Madhuban is a clean, geometric humanist typeface in Devanagari and Latin .
Madhuban's design principles are rooted in a humanist geometric approach, aiming to strike a delicate balance between precision and organic flow. The intricate mono-linear characters find a harmonious blend of geometric shapes and humanistic strokes. The Devanagari and Latin glyphs, together, embrace a clean geometric structure to maintain visual coherence with each other. The idea of family is not just to build a sense of visual unity when used together, but also to capture the essence of each script. This typeface is versatile in terms of uses. The proportions are suitable for both; display and body type.
The Madhuban concept
India is a land of rich cultural diversity, where extremely diverse languages and scripts coexist harmoniously. In an era marked by diverse linguistic interactions, multiple languages often converge for communication. This story starts with Devanagari & Latin script together. The Devanagari script, used for Sanskrit, Hindi, Boro, Dogri, Nepali, Marathi, Sindhi, Awadhi, Braj, Chhattisgarhi, Maithili, Haryanvi, Bhili, and several other languages, carries centuries of cultural heritage from the northern and central parts of India. And, the Latin script represents a global language that transcends borders. Moreover, within India, Latin is extensively used for English communication and transliteration of Indian scripts across various fields, including technology, cultural exchange, and communication.
When different languages are used together for one communication, its a primary need for individual scripts to share common visual characteristics, forming a unified visual language.
The genesis of Madhuban arises from the recognition of the need for a typeface that transcends cultural boundaries, facilitating communication in both Devanagari and Latin scripts without compromising on aesthetic integrity. The name “Madhuban” refers to a beautiful blooming Jungle or a place where diverse elements come together in a fresh and vibrant display of unity. The long-term vision for this project involves expanding the Madhuban family to include many more scripts in the future.
The font family has a variable weight, with 5 predefined weights; light, regular, medium, semibold, and bold. It features over 1200 precisely crafted glyphs, with standard and discretionary ligatures, Akhand and linear conjuncts for Devanagari, mathematical features, currency symbols, ordinals, fractions, accents, lining figures, tabular figures, alternative glyphs, and other OpenType features. Currently, the type family has extensive language support for over 105 languages based on Devanagari and Latin.
