Vernacular Branding
Spot a Sign & Share
Mapping India’s Ephemeral Street Aesthetics
The Vernacular Branding project is more than a single published volume—it is a continuous, living archive of the streets. While our initial publication drew from decades of curated research and a dedicated open call, the visual landscape of India is massive, shifting, and constantly improvising.
Every single day, incredible pieces of hand-painted type, intuitive visual logic, and vernacular commercial art disappear from our storefronts. We need your eyes on the ground to help map, preserve, and celebrate them before they vanish.
Whether you are walking through a local bazaar in Vidarbha, spotting a regional packaging system, or noticing an unusual piece of informal signage, we want to see it.
01 — Spot a Sign
Option 1: The Instant Instagram Route (Preferred)
The easiest way to log a sign is to do so as soon as you spot it on the street.
- Snap a photo of the hand-painted signboard, localized typography, or unique storefront layout.
- Post it to your Instagram Feed or Stories.
- Tag us @vernacularbranding and add the location (City/Neighborhood) so we can place it on our mental map.
02 — Spot a Sign
Option 2: The Direct Archival Submission
If you have high-resolution design research photographs, historic sign documentations, or prefer not to use social media, you can submit your plates directly to our Google Drive repository via our clean coordination form.
Not sure what counts as “Vernacular Branding”? Here are a few prompts to spark your curiosity next time you step outside:
We regularly curate and re-share community submissions directly on our official Instagram channel, giving credit to the observers on the ground.
Documentation will be logged in our long-term research archive for future iterations, physical exhibitions, and continuing educational discourses.
Let’s treat our streets as galleries. Step outside, look closer, and keep the archive alive.
Hand-Painted Typographic Scripts
Signboards where a local artist’s hand alters standard letterforms to fit a specific layout.
Informal Wayfinding & Commerce
Ingenious, improvised visual systems created by small shopkeepers, street vendors, or local workshops to draw attention.
Everyday Visual Artifacts
Regional matchboxes, local festival posters, unique packaging graphics, or localized identity emblems that feel distinct from global, digital corporate formatting.
From the archive
Follow the archive on Instagram
Archive images, book spreads, launch and exhibition photographs, posted as they happen.
