Monotype Names Vaishnavi Murthy Yerkadithaya First Creative Type Director for Indic Market
Monotype Imaging Inc. has appointed Vaishnavi Murthy Yerkadithaya as its first Creative Type Director for the Indic market, signaling a significant move in the company's dedication to diversifying its typographic offerings for the culturally diverse Indic market. With over 1,500 languages and dialects in the Indic market, Monotype aims to enhance its typographic services to cater to the dynamic needs of this expansive region.
Vaishnavi Murthy Yerkadithaya brings over 18 years of design and research experience to her new role. She holds an undergraduate degree from the prestigious National Institute of Design in Ahmedabad and a Master of Arts in Typeface Design from the University of Reading in the UK, where she was awarded the Felix Scholarship. With her expertise in type design, Vaishnavi is well-positioned to lead Monotype's efforts in creating innovative and culturally relevant typefaces tailored specifically for the Indic languages.
Monotype offers a range of typographic services to both Indian and global brands and agencies, including custom font design, font licensing, and type consulting. The company is committed to supporting the development and promotion of Indic scripts and languages, collaborating closely with partner foundries and designers.
Tom Rickner, Senior Director of Monotype Studio, expressed his excitement about Vaishnavi's appointment, emphasizing her talent and expertise in guiding Monotype's expanded support for Indian script systems. He highlighted the importance of meeting the evolving needs of the Indian market and global enterprise customers through innovative typographic solutions.
Vaishnavi's work is rooted in a deep understanding of the cultural nuances that influence typography in India. Drawing inspiration from her grandfather's expertise in ancient scripts and the rich linguistic landscape of India, she aims to merge tradition with digital innovation to make modern and ancient scripts more accessible to users across digital platforms.
One of Vaishnavi's notable achievements is her research on the Tulu-Tigalari script, an ancient script that was previously forgotten. Utilizing advanced font technology, she standardized the script and made it accessible digitally and in print for the first time, demonstrating her commitment to preserving and promoting India's linguistic heritage.
As part of her role at Monotype, Vaishnavi will continue to research various old and new Indic scripts, focusing on standardization, encoding, and type design. She has collaborated with other foundries and individual type designers worldwide to create contemporary fonts in languages such as Kannada, Telugu, Devanagari, and Malayalam.
Vaishnavi's appointment comes at a time when there is a growing demand for Indic fonts that reflect the diversity of India's linguistic landscape. Quadrilingual in English, Kannada, Hindi, and Tulu, Vaishnavi brings a wealth of knowledge about various Indic script systems, with a particular interest in South Indian and Southeast Asian Grantha-based scripts.
Neeraj Gulati, Managing Director for Monotype Solutions India and SVP, Chief AI Officer, highlighted the importance of preserving and enriching India's rich linguistic heritage. He emphasized Vaishnavi's role in enabling local and global brands to develop their unique voice in the market through Indic font work, ensuring that their messages resonate with their target audience.
Overall, Vaishnavi Murthy Yerkadithaya's appointment as Monotype's first Creative Type Director for the Indic market underscores the company's commitment to fostering diversity and innovation in typography. Her expertise and passion for preserving India's linguistic heritage will undoubtedly drive Monotype's efforts to create impactful typographic solutions for the dynamic and culturally rich Indic market.
