You're unable to read via this Friend Link since it's expired. Learn more
Member-only story
Ray Bizarre: an alternate approach to typography
On the texture of Satyajit Ray’s graphic design
Pinaki De, a graphic designer and expert on Satyajit Ray, writes of the artist’s career as a commercial illustrator (which includes thousands of sketches, logos, posters, magazine art, film credits, costume sketches and such works):
“Ray’s contribution to graphic design has always eluded proper critical attention outside Bengal, probably eclipsed by his towering presence as a filmmaker.”
Among Satyajit Ray graphic design cultists, four conceptual sketches for typefaces have come to occupy a special place: Daphnis, Holiday Script, Ray Roman and Bizarre. They were probably drawn by hand in the 1960s on commission from a Florida-based design agency. Andrew Robinson mentions in his biography of Satyajit Ray, The Inner Eye, that Ray Roman and Ray Bizarre were considered worthy of awards.
For a few years, I developed an obsession with Ray Roman. Off-late, this obsession has grown to include Ray Bizarre. To me, the two typefaces make up opposing faces of the same coin. They represent something I’ve long scratched my head about concerning what I…