Gujarati: ‘Round’ Script, Blocky Letters

My favourite Gujarati lettering from the streets of Ahmedabad

What do I mean: Round?

Gujarati has always looked like a ‘round’ script to me. I tried to fit a reason to this impulsive word that has been floating around in my head.

(In order) Mukta Mahee (Gurmukhi), Mukta (Devanagari), and Mukta Vaani (Gujarati).

If I were to list similar scripts to Gujarati, I might think of Devanagari and Gurmukhi. However, I do not think of these two scripts as being round, as I do for Gujarati. The main reason possibly rests in the top lines of the two scripts. These immediately seem to impart a strong horizontal element dashing across the curvier forms that hang from them. Gujarati may also appear to flow more owing to the small, rounded upticks at the end of its vertical stems; a feature that you do not observe in the other two scripts.

What do I mean: Blocky?

Lettering that has slow curves and generous weight fits my current definition of ‘blocky’.

In contrast, lettering with fast curves and lighter weight would not seem blocky to me whatsoever.

However, lettering with fast curves and large weights does not look entirely blocky either.

Lastly, I would categorise lettering with slow curves and lighter weights as being ‘squarish’ rather than ‘blocky’.

Here’s what I found

I was not able to scan the city as thoroughly as I would have liked to. I did, however, find a few interesting samples and a whole lot of inspiration as well.

The word above: a simple, blocky piece.

These seem semi-blocky; they might have appeared more so if the counter spaces within the letters had been smaller.

Spot the ‘blocky’ word here.

My favourite! An absolute unit on the left, leaning leftwards and extruding outwards; there are some more blocky letters to the right of it.

Blocky and extruded, with a sharp twist.

Behind the bright lettering looms a wavy, blocky word.

This shuttering lettering goes hard with the dynamic and blocky effect.

Why this blocky obsession?

In my vision, the slow curves contrast with the general ‘roundness’ that I think of when I think of the Gujarati script. I feel that it is an eye-catching contrast that works extremely well for display lettering.

It’s an exciting discovery for me as well; I am currently working with the Kannada script, which also has a general roundedness in its letterforms; it would be interesting to see whether this blocky effect works just as well for me in the Kannada script.