Kimya Gandhi is a leading type designer whose work sits at the intersection of contemporary visual communication and India’s rich lettering traditions. Originally trained in fashion and communication design at NIFT and later at the Industrial Design Centre at IIT Bombay, she discovered her fascination for letterforms early in her studies. What began as a growing curiosity soon turned into a dedicated pursuit: after completing her master’s degree, Gandhi interned at Linotype in Germany, an experience that both validated her passion for type design and introduced her to the rigor of professional type production. Her internship project, DIN Next Devanagari, created in collaboration with renowned designer Akira Kobayashi, became her first published typeface and marked an important milestone in her career. She later continued to refine her craft at the Typeface Design Intensive (TDi) program at the University of Reading in the UK, deepening her understanding of global typographic traditions.

Today, Gandhi is based in Berlin, where she co-runs the independent type foundry Mota Italic with her partner, Rob Keller. The studio is known for its extensive work in both Devanagari and Latin scripts and has developed custom typefaces for major international clients including Google, Audi, and Škoda. Gandhi’s design philosophy is deeply informed by the visual landscape of India, including street signage, hand painted posters, and vernacular lettering traditions, and her work often bridges the gap between cultural heritage and modern typographic needs. Her portfolio features notable projects such as the Devanagari extension of the Vesper typeface, the handwritten-style Maku, the expressive variable typeface Chikki, and Fit Devanagari, a collaboration with David Jonathan Ross.

Beyond her professional practice, Gandhi is an influential educator and advocate for strengthening the culture of type design in India. She has taught typography and type design at leading institutions including ISDI, Pearl Academy, NIFT, and the Symbiosis Institute of Design, and she has conducted workshops at NID, Typography Day, and international conferences like TypeCon in Washington, DC. Through teaching, she continues to champion the importance of vernacular scripts and aims to create more accessible, supportive learning environments for emerging designers. More than a decade after giving herself two years to decide whether type design was the right path, Gandhi remains deeply committed to expanding and enriching the landscape of Indian letterforms, a dedication that has made her a significant voice in contemporary type design.