Type is visual language

Balvir discussed the process and journey of discovering his hero, R.K Joshi and the mutual interest they had on visual language. R.K.Joshi was a friend, mentor and hero. I learnt that when discovering my own hero it does not necessarily have to be someone well known in the design world. The hero that is chosen needs to mean something to you and influence your life and work style. It may be you have a similar interest in a certain area of design.

                       

Language is our first form of communication, then we develop this language into a visual form called type. We can adjust the type to help it communicate with others that do not understand. Whether this being due to the language barrier or our attitude towards a piece of writing. When you read something you read it in your own language whether or not it has been written by someone who speaks differently. Therefore it is common to interpret the message in a different way. Balvir mentioned that it was common practice for a design company to take the attitude of talking to you in person rather than through the form of digital communication such as email.

Joshi worked in different continents and even if he did not speak the language, he understood the design form by research and constant contact with speaking and listening to people.
He kept in regular contact with Balvir. Bal encouraged us to challenge our thinking and get in touch with our heroes. This made me consider getting in touch with my hero as I could work for their company one day. He kept in contact by letter, writing to each other when they could.

Language is our first form of communication and we need our language to enable us to write making writing the first step to visual language. Bal quoted Fernard Baudin 'the ability to write is the initial step towards any further development of the individual as a fully fledged citizen in a modern democracy'. which supports and explains how writing is the first step in visual language.
Visual language can not only be in the form of hand lettering but also in the form of pictures of sound. For example music notation is a visual form of sound which creates a typographic language of its own.

R.K Joshi was an academic type designer and calligrapher who created the core Indian fonts in Microsoft Windows. Balvir showed us some of R.K Joshi's pieces that involved inspiring typography, some that varied in calligraphy styles. In the lecture I learnt calligraphy was the basis of all typography. Below are some of the inspiring core fonts R.K.Joshi had created.

R.K.Joshi was not just known and successful for his work, but the inner thinking and theory behind the work. This goes for all famous design heroes.