A typographer, professor and designer of maps and fonts, Prof Mahendra Patel is a man of various talents.
A typographer, professor and designer of maps and fonts, Prof Mahendra Patel is a man of various talents. Hailing from Ahmedabad, this retired senior faculty from the National Institute of Design (NID) in the city, recently won the Gutenberg International Award for his contribution in font designing for Indian scripts, and map design and signage design for Indian cities.
Speaking about his achievement, Patel said, "I am very glad to be honoured with this award. I can't forget the moment when
the mayor of Mainz city and Gutenberg International Society of Germany gave me the award."
Passionate about teaching, Patel has served at NID for 39 years and is presently serving as adjunct faculty member at the Symbiosis Institute of Design (SID) and MIT Institute of Design.
A graduate in fine arts from MS University of Baroda in 1964, Patel pursued his post graduation at the NID itself in the year 1967. "Later, I took an advanced course in type and typography from Switzerland's Basel School in Design in 1968."
Regarding his chosen field, Patel said that his entry into the world of design was an accidental one. "I liked painting and while
pursuing fine arts, my professors appreciated my skill at typing letters and map designing." Patel was also in Paris for a year for an apprenticeship under Adrian Frutiger, a prominent typeface designer and who owns one of the best studios in the world, called 'Atelier Frutiger'.
Patel remembers how impressed he was by the mad designs and directions in Switzerland. He proposed to have a similar concept for Indian cities but faced rejection everywhere. "That time, I was determined to start map designs here and also got awarded by the department of audio-visual publicity in Delhi," he said.
Patel was recognised as Grand Master of design in 2007 by the Industrial Design Centre of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Mumbai. He has worked on font design of six Indian scriptures - Devanagari, Gujarati, Tamil, Malayalam, Telegu and Bengali - and is planning to work on more. "I am aspiring to work on all nine scriptures of Indian languages to ensure harmonious work," Patel said.
The designer has two sons, one of whom is in the same field as his, while the other is an eye surgeon. Patel works as consultant to son Sumeet, who owns a graphic designing business in Mumbai.
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