You’ve lived and worked in India and Italy, two culturally rich and contrasting places. What surprising lesson have you learned about yourself or your design practice from moving between them?
During my time in Italy, I realised I had never integrated Indic typography into my work before. While interning at Zetafonts, I developed a Devanagari counterpart to their Latin typeface, Stadio Now. It was amazing to connect with my roots from afar and learn about type design. This experience deepened my appreciation for the beauty and diversity of scripts and has added a new dimension to my work.
As a designer and project manager, you’ve been part of global projects like Fight for Kindness. What drew you to this initiative, and what does “kindness” mean to you in the context of creative work?
I have been involved in the Fight for Kindness project since 2021. After earning my Master’s degree in 2020, I completed a thesis titled “Type for Change,” which examined how typography can foster connections and promote social causes. This work led to an internship with the type foundry Zetafonts.
The ‘Fight for Kindness’ campaign, launched by co-founder Debora Manetti in collaboration with Zetafonts and TypeCampus, aims to promote kindness and empathy post-COVID-19 lockdowns. It has expanded to 25 exhibitions in 12 countries, receiving over 750 submissions from creatives worldwide, including students and professionals, in 2025.
Kindness, encompassing empathy and social responsibility, is an often-overlooked sentiment today. Personal growth comes from examining our actions with compassion, which has helped me navigate challenges in my creative work.
In its fourth edition, the campaign is now part of many academic curricula, showcasing students using design as a tool for social change and transformation.
Cultural influences often appear subtly. Do you blend Indian vibrancy with Italian minimalism in your work or notice how design bridges cultural differences?
I wouldn’t broadly categorise Italian design as minimalist, and I feel my style is less vibrant than what Indian design is often associated with. Ultimately, it depends on the requirements of each project. Today, especially with globalisation, the design world has become a melting pot of diverse styles and influences.
One example of a bridge is ‘Stadio Deva’ is a design project that merges two cultures. Originally a singleweight font by Italian type designer Aldo Novarese in 1974, Stadio features bold reverse contrast. Zetafonts revived it in 2021 for Novarese’s 100th anniversary, expanding it into Stadio Now. I worked on developing its Devanagari script counterpart with guidance from Cosimo Lorenzo Pancini.
The Latin and Devanagari scripts are quite different, so you can’t just cut and flip shapes between them. It’s important to respect each script’s integrity and explore how certain stylistic elements can bridge the two.
Read the full article & much more in the Print Edition of Issue 69