Jacob Thomas: The craftsman of Bangla fonts

Shurjo, Prosaron, Varendra, Shurjodoy, Safar, BP Bhoot, Comic Bengali, and Figgins Pica are the names of some Bangla fonts many of us are familiar with.

But each font comes with a story.

And that story begins in 1977.

It was the year a Swedish-American couple came to Bangladesh to work for a development organisation.

Over time, in between visits to America, Bangladesh became their home and the family started to grow.

In 1981, Jacob Thomas, who would go on to become a prominent figure in Bangla typography by developing fonts, was born into that family.

Even though Jacob was born in America, he grew up in Bangladesh.

This helped develop his love for the Bangla language and culture from childhood. However, he prioritised his mother tongue, Swedish, for pronouncing his name.

The English version of his name is spelt as Jacob Thomas. Usually, the letter "J" is pronounced with a "Y" sound in Swedish, so Jacob feels more comfortable introducing himself with the Swedish pronunciation.

But, since he grew up in Bangladesh, he also has a Bangla version of his name. Many people call him "Yakub".

Jacob started practising speaking Bangla in childhood with the help of his family and neighbours. He also loved to draw, which drew him into the world of font development.

Jacob lived in Bangladesh till he was 15-years-old.

In between, he studied in a boarding school in South India for a while. His parents' jobs allowed him to live in and travel to different parts of Bangladesh.

"We lived in Ishwardi for five years. After that, we lived in Kushtia for another five years and finally in Farmgate, Dhaka, for two or three years," Jacob shared.

Interest in fonts

After living in Bangladesh for 15 years, Jacob went to America and started learning Bangla alphabets there.

"I didn't learn the Bangla alphabet as a kid. I only started learning it after going to America. I was particularly interested in fonts, calligraphy and lettering, which motivated me to study commercial and fine arts. I noticed at that time that the primary elements in graphic design were photos and fonts. I was curious about the people who designed these fonts. For me, developing fonts was a creative endeavour."

Jacob did his postgraduate in Graphic Design at The Savannah College of Art and Design, Georgia. After returning to Bangladesh in 2004, he started working with different NGOs.

When he started his career in Bangladesh, Jacob noticed that Sutonny was the most used font there.

"I saw very few fonts in Bangla, and Suttony was the most used among them. Since Latin scripts already had more than 60k fonts, there was nothing new to add there. But, I felt that I could do a lot with Bangla fonts," Jacob said.

Jacob's interest in working with Bangla fonts increased when he realised that people tend to copy a lot and the available display fonts lacked quality.

"Since Sutonny popped up virtually everywhere, I became curious about who developed it. However, I noticed the books archived at Letterpress Foundry had very different fonts."

The most important tool

Jacob prizes his pens for the role they play.

Among the pens used for typography and calligraphy, the Pilot Parallel is the most important, he says.

Some of the pen's nibs are thin, and others thick. The writing becomes different based on which pen you use.

But what is a tool without a muse?

"I draw inspiration for new fonts from handwriting, writings on walls and designs on CNG vehicles," Jacob said.

Jacob uses pen and paper for the draft design of a new font. First, he experiments with the font's design by writing the letters on paper.

Then, he determines the geometric shapes of the fonts using mathematical terms – to determine which part of the font will be slanted, how the edge of the letters will be, or how much of the font will be straight.

The rest depends on his pen and calligraphy skills.

When we asked where he collected his pens for typography and calligraphy, Jacob said, "I got my Pilot Parallel from the US. I use a flat-shaped wooden pen for Arabic calligraphy. I bought these pens from a bazaar in Istanbul."

Developing the "Qayyum" font

In 2015, Jacob started developing a font based on the handwriting of painter Qayyum Chowdhury.

He examined the collection of the painter's handwriting for a while and later developed the font to pay homage to him.

Apart from Qayyum, Jacob also developed the other fonts, all of which hold a story.

For example, he lived in Rajshahi for around 12 years after returning from the US and chose the name Varendra for the font of his love for this region. BP Bhut, on the other hand, looks a bit spooky. Though there are a lot of spooky-looking fonts in English, the number is very small in Bangla in comparison.

Jacob developed fonts for different national dailies and financial institutions. Besides, he developed a font based on an extinct Semitic language of the Middle East.

He did not stop pursuing higher education after entering the world of fonts. In 2016, he did a course on type design in London to acquire knowledge of modern fonts.

When piracy is the biggest challenge

According to Jacob Thomas, piracy is the biggest challenge in working with fonts in Bangladesh. The moment something new is developed, everyone starts using it through piracy.

"The positive side is that when everyone uses a font, the font gets wider reach. Piracy, however, makes it difficult for people to take up type designing as a profession," he said.

He said he met a few people in Bangladesh who could not take up type designing as a profession.

"The designer of the 'Robi' font is Najim-Ud-Doula Milan. He did his bachelor's in Graphic Design from Dhaka University. After developing this font, he stopped working as a type designer because he couldn't find any job. People don't want to buy fonts when pirated versions are readily available."

Now and the future

Jacob has been working at Bengal Creative Media since 2017. To preserve his fonts, he developed a website named Bangla Type Foundry, which started its journey as a brand in 2018.

He dreams of creating a platform where font designers can sell fonts without piracy.

He believes that if people develop the habit of buying fonts, it will inspire designers to develop new fonts.

Jacob also dreams of disseminating type design everywhere by training others. He said, "For five years, I basically worked alone. Now, I want to train others. I love teaching."

And then there's the author in him that he wishes to release.

"I have four or five books on Latin scripts, but I couldn't find any in Bangla. I want to write a textbook on type design in Bangla."