Creative Gaga - Mar/Apr 2014 (Preview)

creative

200/www.CreativeGaga.com

VOL4/ ISSUE2

Mar/Apr 2014 the enthusiastic creative journal

Pencil be forgotton forever Expert’s discussion p42

Re-boot

your mind

with Raghava KK p26

Cover

travel from

pencilto stylus

SHINKA SURU by

Avinash Jai Singh

with Sachin Puthran p30

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a uc l d E a al peci t i ig S

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Contents EXHIBIT

MADE IN

08____TrendFeed Inspiring design with potential to be influential.

46____French Connections/ Mr.Xerty aka Brice Chaplet Graphic designer specialising in digital and mixed-media, Mr.Xerty, tells us how the French do it.

10____NewsFeed Just concluded creative events.

14____SpendThrift Thoughtfully designed stuff that you can acquire.

16____The Tagging Drive/ O&M, Bengaluru A FB tagging drive to promote the collection of used items and their sale.

20____Wisdom Online/ Adobe, KnowHow Experience the friendly and engaging online learning.

22____Branding Realty/ Chintan Shashikant Gopani Branding project for a realty company called S.V.Realtors.

FIGURES 22____Best of Both Worlds / Pavan Dashrath Rajurkar Illustrator Pavan Rajurkar on how he marries traditional and digital mediums in design.

26____Technical Snag/ Raghava KK Artist and storyteller, Raghava KK talks about technology and its correct use.

30____What’s Next/ Sachin Puthran One of India’s digital pioneers, Sachin Puthran, takes us through the evolution of design and designers.

34____Product Romance/ Subinay Malhotra Product Designer Subinay Malhotra on how to take products to a whole new level.

38____Born Again/ Ramanjit Kaur Illustrator and caricature artist, Ramanjit Kaur, tells us how digitalisation has breathed a new life into designers.

52____Pattern Perfect/ Amrei Hofstatter German Digital designer, Amrei Hofstatter, on how she interprets the world around.

GYAAN 58____Stylus Expressions/ Sachin Puthran Digital pioneer, Sachin Puthran, reveals what an iPad and stylus can do.

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PODIUM 68____Artful Realism/ Manu Jaysankar Get a new look at reality as seen through the mind of all the inspirations that surround this illustrator.

70____Layered Perceptions/ Archana Arvind Her art pieces depict the inner self of existence, questioning and answering the very basics.

70____Social Dreamer/ Siddharth Kalra Design not just for businesses but also to further the causes of social welfare using a unique style.

DESIGN PLEASURE 72____Simply Indian/ Studio Saswata An Indian toucvh to life and its emotions.

74____Friendly Type Online typeface design contest with a purpose to create a open platform for everyone.

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74____Open Imagination/ Fan Club Selected pics for from our Fan Club submissions.

48____User Oriented/ Monish The UI designer keeps the user in forefront before designing his frames.

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FIGURES_GagaGod

Technical Snag Raghava KK, named

by CNN as one of the 10 most remarkable people of 2010, is a multidisciplinary artist and storyteller.

His work combines art and technology to bring multiple perspectives while imparting knowledge.

He is a four-time TED speaker and lives in New York.

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Technology has taken us far. But the question is have we been able to keep up with it? Famous artist and storyteller, Raghava KK, surely knows what he’s talking about when discussing the viruses in the system.

More on how he feels that thinking and connotations need to change in order to see the happy marriage of technology and creativity.

Mar/Apr 2014

01 “So beautiful or so what?”

A collaboration with renowned musician Paul Simon, this design was used as the backdrop for his global tour.

02 Inspired

by India’s impossible democracy, the design beautifully captures the various perspectives that coexist in an Indian.

03 “Safety belt for the census bureau”.

Amalgamation of various elements is used to represent the fragmented bits of what we know of history.

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The medium is half the message.

Technology is an extremely important tool. It has democratised knowledge and destabilised hegemonic power-structures in the art world and every other. Whether you’re a designer or not, it’s very important to understand where the world is heading. The roles of art and design have changed, thanks to technology. One partakes in epistemology (the theory of knowledge), when you combine art and technology. It has broken age-old silos, where artists today venture out of their world to discover new ways of knowing.

“Don’t jump the gun in judging technology itself, but its nascent application.”

Technology is like a language. By itself, it has no use or emotion but when applied with prowess, it can evoke strong emotions. That is why how one uses technology is extremely crucial. Many of the children books these days are nothing but manuals for parenting and often full of biases. If you look closely at the Internet, it is primarily used to address emotional needs. Often, our technological solutions are rhetorical in addressing these emotional needs. We still have a long way to go. Be careful of how you use it to address your needs.

“Bricolage is an interesting inspiration.”

If you’re from India, you’ve probably grown up exposed to various elements. Whether it’s culture, language or everday life, India is a beautiful and diverse democracy.

So why not bring all that together through your art and design? It’s also typical of the post-post contemporary time in which we live, where knowledge is broken into different elements and there is no longer one single underlying context, but multiple contexts that are woven together as a fabric to make sense at a personal level.

Exaggerate. Exuberate. No matter how serious or dark the message, the power of comic pathos helps it connect with everyone > 03

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FIGURES_GagaGod

“The Indian education system needs to evolve.”

India is laden with creativity. It is brimming with fodder for the creative soul. Unfortunately, the Indian formal education system and other various formal structures have not let street-level creativity and innovation permeate. This might be due to our obsession with the West or the fear of failing.

It’s important to understand that innovation cannot happen without the willingness to fail. The Indian education system is too didactic and frozen in the Industrial Revolution whereas the world has moved ahead.

“If only we could have more classrooms like Nuvu.”

If one had to make the most of technology today, they’d do what NuVu’s done. They redefine the model of education as being lab-based and not subject-based. They inspire students by using interdisciplinary, cutting edge technology-learning for the 21st century. One of their philosophy is to bring together a neophyte with an expert.

Someone once said “Great talent will emerge. It doesn’t matter what you do to it.”

If IIT/IIM is not your gig, don’t do it. And if it is, go ahead and do it. There is no formula for success.

What matters is what you make of your resources and how you motivate yourself. Look for things that inspire you every day. Start the search as soon as you wake up. That’s how you’ll be able to make every day special < 04 04 UNTITLED. Digital design showcasing the struggles involved in the re-establishment of identity in today’s new environment.

05 E PIC RECITAL. This artwork depicts the complexity of identity, especially as it relates to the uses and purposes of history.

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Mar/Apr 2014

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07 06 07 POP-IT. An iPad childrenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s book about the everyday things children do with their parents, it begins by default with two fathers bringing up a child.

Shake it, and you

get a lesbian couple. Shake it again, and you get a heterosexual couple. The act of shaking reveals inherent bias in childrenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s books.

08 INCOHERENT SCRAPS OF GLUTTONY. The artwork deliberately employs unusual subjects to break with the traditional

implications, further implying that imperfections are in our mind.

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FIGURES_IconWatch

Sachin Puthran is the pioneer of design digitalisation in India. After his bachelor’s in Microbiology, he pursued Bachelors in Fine Arts from Sir J.J. Institute of Applied Art. After his double Graduation, he began his work by teaching art. He later consulted ad agencies and trained agency professionals in Computer graphics. Today he’s the founder of a Creative Solutions company Thatzit Pvt Ltd.

What's

Next?

Sachin Puthran was there when it all happened. “It was 1995; the time of hand-drawn illustrations, airbrushed finished images and cut-paste typesetting. Digital was slowly coming in, bringing with it a generation gap. There was an air of fear in the older Art Directors as the younger generation, fascinated

by Mac user interface, was already learning software. Below, he takes us on the journey of an Artist, from then to now.

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Mar/Apr 2014

The Analog Age. “The earlier generation was blessed with the passion and experience of using the tactile medium. It gave true satisfaction of working on various surfaces using different media and styles.” Everybody knows art back then was a luxury, a rich passion.

“It was larger than life” says Sachin “where expressions were a physical manifestation of the artist’s vision. People traveled to view art in public spaces. Getting to see and meet the artist was truly an experience of joy and inspiration. Nothing came easy.”

Art for Art’s Sake.

According to Sachin, traditional artists still swear by the smell, the touch and the feel of the traditional medium. That’s because they seemed to have understood the sensitivity and developed a purist approach to Art. “They were the ones who stuck to the medium and rejected the so-called ‘digital medium’ that was going to take them by surprise in a few years.” He adds. The fear had set in.

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The Advent of Computers.

The arrival of first generation computers in the early 90s, opened a Pandora’s box for visual artists to explore the slow but responsive medium. Reminiscing about those days, Sachin tells us that it was a fun and surprising time. “Software was slowly heading towards capturing the artists imagination. Suddenly the advantages and disadvantages of painting digitally were getting clearer. The needs and demands of clients started changing fast. For the first time, the clock was ticking digitally. Everything that was wanted tomorrow was being delivered today” >

03 01 The Coconut Tree.

Painted using gouache on mount board, this painting

captures the scenic view of a Mangalore coast in a traditional manner.

02 Daily work.

Painted using Poster colors on handmade paper to bring out the rustic feel of the person.

03 Work in Progress.

Painted using watercolour on handmade paper, the artwork

captures the difficult part of constructing a water tank.

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FIGURES_IconWatch

04 04 The Indian Wedding.

Though methods of expression have changed for designers, there are some traditions that never change, like the pompous nature of Indian weddings.

05 07 Waiting.

Painted as a series of various locations in Mumbai, these artwork demonstrates that inspirations and observations can only come from the human mind.

06 The yakshangana performer.

Inspired from the vibrant folk dance of Karnataka, this design showcases technology can also impart a raw touch.

08 Ramanuj.

Inspired by the great copywriter Ramanuj, thick and thin brush strokes are used to create depth and drama.

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Mar/Apr 2014

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The Magic of Cinema.

This was the time when technology was ahead of its users.

Hollywood started using high-end Visual Effects or VFX and changed the art of storytelling. “There was only a thin line of difference between science fiction and realism. Software and hardware could now do magic. The Internet made downloading a popular new phenomenon. Suddenly there was a paradigm shift.” During that period, the world was changing and not everybody was able to keep up with it.

The New Millennium Generation.

A creative visualising power was not enough to survive in this era. Art Directors were required to know paint and design software as well. That’s how visual grammar changed over the years, as designers incorporated photo manipulation techniques and digital retouching to create surreal imagery. “Every software upgrade brought in more features and capabilities,” says Sachin, “so much so that one day, artists were lost and filters were in.”

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More Clutter.

The designer was engulfed by the software in the next few years, as they relied more on software and less on their skills. “Ideas were driven by styles that were possible quickly on digital. Tactile sensitivity was lost and the rat race had truly begun.” Sachin tells us. “Social media added to the confusion, as it allowed designs to be circulated and critiqued by everybody.”

Art gets Interactive.

Slowly, design in digital was opening out and was exploring new ways of touching people. Design didn’t just involve the designer, but his audience as well. New media and installation art were new storytelling techniques. Tagging and annotating gave new dimensions to Art. “Suddenly so much more could be done.” He adds.

The Birth of the New Artist.

“Equipped now with the latest gadgets, the artist was truly getting the best.” says Sachin. iPads and ‘apps’ for almost anything you wanted to do; from calligraphy to typography, were a finger click away. Everything was on the ‘cloud’ and the artist was now ‘virtual’.

So, Where Next?

Now is the time to think beyond. If you can imagine it, you can create it. There are endless possibilities and that should keep us all busy for a long time. But like Sachin says “The trick today is to be open to the world and yet always do your own thing.” <

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Forgotton

Tools

Pencil or stylus? Paper or touch screen?

This is just a start to the long list of questions that are swimming in every designerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s mind today. They say change is the only constant, but has digitalisation really taken over the traditional methods?

Would there be a time when the pencil will be forgotten forever, like writers have forgotten a fountain pen? Famous Indian designers tell us what they think.

Dhimant Panchal, Industrial Designer at MIT Institute of Design, Pune.

Graduated from National Institute of Design in 1980.

Specialising in product design, he has worked for eminent brands like Voltas, Bluestar etc.

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Anant Kulkarni from Mumbai, is an illustrator and designer.

Graduate from Sir J.J. Institute of Applied Arts, Mumbai.â&#x20AC;&#x2122; he is now a professor there.

Sachin Puthran, after his bachelorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s in Microbiology, he pursued Bachelors in Fine Arts from Sir J.J. Institute of Applied Art. He began his by teaching art and later consulted ad agencies and trained agency professionals in Computer graphics.

Keyur Sorathia, he currently runs a lab called Embedded Interaction Lab (EILab) and as a Interaction designer has worked with various research labs such as as IBM, Microsoft, Samsung etc.

Ankur Singh Patar, after working as creative head for 10 years in India, he works as a freelancer in Brisbane, Australia for various design agencies.

Raghava KK, is a multidisciplinary artist and storyteller.

His work combines art and technology to bring multiple perspectives while imparting knowledge. He is a four-time TED speaker and lives in New York.

CG: Most of us have witnessed the evolution of pencil to stylus. According to you, how has digitalisation revolutionised design?

Sachin Puthran: Be it information, inspiration, templates or filters, everything is just a click away.

Traditional media and surfaces are replaced by smooth touch screens. No more messy colours. But there is a threat that every design will start looking mechanical and similar. Spontaneity and that little imperfection that gives individuality is lost. Life has come a full semicircle from pencil to stylus. The day will not be far when the circle gets completed with pencil reviving its role in years to come.

Anant Kulkarni: Classical or techonological, every option has its own advantages. Depends mostly on what the designer is most comfortable with. Many still prefer to pick up a pencil and scribble down their ideas. That’s how most artworks start and technology helps to take that forward.

Raghava KK: I think the digital tablet and stylus have done two very significant things for us. It has given us the ability to make happy mistakes and also increased visual possibilities a thousand fold. I can focus on my message without worrying about mastery over a medium. I have more control over the temperament of my instrument and medium. Watercolour behaves itself when deployed by the stylus.

Dhimant Panchal: Digitalisation has given us lots of tools and this when combined with robust and rigorous design processes, it can multiply the possibilities. However, my advice to the current generation would be to use these tools with moderation and first focus on fundamentals and conceptual thinking. Once the basics are clear whether its pencil or stylus good design solutions will come up.

Keyur Sorathia: Technology has opened a new era. It has opened new disciplines such as tangible interfaces, gestural Interfaces, augmented reality, wearable computing and internet where researchers, designers, technology experts and psychologists pour-in their knowledge to accomplish customers’ needs.

CG: Would you say a good designer today is one with a creative and technology mind?

Sachin Puthran: I would say technology is a child’s play, but the creative mind is still a big challenge. Today creativity is a sharp combination of logical analysis, thinking, strategy, planning and then executing. Also the great need to follow processes and implement quality checks, metrics and continuous improvement forms the basis of success in today’s world. Creativity has found a new meaning and the means to get creative has changed considerably due to technology.

Anant Kulkarni: A good designer always plans and puts his concepts on paper and then moves to technology. A creative idea releases through the mind and despite whichever medium one uses, the final output is what matters.

Raghava KK: I think a good designer is one who can make us see the information present differently merely by virtue of its design.

Technology is only a tool. It only increases possibilities but does not guarantee good design.

Dhimant Panchal: Technology and creativity has to go hand-in-hand whether its 15th century or 21st.

Understand the changing socio-economic context and the real life challenges that we are facing.

Keyur Sorathia: Absolutely. Technical understanding is vital for designers to build an enhanced experience with the product. In today’s world, with technology changing every day, it’s critical for designers to be updated with latest technologies and its abilities.

Ankur Singh Patar: Even if I have a great idea, not having enough technical skill to put that idea down on a computer would kill that. We have to understand technology in order to get the best out of it and hence be able to create good designs <

Ankur Singh Patar: For me it has been one of the most important evolutions in helping designers to move from traditional paper to computer screen. I remember how frustrated I used to get using mouse for painting in Photoshop. God bless the guy who invented stylus <

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FIGURES_MadeInFrance

French

Connections They invented the wine. And also the French kiss.

France, no doubt, is the hot spot for designers and artists. Here, Creative Gaga had a little rendezvous with Mr. Xerty, aka Brice Chaplet, a digital-art and mixed media expert from Paris. He tells us about his take on design and how it reflects in his world.

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Based in Paris, Mr. Xerty aka Brice Chaplet is a freelance graphic designer and an illustrator, specialising in digital-art and mixed-media.

A self-taught designer, he decided to go independent after quitting as a junior graphic designer from an automotive company. He has worked for brands like Sony, Caron, Fotolia and various French magazines and labels.

Mar/Apr 2014 01 Jellyfly. The artwork generates an emotion of dreams and happiness.

02 Dr-Parnati.

Inspired by Terry Gilliam’s movie “Imaginarium of Dr Parnassus”, the

artwork uses an element of a Sadhu for an Indian touch.

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