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The flame of India’s typographic vernacular preserved in a mosiac of product design
An object of graphic design that I have begun to venerate above all is the humble Indian matchbox. These tiny patches of paper that vary and recombine colour, text, and image in mind-bogglingly random iterations are wound into the visual landscape of the Indian street and home. As Matt Lee, who collected over 750 matchboxes when in India to teach design at Bangalore’s Srishti Institute of Art writes:
“these economical and disposable matchboxes are often found empty and discarded on the roadside near truck stops and littering the footpaths around chai stalls and cigarette shops.”
He continues:
“The imagery on these boxes include Hindu symbolism, historical figures, Bollywood actors, foreign brands and cartoon characters, everyday objects, consumer goods, aspirational items and a variety of popular and exotic animals.”
As Lee observes, what is most remarkable about Indian matchboxes is the sheer range of themes utilised by their anonymous designers. It is easy to miss how Indian matchboxes present an infinite array of recombinations that pose unique solutions to getting text, image and colour to work together. The designs range from tasteful abstract ones to complete kitsch. A Google Arts&Crafts parallax based on Gautam Hemmady’s collection identifies themes such as modernist architechture, machines, tools, agriculture, worker’s rights, household appliances, trade names, lucky numbers, money, playing cards, transport, fireworks, abstract political ideals (such as liberty or socialism), advertising space for hire and even matchbox covers featuring other matchbox covers.
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