FIFA 2026: Kerala startup designs football-inspired fonts

Account subscription benefits alongside Premium Stories, Editorials, Opinions and more. Unlock these with Subscription

The View From India Looking at World Affairs from the Indian perspective.

First Day First Show News and reviews from the world of cinema and streaming.

Today's Cache Your download of the top 5 technology stories of the day.

Data Point Decoding the headlines with facts, figures, and numbers

Health Matters Ramya Kannan writes to you on getting to good health, and staying there

The Hindu On Books Books of the week, reviews, excerpts, new titles and features.

A bunch of designers from Ramanattukara, Kozhikode district, are expressing their passion for football through typography. They have launched FIFA-inspired fonts in Malayalam and English. A combination of curvy, squarish and rounded lettering, the fonts reflect a sense of playfulness and the spirit of the sport.

Fontspell, a startup based at Kinfra Technopark, developed the package of four fonts – FSL Malabar, FSL Newton, FSL Biryani, and FSL Mugham — which have found their way to many of the football hoardings in the State. “These world cup fonts have been designed, keeping the fans in mind, especially Gen Z, who spend much of their time online – these fonts work equally well on social media as well as large flex boards,” says Pranav K, founder of Fontspell and an ardent supporter of team Argentina.

Ever since the company announced the fonts, it has been receiving a number of enquiries, especially by those who design flex boards. The six-member team at Fontspell spent time and effort designing the fonts. “Some even took six months,” says Pranav. Inspiration and ideas come from life around. “We came across a rather uniquely designed Malayalam letter ‘Ma’ in a poll graffiti. That was the spark for the ‘Ma’ in our FSL Malabar Rush,” adds Pranav.

Similarly, the team had developed a font inspired by the percussion instrument, mridangam. One of the fonts, Uyare, can be adjusted to any length and height without appearing skewed, making it ideal for large flex boards. “Fonts carry feeling. Each font has its own anatomy. We work constantly on the creative, functional and aesthetic appeal of our fonts,” says Pranav.

The football font package costs ₹ 700. These fonts, however, are not exclusive to football. They can be adapted for other themes as well, he adds. Fontspell’s earlier works include converting actor Mohanlal’s handwriting into a font and specialised fonts for poll graffiti.