Page 220 - Art and Crafts of Bangladesh

GRAPHIC DESIGN 217

for this book. However, he had help from a Bengali called Panchanan Karmakar.
‘Movable Type’ was first used in this book. It is believed that this is where modern
typography originated. Researchers believe that these letters were made keeping in
mind the Bengali alphabet evolved from the manuscripts of Srikrishnakirtana and
using the handwriting of Kalikumar Ray, a teacher of Bengali handwriting at Fort
William College and Khushmat Munshi from Hooghly as source. Undoubtedly, the
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transformation of modified Bengali alphabets can be detected in earlier punthis,
documents, letters and even in coins, stone inscriptions, or copper plates. These
printed alphabets gradually developed to take the shape of Vidyasagar type. Ishwar
Chandra Vidyasagar proposed a revised alphabet in 1855 through his publication of
Barna Porichoy part one and two. Later some other styles of alphabets were created
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such as Pyka, Pyka Adhunika, Pyka Antique, Bharati, Purabi etc. (fig. 4.21). 50
In the last half of the19th century (1886), the invention of linotype was a remarkable
event. Because of this, it was possible to make a complete single line of ‘type’ by
casting metal. When hundreds of ‘types’ were required for a specific group of letters,
linotype made it easier to get as many as one needs from some dies of the letters. Thus,
many innovations became easier. In 1935, the Bengali linotype was introduced first
through Anandabazar newspaper with the initiative of Sureshchandra Majumdar.
Rajshekhar Bose helped Sureshchandra to invent linotype. Sushilkumar Bhattacharya
drew the shapes of the original Bengali letters under the supervision of artist
Jatindrakumar Sen. In Bangladesh (the then East Pakistan) linotype was introduced
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in around the 60s.
However, a big change occurred in terms of typesetting in the 80s of the 20th century,
when photocompose or photo type was invented as an alternative of linotype. It had a
far-reaching influence in the world of typography. There used to be a gap between the
letters made of lead and this problem was solved after the invention of photocompose.
A negative and a lens are the main components of any photocomposing machine.
Beside this, an artificial ray of light is required. This ray of light is passed through the
lens on the transparent part of the negative onto the photographic paper. By using this
ray of light the gaps between the letters can be avoided in photocompose. The
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progress in computer technology has simplified the complexities related to type. Now
we have a few thousand types.
Along with the progress of the printing media, there has been much development in fig. 4.21 Head title of
Bengali letters. The interesting part is that Bengali typography was once designed by Sangbad Prabhakar
using calligraphy or handwriting as a source. Although
Bengali letters have been organized and structured
through this process, it has been seen later on that the
beauty of the Bengali alphabets are to be discovered in
unorganized handwriting. Entirely for functional
purposes, beautification or to clarify a specific subject,