Autumn 2021
Design for a better world
November
Shiva Nallaperumal
Juhi Vishnani
Arya Purohit
Hitesh Malaviya
Rendani Nemakhavhani
Indian design duo November balances commercial practice with a commitment to social change. By John L. Walters [EXTRACT]
November is a Mumbai design duo, founded by Shiva Nallaperumal and Juhi Vishnani, that is both intellectually driven and commercially astute. Type is at the heart of November, and the practice works across many different languages and scripts. Their portfolio spans editorial design, branding and identity, logotypes, illustration, motion graphics, music design, typeface design and social activism. And they have strong views about justice, society and the prevailing political and social climate – they have lent their design skills to many social causes during these challenging times.
Multilingual identity for Artists Unite, an anti-fascist movement. The custom typeface Unite Stencil was inspired by India’s municipal stencil lettering. The logotype is set in eleven scripts, with variants designed by Arya Purohit, Hitesh Malaviya and November’s Shiva Nallaperumal. Top. Portrait by Maria Spann.
Nallaperumal and Vishnani met and became a couple as undergraduates at DJ Academy of Design in Othakalmandapam, in the city of Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu. They went overseas for postgraduate studies – Nallaperumal to Baltimore’s Maryland Institute College of Art (Mica) in the US and Vishnani to Chelsea College of Arts in the UK. ‘It was a big change from the rather isolated design school we went to previously,’ says Vishnani …
Poster for Manjal, a play in protest of caste and manual scavenging (removal of human waste by hand). It was performed at Purisai Festival in 2019 by the revolutionary theatre group Kattiyakkari. The title is shown rendered in Tamil and Latin scripts.
John L. Walters, editor of Eye, London
Read the full version in Eye no. 102 vol. 26, 2021
Eye is the world’s most beautiful and collectable graphic design journal, published for professional designers, students and anyone interested in critical, informed writing about graphic design and visual culture. It is available from all good design bookshops and online at the Eye shop, where you can buy subscriptions and single issues.