The Kolam is a celebration of the divine and ephemeral, an ancient mathematical floor pattern made by women at the threshold of the house to bring auspicious energy to the home. Inspired by this ritualistic practice also known as rangoli, alpana and mandala, type designer Ishan Khosla and his team at The Typecraft Initiative worked with 15 kolam artists in Tamil Nadu to create letters that eventually became typefaces based on the kolam. Join Ishan, an award-winning visual artist, educator and type and graphic designer, for a presentation on how The Typeface Initiative works with craftspeople, indigenous artists, and refugees to create typefaces grounded in history and tradition but made for contemporary digital use. ‍ ‍ Based in Dehradoon, India, Ishan is a TED Fellow, and a Type Directors Club finalist, he holds an MFA in Design from the School of Visual Arts, New York.