imported>Apokrif at 04:53, 21 July 2021

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{{Short description|Indian academic, designer of INR sign ₹}}
{{Use Indian English|date=May 2020}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2013}}
{{Infobox person
| name = D. Udaya Kumar
| image = Udaya Kumar(designer).JPG
| birth_date = 1978 
| birth_place = [[Kallakurichi]], [[Tamil Nadu]], India
| nationality = Indian
| alma_mater = {{ubl| [[Industrial Design Centre|IDC]], [[IIT Bombay]] (PhD) | [[Industrial Design Centre|IDC]], [[IIT Bombay]] (MDes) | [[Anna University School of Architecture and Planning|Anna University (SAP, Chennai)]] (B.Arch.)}}
| occupation = [[Associate professor]] and Head of Department of Design, [[IIT Guwahati]]
| known_for = The designer of the [[Indian rupee sign]] (2010)
| notable_works = [[Indian rupee sign]]
}}
'''Udaya Kumar Dharmalingam''' is an Indian academic and designer noted for his design of the [[Indian rupee sign]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.moneycontrol.com/news/current-affairs/rupee-getsnew-symbol_470128.html | title= Rupee gets a new symbol |accessdate= 19 November 2011}}</ref> His design was selected from among five short listed symbols.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://finmin.nic.in/the_ministry/dept_eco_affairs/infrastructure_div/message_symbol_final.asp |title=Final Selection for the Symbol for Indian Rupee – List of Five Entries: Ministry of Finance, Government of India |publisher=Finmin.nic.in |accessdate=2010-07-30 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100725133929/http://finmin.nic.in/the_ministry/dept_eco_affairs/infrastructure_div/message_symbol_final.asp |archivedate=25 July 2010 }}</ref> According to Kumar, the design is based on the [[Indian tricolour]].<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.thehindu.com/business/Economy/i-hit-upon-representative-devanagari-says-winner/article517413.ece | location=Chennai, India | work=The Hindu | title=I hit upon representative Devanagari, says winner | date=16 July 2010}}</ref>

{{As of|December 2019}}, he is the Head of the Department of Design at [[IIT Guwahati]], Assam.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.iitg.ernet.in/design/Faculty.html | title = Department of Design, IIT Guwahati |website= Iitg.ernet.in |date =17 May 2011 |accessdate= 30 December 2019}}</ref>

==Personal life==

Kumar is the son of N. Dharmalingam, a former [[Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam|DMK]] [[Member of the Legislative Assembly (India)|member of the legislative assembly]] of the state of [[Tamil Nadu]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.newindianexpress.com/cities/chennai/article183488.ece|title='My son has brought glory to TN'|website=The New Indian Express|access-date=2016-03-29}}</ref>

==Academics==
Kumar attended La Chatelaine junior college in [[Chennai]]. He obtained a bachelor's degree in architecture ([[B.Arch]]) from the [[Anna University School of Architecture and Planning|School of Architecture and Planning]] (SAP) at [[Anna University]], Chennai in 2001. Subsequently he received his master's degree, an [[MDes]] in [[Visual Communication]], from the [[Industrial Design Centre]] (IDC) of [[IIT Bombay]] in 2003. He also did his doctoral studies at the IDC, receiving his [[PhD]] in 2010.

==Research==
[[File:Indian Rupee symbol.svg|thumb|upright|The rupee symbol]]
His areas of interest include [[graphic design]], [[typography]], [[type design]] and design research with special focus on [[Tamil language|Tamil]] typography (the subject of his doctoral research).

He has also designed a Tamil font named "Parashakti" as a mini project at the IDC, under the guidance of Prof. G. V. Sreekumar, who is one of the few font experts in the country. During his MDes project he wrote and designed a book on Tamil [[typography]], which is the first attempt at bringing such a subject to a Tamil audience. In this book, Kumar also created new Tamil terminology for many typographic terms where English words were used.<ref>{{cite news
|url =http://www.idc.iitb.ac.in/students/phd/udayakumar/index.html
|title =D. Udaya Kumar (personal home page)
|publisher=IIT Mumbai}}</ref>{{not in citation given|date=December 2019}}{{better source|primary source|date=December 2019}}

Kumar also provided guidance for the designing of the official mascot for the 49th [[Inter IIT Sports Meet]].
[[Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (India)|Minister of Information and Broadcasting]]

Kumar conceptualised the design for Rupee symbol for Indian currency. The symbol is designed using the Devanagari letter र 'Ra' and Roman capital letter 'R'. The letters are derived from the word Rupiah in Hindi and Rupees in English, so the symbol is meaningful to both Indians and international users. The symbol also uses the Shiro Rekha, the horizontal top line which is unique to Indian Devanagari script. The two horizontal lines form an "equals" sign, which also evokes the tri-color Indian flag. [[Ambika Soni]] approved the new rupee symbol on 15 July 2010. Udaya Kumar was awarded prize money of {{INR}}{{formatnum:250000}} for his efforts.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://www.idc.iitb.ac.in/students/phd/udayakumar/index.html Homepage of Udaya Kumar]
* [http://www.idc.iitb.ac.in/events/Indian_Rupee_Symbol.pdf Udaya Kumar's design proposal for the Indian rupee sign]
* [http://india.gov.in/knowindia/national_symbols.php?id=15 Official announcement of the sign]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20111208185454/http://webrupee.com/ WebRupee, guidance for use of the sign on the web]
* [http://drupal.org/project/webrupee WebRupee ₹ Drupal Project]

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kumar, Udaya}}
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Indian Tamil people]]
[[Category:Artists from Chennai]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian designers]]
[[Category:1978 births]]
[[Category:Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati faculty]]
[[Category:Anna University alumni]]
[[Category:IIT Bombay alumni]]

D. Udaya Kumar - Revision history

imported>Apokrif at 04:53, 21 July 2021