”

by Shweta Mehta, MDes Sem 2

Project Brief

Research on the given legendary type-designers to know their life, work and achievements. Design an A4 size brochure to share the information with nongraphic students and designers.

Objective

The aim was to learn about some classic typefaces with a focus on type designers. Structuring the data to identify relevant information and then plan it as per the format and the respective audience were also part of the learning.

Excerpts from the brochure on the life and works of legendary Indian type designer Mahendra Patel.

Interned at Monotype, Frankfurt for two years.

Letter Design in Devanagari, Bengali and Tamil for signage, International Airport Authority of India.

Mahendra Patel has designed the form of the characters for 8 out of 13 official Indian writing systems namely Devanagri, Oriya, Kannada, Bangla, Gujarati, Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam.

His contribution is very significant to the rise of modern typography in the country. 1981

1982

Logo Type Design in 14 Indian languages for State Bank of India.

Type design in Malayalam, for the Malayalam Manorama, Kottayam, Kerala.

Neue Frutiger® Devanagari font family is launched. Designed by Mahendra Patel, Kimya Gandhi & Adrian Frutiger.

Type design in Kannada for the Deccan Herald, Bangalore.

Note: The content and images used in the brochure are sourced from several links on the internet and used for learning/educational purpose only.

1989 2003 2013

Retired from NID

Two books we insist

by Ina Tirkey, Anurag Batham MDes Sem 2

The book offers a nuanced exploration of the multifaceted conflict between India and Pakistan over the region’s sovereignty. Taking place in the mid-1990s, this novel is a coming-of-age story about a boy named Munnu who grows up in the strife-torn city of Srinagar and tries to make sense of himself and the world around him amidst crackdowns. The graphic novel is also a personal account of the “conflict generation” in Kashmir, who have only known instability, and the omnipresence of the occupying army. Sajad wants to bear witness, produce a testimony, unleash frustration and suppressed memories, question unspoken loyalties, and “take revenge.” The book takes up the difficult challenge of talking about Kashmir without taking an ideological position and addresses the lack of nuance in the official recounting of facts and events.

Sajad uses the format of a graphic novel to construct a growing sense of familiarity for the readers. The characters are an anthropomorphic combination of human and hangul deer, the species of Kashmir stag that is at risk of extinction because of the conflict’s impact on its natural habitat, which serves as a powerful metaphor and reminder of life’s uncertainties in Kashmir.

At its core, ‘Munnu’ is a brave and honest study of the difficult realities of life in a conflict zone and is an important contribution to contemporary literature that should be considered by anybody interested in stretching the boundaries of conventional narrative. The novel is a powerful and thought-provoking piece of fiction that boldly and fearlessly explores challenging themes and concepts. Overall, ‘Munnu’ offers a very rare and powerful commentary on the politics of Kashmir and the impact of conflict on ordinary people from a perspective that is often neglected.

‘Munnu: A Boy from Kashmir’ is a gripping and complex portrayal of a young boy’s life in Kashmir during a period of intense political turmoil.

“Munnu” by Malik Sajad

“Identity Designed” by David Airey

Throughout this book, David Airey gives great insights into the design process, design principles of brand identity, with examples. It comprises of contemporarily relevant case studies in branding, thus giving the reader an immersive experience from start to end. The format for each case study is the same, giving a clear comparative idea of how designers work under different companies and situations. I found these cases very comprehensible as it answers almost every question in the subject that a designer might have.

This book also deals with the origins of branding, after which Airey gives an overview of how brands and companies of different sizes design their identity and become an example for designers as good inspiring design. Another winning feature of this book was the key points at the end of case studies which provide a quick overview for recollection whenever required.

Spread from the book, Source: All images are taken from online sources.

Identity Designed takes a practical approach to understanding branding in the corporate world.

Tranquil Stories

"It’s about breathing with every stroke of paint and ink. No intention of perfection but pure meditation through use of lines, textures and hues."

Prof. Pranali Shah

The Graphic Tee with Khyati and Avanti

Interview by Dhwani Panchal and Mansaa Sehgal, BDes Sem 4

You must have seen the white t-shirts with neon prints donned by GD students around campus. These t-shirts are the result of our very own small but functional screen-printing lab. Khyati Patkar (K) and Avanti Gangal (A), two final year students, share how the dinosaur and other quirky elements came to light and how this idea made its way from a vision to printed fabric.

Q. Can you share your first acquaintance with printing?

K: I began my journey into screen-printing during my first year in our material course where paper was the medium. Initially, I experimented with cyanotype printing using chemicals, which piqued my interest towards printing. In my second year, I was tasked with a case study on any screenprinted product for my printing production course. However, I misunderstood the brief and instead went to a nearby printing press where the kind staff showed me how to expose screens. I created my first screenprint of a bus ticket and reverse-engineered it for my course submission.

A: I started exploring printing much later. For my paper writing I had Natural Dyes as my topic and I took up eco-printing. Then I took it further and tried some different printing techniques. What intrigued me was that with simple manipulations you can change the

end result like how with the pH of the water and with natural dyes, you can play with the pigment of the flower of your choice. That’s how my fondness for printing grew.

Q. Before we get to the details we would like to know why neon pink and neon green for the t-shirts?

A: We wanted to it be shown brightly on a white t-shirt and that was possible with these colours. We wanted it to be very lively. We know many people don’t wear such bright colours.

K: I am not someone who wears such bright colours, but that t-shirt just called for these

happy colours. I have previously worked with these two colours on some projects and since then they have become my favourite because of the way they look on clothing. Just looks beautiful!

Q. Now tell us the details of how it all began!

K: After completing my summer internship in screen printing at Pritam Arts, Mathew Sir presented us with an exciting opportunity. We were tasked with creating t-shirts for our batch. Although I had never worked with textile print before, I was eager to take on the challenge. We knew that a lot of experimentation and exploration would be necessary before we could achieve the final print. During our discussions, we also considered customizing the t-shirts and doing the printing ourselves.

To make this project a reality, it was again Sir who suggested the need of a dedicated space where we could work with all the materials and can use it for the printing. That's how our screen print lab was born. We decided to make this our first project

KHYATI

and then students could use the lab whenever they wanted. The concept for t-shirts was simple: each student could come in and print their own pieces.

Q. How did you figure out a customised design for the t-shirts?

K: Brief was “Do anything you want” which left us feeling lost and unsure of where to begin. We decided to gather inspiration from our everyday experiences at college, looking for simple yet relatable elements to incorporate. It took us roughly 3-4 hours to finalize the design. Next, we focused on creating a logo for the design. We started the process by exposing the screen, followed by test printing and ordering the t-shirts. The logo design itself took us a day and a half to perfect. Time was of the essence as we needed to move quickly to begin the printing process, including exposing the screens.

Q. What was the toughest part of the job?

KnA: Translating the design on to the screens! It was morning, and we felt like the sun’s intensity was correct so we ran and exposed our screens to the sun. We were holding them while people were judging us. We washed it with a hose from the garden. We felt really passionate at that time as we worked the whole day to get a good exposed screen. We tried exposing six to

seven screens and only one screen was successful, and that was because of the sun’s intensity. Then we tried test printing with those screens but unfortunately it failed, so now we got our screens exposed from a professional.

Q. Any other learnings you would like to share with printing enthusiasts?

K: Umm. Yes. For the paints we used plastisol inks, they basically need to be cured with a heat gun. We did a lot of explorations to find the right curing time. The thing is when you give a print to someone you need to be really careful about the curing of the ink. We found out in the process that 2 minutes was the perfect time for curing, but we extended it up to 3 minutes for safety. To compare a colour, you need to wait for it to dry. If you see it at 0 minutes its different that 30 minutes and 1 hour.

A: It was a messy process, we used to get paint all over our clothes and hair but it was fun. The position of the screen also matters a lot, holding the screen while helping

someone pull is also a very interesting process. The process in general gave us a lot of insights and helped us grow.

Q. Are there other printing styles that we can try ourselves?

K: You can try cyanotypes and enterotypes as they don’t require a lot of material and investment. Start small and then keep on upgrading your knowledge along the journey. Understand the importance of printing as a designer and dive into it. I’m sure you will enjoy and want to do more of it every day.

A: You can even try natural printing, tie dye, block printing. Just keep on exploring!

I am not someone who wears such bright colours, but that t-shirt just called for these happy colours."

Q. Reflecting back, do you think it was a good idea to print the batch tees?

A: The reason we pushed for batch t-shirts so much even though we knew it was going to be exhausting was because when you print your own t-shirt it feels like you have added something to it. So even when you are out of college, you remember how the entire process worked. Especially the process of pulling the screens.

SAY SCREEN!!!

K: The day we did the screen printing was also a great bonding session for our batch. It became more of a feeling to everyone. Seeing everyone wear these t-shirts in the lawn gave us a lot of satisfaction, it was worth all the hard work. I think we need to be part of the process in order to appreciate the end product

Edited by Ina Tirkey, MDes Sem 2

ACHIEVEMENTS 2022-23

Winners of Book Cover Design

Competition by "Classmate".

1st Runner-up

Battle of Projects 2023 by ADI

1st Runner-up

Gen Next Skills - Digital Design Competition in collaboration with XP Pen.

Subhikshaa Sudharshan, MDes Sem 2

Finalist for TYPE 2023, a tamizh typography competition in Chennai DakshinaChitra Heritage Museum.

Sowmya Jayaram, BDes Semester 6 & Khyati Patkar, BDes Semester 8

Prachi Shetty, MDes Sem 4

Prajwal Kunjir, BDes Sem 6

The Phoggle Effect

Photos by Shreya Junnarkar, BDes Sem 6

Of cool blues, warm hues,

still times, and time travels.

words by Prof. Rohit Keluskar

To Biennale and Back!

ACROSS

1. A playful black typeface known for it’s rounded serifs and long ascenders.

2. Typeface design by Matthew Carter’s for AT&T to mark their 100th year.

3. Canadian poet and author of ‘The Elements of Typographic Style’.

4. “__” dash has width equal to “m” and can substitute colon and commas.

5. ______ powered rotory printing press revolutionised printing.

6. First typeface designed in both serif and sans serif by Otl Aicher in 1988.

7. A publisher’s emblem or imprint, usually on the title page of a book.

8. The typeface “Helvetica” was earlier known as _____ Haas Grotesk.

VERTICAL

1. One of the design principles used to direct the eye movement.

2. Find usability problems in a user interface is known as _____ evaluation.

3. American type designer who designed “Gotham” typeface.

4. “______” Ipsum is typesetting industry’s standard dummy text since the 1500s.

5. Avante “_____” is innovatory and rebellious art that explores new forms.

6. First Roman typeface designed by Nicholas Jenson.

7. Simplest and smallest of all the “design elements”.

8. Univers and Helvetica are known as “___-industrial” typefaces.

Clues compiled by Anurag Batham, MDes Sem

by

COMMON-SANS

ANSWERS TO CROSWORD

STREAM OF CONSCIOUS-MESS

Have post-its given you a tough time when they curl and peel off.

Well there is a way to remove them such that they stay straight and taut! This is not a trivia but just FYI. So google now and thank us later!

Shashwat Tripathi, BDes Sem 4

OFF_COURSE

Luna

by Maithili Katulwar, BDes Sem 4

Looking at the ordinary black sky; my soul calm and on high, The whole nature seems to be one; my mind, as if in search of someone,

Slowly, silently pleasiang the view; came the silvery moon to my rescue, Slowly peeping from those gloomy clouds; my unspoken words spoke aloud,

I looked as if I once lived there; and have left my soul behind somewhere, My eyes stuck, full of bright light; on the Luna who lay at night,

Came the shadowy clouds between us; as if taking away my happiness; The joy of light slowly fading; my eyes depressed by seeing, Dark sky with some twinkling stars; assured of its returning back by hours, Tired of waiting,my eyes dozing; and then slowly, silently closing.... Illustrated by Rachita Sarvankar

Just-a-pose

Marathi Play at Bala Gandharv Rang

Mandir, Pune

What do you think?

Assembly Line

This Hoodie

Search for Simple Design Topics

A bird or two...

by Akhil Sawant MDes Sem 2

Situated on the banks of Mula Mutha River, MITADTLoni campus has a lot of greenery which makes it a perfect habitat for numerous species of birds. Here are some cues to help you spot two of them.

The Asian Green Bee-eater

Merops orientalis

The Greater Coucal

Centropus sinensis

The second issue comes to a close with the interpretations of "two" in myriad ways to bind the whole issue. We leave you with two question now to reflect until the next issue.

Q1. On whatsapp groups, do you respond to questions addressed to everyone like ”Is anyone interested to meet tomorrow to discuss the portfolio?

Q2. If there is no response what should the writer or sender assume - “Yes / No / I don’t care?” (or is it None of the above).

Let us know how your thoughts on how we can improve Whitescape. Thankyou!

THE TEAM

Anurag Batham | Sonali Raj

Ina Tirkey | Shweta Mehta

Apoorva Ghule | Aryana Kadam

Shreya Junnarkar | Tia Alex

Pratha Lunawat | Jeremy Dsouza

Anu Ahire | Shraddha Domkawle

Rohit Keluskar | Parthika Immameni

COVER DESIGN

Tia Alex (Front)

Gerleo Nimalan (Back)

FONTS

Fira Sans & Fira Mono Merriweather & Abys

If you would like to contribute to the next issue of Whitescape or want to be part of the team, do get in touch. We are around!

TALK BUT IT HELPS

TOUGH IS