BRIEF
The Brief
Build a brand around the phrase painted on the back of every truck in India. Dipper is a condom brand that borrows the way it looks from two things nobody looks at twice: hand-painted truck panels and Sivakasi matchbox labels.
FROM INDIA
TO THE COMMUNITY
HISTORY AND ORIGINS
HISTORY AND ORIGINS
HISTORY AND ORIGINS
HISTORY AND ORIGINS
HISTORY AND ORIGINS
HISTORY AND ORIGINS
HISTORY AND ORIGINS
HISTORY AND ORIGINS
HISTORY AND ORIGINS
HISTORY AND ORIGINS
HISTORY AND ORIGINS
HISTORY AND ORIGINS
HISTORY AND ORIGINS
HISTORY AND ORIGINS
HISTORY AND ORIGINS
HISTORY AND ORIGINS
HISTORY AND ORIGINS
HISTORY AND ORIGINS
HISTORY AND ORIGINS
HISTORY AND ORIGINS
HISTORY AND ORIGINS
HISTORY AND ORIGINS
HISTORY AND ORIGINS
The first trucks imported in India were Bedford trucks, mainly utilitarian and often used for military purposes.
भारत में आए पहले ट्रक बेडफोर्ड थे। सादे, मज़बूत और अक्सर सैन्य कामों के लिए।
Truck Anatomy
On an Indian truck almost nothing is left plain. Cargo panels, bumpers, mudflaps, wheel hubs, even the diesel tank are treated as surfaces to be painted, and much of it is aimed at whoever is driving behind. Pick a view to look closer at the parts and what they carry.
Core Visual Elements
It breaks down into three families: the icons that carry meaning, the patterns that fill and frame, and the lettering that speaks. Each one is borrowed from somewhere older than the truck it sits on.
ICONOGRAPHY
Every animal and figure painted on a truck is doing a job. The peacock brings prosperity, the cow carries the driver's longing for home, the eagle stands for speed. None of it is decoration for its own sake. Each mark is chosen by the owner and painted to be read from a distance.
सुंदर मोर
The Dazzling Peacock
A peacock represents prosperity
सुंदर मोर
The Dazzling Peacock
One of the most recurring symbols in Indian truck art, painted in full display with its tail fanned wide. It stands for prosperity, and it turns a working cab into something worth a second look.
ममतामयी गाय
A Motherly
A Motherly
Cow
A cow represents a driver's longing to go home
ममतामयी गाय
A Motherly Cow
Sacred and protective, the cow stands for a driver's longing to go home. Painters often give her sunglasses or a garland, exactly the kind of joke real truck art makes inside a devotional image.
तेज़ नज़र बाज़
A Sharp Eagle
An eagle represents speed and acceleration
तेज़ नज़र बाज़
A Sharp Eagle
Constructed over golden ratio circles laid on a rough sketch, which keeps the geometry of the final icon holding together. The eagle is a recurring mark for speed and acceleration.
PATTERNS
Borders frame every panel and almost none of the surface is left plain. The shapes are borrowed from jewellery, textile and temple ornament: meenakari enamel work, shisha mirror embroidery, cusped arches. They are then rebuilt freehand in enamel paint on sheet steel.
पवित्र कमल
A Lotus
A lotus represents prosperity
पवित्र कमल
A Lotus
The lotus grows out of muddy water and comes up clean, which is why it stands for purity and for prosperity earned the hard way. It reappears across cargo panels, tailgates and rickshaw canopies alike.
मीनाकारी बॉर्डर
Border Motif
A continuous vine of enamel-style florals
मीनाकारी बॉर्डर
Border Motif
Bands of enamel-style floral and diamond work borrowed from Rajasthani meenakari jewellery. Painted freehand, this is usually the first pattern an apprentice painter is trusted with.
नज़र बट्टू
The Warding Eyes
A painted pair of eyes that stares the evil eye down
नज़र बट्टू
The Warding Eyes
A large pair of kohl-lined eyes, painted low on the bumper or cab so they meet the gaze of anyone looking at the truck. This is nazar battu, a charm set out to absorb buri nazar, the evil eye, before it can reach the vehicle or its driver. The lashes and liner are done in the same hand as a portrait, which is why they read as a face rather than a symbol.
TYPOGRAPHY
Lettering on a truck is treated as decoration as much as information. Thick outlined forms, layered shadows, and Devanagari sitting beside Latin, all sized to be read by whoever is driving behind. Truck Sans is drawn directly from these hand-painted letterforms.
Custom typography
Truck Sans
Truck Sans is drawn from hand-painted cab lettering: thick outlined forms, layered shadows and uneven baselines. It is then digitised into a full working alphabet with upper and lower case, numerals and punctuation.
Editing: Heading
Horn OK Please
Walk down any busy street in Delhi and you will see it everywhere. Trucks painted bumper to bumper with bright colours, bold lettering, flowers, gods and patterns. This is not random decoration. It is deliberate, and it has been developed over decades.
Horn OK Please
POLAROID
MAKER
MAKER
Click the patch on the canvas to select it, then drag to move, pull a corner handle to resize, or use the knob above it to rotate.
Upload a PNG of yourself with the background already removed. A clean cut-out sits properly against the patch and gives you the sharpest result.
Click the portrait to select it, then drag to move, corner-handle to resize, knob to rotate. It sits above the patch.
Shape
Fill
Backdrop
Add a motif, then click it on the canvas to move, resize from a corner, or rotate with the knob. Motifs sit on top of the text.
Exports the full polaroid, frame and all.
Downloads the PNG and opens a pre-filled email for you to attach it to.
Selected: nothing · click an element on the polaroid, then drag
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