Typecraft Initiative Craft-Design Methodology Workshops with Ishan Khosla

February 20-21, 2024
MFA DSI Studio

In 2024, Ishan Khosla returned* to MFA DSI to present the Typecraft Initiative Craft-Design Methodology Workshop. This two-day session provided an overview of the significant work of the Typecraft Initiative and a conversation with students from MFA DSI and MFA Art Education on Day One. Day Two focused on interactive opportunities to craft, challenging design students to think and work creatively and collaboratively while getting a hands-on understanding of craft communities and their material culture. Through the process, the students engaged with their own culture and those of others.

Ishan Khosla is a Dehradoon-based visual artist, designer, researcher, and a graduate of the MFA Design program at the School of Visual Arts, New York. While Ishan runs his own studio, Ishan Khosla Design, he also started The Typrecraft Initiative in 2012, initially as a self-funded initiative to work with rural craftspeople across India. Over time, Typecraft has received international acclaim and aims to develop fonts that stand for various socio-political beliefs, such as working to end patriarchy and supporting religious and ethnic minorities and people from so-called lower castes.

On Wednesday, February 21, Ishan Khosla presented to our Global Guest Lecture coursea deeper look into craft communities and their emergent and community-led design principles. Ishan’s presentation sparked a conversation about ornament and decoration (abundance), issues of gender, caste, tribal/folk, and labor structures, and the differences between being a craft designer and the design of craft – all challenging our own design assumptions and broadening our perspectives.

*Watch the Global Guest Lecture of Ishan Khosla speaking at MFA DSI in December 2020.