Among the most distinctive design movements in the past century was the Art Deco movement, whose origins can be traced to France just before WWI, in 1925. Short for Art Decoratifs, this movement, principally characterised by sleek lines and bold curves, went on to influence architecture, graphics, interior design, fashion and advertising till the mid- 20th century. In Mumbai, then Bombay, it was the 1930s, when the city embraced art deco architecture.

And, along with it came a distinct visual language in the form of letterings. While the buildings still stand tall, relentless rounds of reconstruction and renovation over decades have erased a large part of these typefaces. But, from what remains, a graphics design studio in the city, has set out to cull 26 letters of the English alphabet.
The Storycity team at Kahaani Designworks started their research on art deco buildings in the city around nine months ago, for the purpose of this project. Ruchita Madhok, principal designer, says, "The team that runs the website Art Deco Mumbai and us have been contemplating for long doing something together. We, being graphic designers, are naturally drawn to type. During our research, we saw that some buildings have retained art deco style lettering. In most of them, the nameplates have changed. And if they do have lettering, they don't align with art deco. Some bungalows in Shivaji Park and Matunga have Marathi signage now." For over two months Madhok, Mukta Pai, designer and Tanushka Karad, a design intern, scourged the city to find typefaces they could work with.