The trick to implementing an identity system brilliantly is striking the perfect balance between consistency and flexibility. Without consistency, a brand is not recognizable; and unless there is flexibility, the brand will be mundane, and will fail to address its multiple audiences successfully in a variety of situations. This case-study attempts to chart how these two opposing forces work in tandem in the typography of multi-lingual identity systems. Most identity systems of the past, and even present, have not been designed to accommodate more than one language typographically, especially languages using different scripts. When a brand wants to address its audience in a second language, it ends up using transliteration. This works well when the audience can read the language in which the system has been designed but fails miserably when they cannot. Today, brands are expanding into new cultural zones where their survival is dependent on using a second language, and into regions where using the native language in their identity is compulsory by law. What happens when brands find themselves in situations such as these? Transliteration of the reverse kind takes place. The search for typefaces in the native language begins. Layout of the logo artwork and word-mark are adjusted. Patronizing modifications of the native script are attempted. The case-study analyses these and other approaches to multi-lingual identity design through the lens of consistency and flexibility, and ventures beyond in search of yet unexplored territory. Further, within this context of multi-lingual identity design, it raises questions about the strongly prevalent Euro-centric bias towards type design and typography; and the lack of vision on the part of brand strategists and designers alike in embracing this new direction of identity design.

1. __
Callifest 2009, held at Sir J. J. School of Art Campus, D. N. Road, Mumbai
Image Source http://www.achyutpalav.com/calfest.htm

2. An Inquiry
into the role of Typography
in Multi-Lingual Identity Systems
__
Pooja Saxena
Semester VIII, Fashion Communication Programme, National Institute of Fashion Technology, New Delhi

3. « (Identity is) the fact of being who or what a person
or thing is... (and) the characteristics determining
this. «
__
from Oxford English Dictionary
The definition of ‘identity’

5. « Identity Design is about creating the right balance
between Consistency and Flexibility. «
__
rephrasing Paul Hughes
from his talk at Kyoorius Design Yatra, 2009

6. __
Identity for i-D Magazine

7. __
Identity for contemporary art museum De Hallen Haarlem
by Cobbenhagen Hendriksen

8. __
Identity for contemporary art museum De Hallen Haarlem
by Cobbenhagen Hendriksen

9. « The intervention in the typefaces makes De Hallen
Haarlem recognizable into its smallest detail and at
same time gives us the ultimate freedom to play
around with the overall identity. «
__
Identity for contemporary art museum De Hallen Haarlem
by Cobbenhagen Hendriksen

10. __
from Christopher Doyle TM Identity Guidelines 2008
by Christopher Doyle

11. « Our explorations must seek to understand racial
and economic divides, traverse geographic
boundaries and negotiate linguistic barriers. «
__
from Cross-cultural Design = Living on the Edge
by Erin Moore

12. « (To transliterate is to) write or print (a letter or
word) using the closest corresponding letters of a
different alphabet or language. «
__
from Oxford English Dictionary
The definition of ‘identity’

13. « Saumya «
« Saumyaa «
« Somya «

14. « Saumya «
« Saumyaa «
« Somya «
« Saumya «

15. __
Arabic and English logotype for Tide Detergent
from Brand New http://www.underconsideration.com/brandnew/archives/in_brief_the_arabic_brand_expe.php

16. __
Vodafone Hindi

17. « Certainly the proliferation of typefaces — a 2,762%
increase since 1974 — has dramatically
increased the choice for consumers of typefaces. «
__
from Consuming Typefaces: Typefaces, Ubiquity and Internationalisation
by Anthony Cahalan

18. __
from FlickR

19. « Even today, typography as a discipline continues to
be plagued by a Euro-centric bias. Most contemporary
digital type foundries... call these fonts ‘Non-Latin’.
These terms certainly have rather colonial overtones,
suggesting the idea of ‘the other’, describing foreign
scripts in negative terms as ‘non-European’. «
__
from A View of Latin Typography in relationship to the World
by Peter Bi’lak

20. __
Westside store at Forum Mall in Koramangala, Bangalore

21. __
Westside store at Forum Mall in Koramangala, Bangalore

22. « Identity Design is about creating the right balance
between Consistency and Flexibility. «
__
rephrasing Paul Hughes
from his talk at Kyoorius Design Yatra, 2009

23. « It is clear that design now, more than ever, must
become more anthropologic. «
__
from Cross-cultural Design = Living on the Edge
by Erin Moore

24. « Scripts have always been among the most
important carriers of culture. «
__
from Signs and Symbols
by Adrian Frutiger

25. « The specific nature of a cultural identity is
expressed... in the privileged means of
communicating thought that we call oral language
and... in the constant, precise and sensitive form of
graphic expression that we call ‘writing’. «
__
from Developing an Awareness of the Typographic Letterform
by Ladislas Mandel

26. __
Identity for Big10 Bus Service operated by BMTC in Bangalore
by Dig Design Studio

27. __
Identity for Big10 Bus Service operated by BMTC in Bangalore
by Dig Design Studio

28. __
from Indian Type Foundry’s FlickR Photostream
http://www.flickr.com/photos/indiantypefoundry/

29. « The act of designing is an inherently powerful act. «
__
from ‘Why’ The Designing Process
by American Institute of Graphic Arts (aiga)

30. « Are we designing products, creating services, and
crafting communications that in themselves, through
their function, effectively cross cultural boundaries
and communicate to different groups
simultaneously? «
__
from Cross-cultural Design = Living on the Edge
by Erin Moore

31. « Thank You! «