As India undergoes rapid urbanisation, metro systems have expanded across its linguistically diverse cities. This has created a critical need for effective multilingual and multi-script wayfinding signage. In this presentation, I will offer a comparative analysis of nine major Indian metro networks, focusing on the typographic and hierarchical challenges of integrating the Devanagari script with Latin and other regional scripts. My research reveals a profound lack of standardised guidelines, resulting in inconsistent and often confusing signage. I will identify three key areas of concern: conflicting approaches to linguistic hierarchy, a failure to achieve typographic harmonisation between scripts, and fundamental flaws in typographic application, including poor typeface selection, erratic alignment, and letterform distortion. This talk will argue that these inconsistencies increase cognitive load on passengers and highlight an urgent need for a systematic, evidence-based approach to multi-script typography in public spaces to ensure clarity, accessibility, and efficiency for millions of commuters.
Multilingual directional signage in Indian metros: Challenges of integrating Devanagari with Latin and regional scripts
