Typerventions (type + interventions) began as a series of public installations that brought together experimental modular letters, everyday materials, public spaces, pithy provocative messages and community engagement.
Over 10 years, more than 50 type installations have been created in this way, engaging hundreds of people in workshop-style modules. Typerventions have been taken to streets in various cities and countries, classrooms, restaurants, design festivals and schools.
Watermelon modular type for Time Out Magazine, Delhi
Hauz-e-Khas, the royal reservoir in South Delhi. Letters designed in Fontstruct by Pooja Saxena
Devanagari + Braille at Amar Jyoti School. Letters designed by Pooja Saxena
A prayer for monsoons in the searing heat of Delhi summer, through evaporating letters that filled the streets with fragrance
Workshop to play with words, meaning and materials in Old Delhi
Café con Leche in Mexico
Watermelon letters developed at a workshop at Turmeric Design
Summer in Lodhi Garden is resplendent with fallen flowers
Could working with the limitations of everyday materials provoke new thought processes in designing modular type? Could working with our hands bring creatively inclined humans together in a purposeful way? Could the giant scale and limitations of public spaces inspire new creative and strategic thinking? Could we use materials that are low cost, local, seasonal and methods that leave the lowest possible footprint later? Street Art, but ephemeral, not vandalistic. Could the phrases we left in public spaces invite curiosity, wonder, thoughtfulness? Could a format be created and shared openly in a way that anyone could create typerventions?
These are some of the lines of enquiry that have shaped these explorations over the years.
An old website with more detailed process descriptions and list of credits for the early typerventions still exists here.
select typerventions outcomes
Do One
Do One Thing
Do One Thing Everyday
Do One Thing Everyday That
Do One Thing Everyday That Scares
Do One Thing Everyday That Scares You
Type Camp New Delhi, 2016
Change
Change What
Change What You
Change What You Can
Change What You Can Not
Change What You Can Not Accept
Design Fabric Festival, Mumbai, 2018
The
The Greatest
The Greatest Thing
The Greatest Thing You'll
The Greatest Thing You'll Ever
The Greatest Thing You'll Ever Learn
The Greatest Thing You'll Ever Learn Is To
The Greatest Thing You'll Ever Learn Is To Love
The Greatest Thing You'll Ever Learn Is To Love & Be
The Greatest Thing You'll Ever Learn Is To Love & Be Loved
The Greatest Thing You'll Ever Learn Is To Love & Be Loved In
The Greatest Thing You'll Ever Learn Is To Love & Be Loved In Return
London Design Festival, Brixton, London, 2018
Creativity
Creativity Is
Creativity Is Your
Creativity Is Your Intelligence
Creativity Is Your Intelligence Having
Creativity Is Your Intelligence Having Fun