# Pakistani Truck Art

> The total decoration of Pakistan's trucks and buses, which grew from company marks and saints' portraits painted in the late 1940s into a workshop art in which painters, metalworkers, woodcarvers and reflective-tape specialists collaborate on each vehicle. Every surface carries floral ‘phool patti’ borders, mirrored geometric strips, landscapes, heroes, protective eyes and Urdu poetry in saturated colour, with regional schools favouring painting, calligraphy, carved wood or cut plastic.

- Period: 1947–present
- Where: South Asia
- Origin: Karachi, Rawalpindi, Peshawar and Lahore vehicle-decoration workshops, Pakistan
- Branch: Traditions & vernacular
- Also known as: Phool patti, Jingle trucks, Truck art
- Page: https://stylogeny.com/styles/pakistani-truck-art/

## Use it with care

Truck art carries Qur'anic phrases, the names of God and the Prophet, Sufi saints, the Buraq and protective eyes: do not reuse sacred inscriptions as decorative texture, distort or invert them, or print them on footwear and disposables. It is the livelihood of named Karachi, Rawalpindi and Peshawar artisans whose motifs are widely copied by brands, so commission, credit and pay painters.

## How it works

- Cover every surface, from body panels, tailgate, bumpers and mudflaps to the tall carved ‘taj’ crown over the cab, so that no plain metal remains.
- Divide the body into stacked bands and framed cartouches, each edged with floral phool-patti scrolls or reflective geometric strips.
- Give each main panel a pictorial centrepiece (a mountain lake, a film star or national hero, a tiger, a pair of eyes, the winged Buraq) painted in glossy, high-key naturalism.
- Letter Urdu couplets, blessings and road sayings in Nastaʿlīq on the tailgate and mudflaps, mixed with English names and numerals.
- Combine media for glitter and sound: enamel paint, cut reflective tape (chamak patti), mirror, steel repoussé, carved wood and dangling chains.
- Mirror the design about the vehicle's centreline, flanking the axis with paired peacocks, flowers and eyes.

## Its design choices

Defining choices make the style, characteristic ones are usual, occasional ones turn up now and then.

### Layout & composition
- [Central symmetry](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/central-symmetry/) (characteristic)
- [Framed panels](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/framed-panels/) (characteristic)
- [All-over field](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/all-over-field/) (characteristic)

### Space & hierarchy
- [Horror vacui](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/horror-vacui/) (defining)
- [Repetition & rhythm](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/repetition-and-rhythm/) (characteristic)

### Typography
- [Brush & pen calligraphy](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/brush-and-pen-calligraphy/) (characteristic)
- [Hand-lettering](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/hand-lettering/) (characteristic)
- [Ornamented display](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/ornamented-display/) (occasional)
- [Eclectic mixing](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/eclectic-mixing/) (occasional)

### Colour
- [Full polychrome](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/full-polychrome/) (defining)
- [Complementary clash](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/complementary-clash/) (characteristic)
- [Fluorescent & neon](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/fluorescent-and-neon/) (occasional)
- [Iridescent & holographic](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/iridescent-and-holographic/) (occasional)

### Form & shape
- [Naturalistic depiction](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/naturalistic-depiction/) (characteristic)
- [Stylised figuration](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/stylised-figuration/) (characteristic)
- [Angular & zigzag](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/angular-and-zigzag/) (characteristic)

### Surface & texture
- [Gloss & highlights](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/gloss-and-highlights/) (characteristic)
- [Painterly brushwork](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/painterly-brushwork/) (occasional)

### Ornament
- [Abundant decoration](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/abundant-decoration/) (defining)
- [Floral & vegetal](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/floral-and-vegetal/) (defining)
- [Geometric tessellation](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/geometric-tessellation/) (characteristic)
- [Folk & sacred symbols](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/folk-and-sacred-symbols/) (characteristic)
- [Borders & frames](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/borders-and-frames/) (characteristic)
- [Cosmic & celestial](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/cosmic-and-celestial/) (occasional)

### Imagery
- [Painterly illustration](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/painterly-illustration/) (characteristic)
- [Pattern & repeat](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/pattern-and-repeat/) (characteristic)

### Medium & production
- [Hand-painted](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/hand-painted/) (defining)
- [Architecture & signage](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/architecture-and-signage/) (defining)
- [Textile & craft](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/textile-and-craft/) (occasional)

### Tone & intent
- [Communal & popular](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/communal-and-popular/) (defining)
- [Spiritual & sacred](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/spiritual-and-sacred/) (characteristic)
- [Romantic & sensual](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/romantic-and-sensual/) (characteristic)
- [Playful & witty](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/playful-and-witty/) (occasional)

Avoids: Ornament-free, Generous white space, Monochrome, Flat, Grotesque & neo-grotesque, Dynamic asymmetry, Rational & objective

Palette: #d62828, #ffbe0b, #00843d, #1a4fa0, #e5007e, #c0c4c8

Typefaces: Nastaʿlīq (Urdu poetry and blessings), Naskh, Shaded sign-painter Roman capitals

Known for: Hajji Hussain (palace muralist who shaped the Karachi truck style in the 1950s); Haider Ali (Karachi truck painter); Haider Ali and Jamil ud-Din, decorated 1976 Bedford truck for the Smithsonian Folklife Festival, Washington (2002); Garden Road vehicle-decoration workshops, Karachi

## Where it comes from, and what it’s close to

- Grew out of: [Hand-Painted Signage & Vernacular Lettering](https://stylogeny.com/styles/hand-painted-signage.md) (1800–present)
- Influenced by: [Islamic Geometric & Calligraphic Tradition](https://stylogeny.com/styles/islamic-geometric.md) (c. 690–present)
- Influenced by: [Indian Calendar & Bazaar Art](https://stylogeny.com/styles/calendar-art-india.md) (1878–present)
- Alike in its design choices: [Jeepney Art](https://stylogeny.com/styles/jeepney-art.md) (1946–present), 77% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Fileteado Porteño](https://stylogeny.com/styles/fileteado-porteno.md) (1890–present), 66% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Picó Sound-System Painting (Colombian Caribbean)](https://stylogeny.com/styles/pico-sound-system-art.md) (1967–present), 64% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Neo-Andean Architecture (Cholets)](https://stylogeny.com/styles/neo-andean-cholet.md) (2005–present), 59% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [AfriCOBRA](https://stylogeny.com/styles/africobra.md) (1968–present), 58% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Tiki Pop (Polynesian Pop)](https://stylogeny.com/styles/tiki-pop.md) (1934–present), 57% alike

## Real works

- [Pakistani hand-painted truck made for the 2002 Smithsonian Folklife Festival (photographed at the 2007 Festival)](https://www.flickr.com/photos/smithsonian/2548131879/): Haider Ali and Jamil ud-Din (decoration); photograph by Ken Rahaim, 2002 (decoration); photographed 2007, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections, Smithsonian Institution (SFF2007_Rahaim_7_7_0010), via Flickr
- [Decorated Hino Ranger truck](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pakistani_truck.jpg): Unrecorded Pakistani truck decorators; photograph by Alexandros Papadopoulos, photographed 15 December 2009, Wikimedia Commons (photograph from Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0)
- [Painted flatbed truck with parrots and a mountain-lake panel](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pakistani_Truck_Art.jpg): Unrecorded Pakistani truck painters; photograph by Abdullahimr, photographed 15 February 2014, Wikimedia Commons (Wiki Loves Earth Pakistan upload, CC BY-SA 4.0)
- [Painted truck cab with phool-patti flower bands](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Truck_Art_of_Pakistan.jpg): Unrecorded Pakistani truck painters; photograph by Baharwassan, photographed 4 August 2015, Wikimedia Commons (Wiki Loves Earth Pakistan upload, CC BY-SA 4.0)

## Sources

- Jamal J. Elias, On Wings of Diesel: Trucks, Identity and Culture in Pakistan (Oneworld)
- ‘Masterpieces to Go: The Trucks of Pakistan’, Saudi Aramco World 56:2 (March/April 2005)
- Dawn, ‘The elusive history and politics of Pakistan's truck art’ (dawn.com)

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From Stylogeny (https://stylogeny.com/), an atlas of graphic-design styles by Van Riel Online Services. How it is made: https://stylogeny.com/about/. Cite as: Stylogeny, “Pakistani Truck Art”, https://stylogeny.com/styles/pakistani-truck-art/