Typography
"Celebrate the fusion"
"HONK OK PLEASE"
I probably spent the most time choosing the fonts. It's soooo important and honestly so much fun exploring! I thought the font would be a cool way to showcase the fusion between my Indian and American identities. To figure out where to start, I took a trip down memory lane 🚶🏽♂️...
Growing up, I was fortunate to visit my family in India. The trips often included ~5hr road trips between the two major cities my family lived in (Baroda and Ahmedabad). I loved those drives -- I would stare endlessly out the window at the farmers, bikers, animals and most memorably, the trucks with the iconic "HORN OK PLEASE" bumper.
The "HORN OK PLEASE" bumpers are such a vivid memory not only because I saw it so many times on those road trips, but also because of the funky font and vibrant colors used to paint them.
Remembering those bumpers also triggered memories of street-vendor signs and classic early 2000s Bollywood movies that also used a similar 3D font style. I gravitated quickly towards the character and nostalgia the 3D typography sparked.
When I tried replicating that typography for Confusion, it didn't feel quite right. Ambiguous, right? Totally. But it honestly just felt off. The typography resonated really well with my Indian-side -- it brought me right back to India and my memories of it. But my American-side wasn't too much of a fan -- the side that's attracted to the minimalist and clean packaging designs.
Just replicating the font didn't showcase the fusion narrative I wanted to share. So, I started tinkering, testing many permutations of fonts, colors and "3D-ness" until landing on a style that still elicited the nostalgia of India, but complimented my western taste as well. Here's the transformation!
Up next 👉🏽: #BTS Packaging Series: Colors
