GUIDE GRADUATION PROJECT 2010 / 2011
Prof. Ranjana Dani Faculty Guide
Dheera Sutar Industrial Guide
Bangalore 10th June - 24th October 2010
SPONSORS
STUDIO
The War Room 2010 BRANDING & IDENTITY Design
CLIENT
STUDENT
Showbhit Chahal Communication design Graduate programme
GRADUATION PROJECT 2010 / 2011
UG
The Graduation Project Evaluation Jury recommends
Showbhit Chahal to be awarded the Graduation Degree of MIT INSTITUTE OF DESIGN, Pune in Communication Design (Graphic Design), herewith, for the project titled :
The War Room 2010, Branding & Identity design
PROGRAMME
MEMBERS NAME
ORGANISATION
SIGNATURE
** On fulfilling the further requirements by* ( Subsequent remarks regarding fulfilling the requirements : )
Chairperson of the Jury
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Acknowledgements
Thanks to Sriram, Roshan, Rhiea, Arvind and whole Broadvision Team for their critique, assistance and for providing me with a wonderful experience at Art of Living aashram. I am grateful to Prof. Ranjana Dani, Prof. Deepankar and Dheera for their support and guidance. Special thanks to Dhruvi, Gagandeep, Adhirath, Saurabh, Chikte, Dhyani, Roshni, Disha and my friends at MIT for being there, for their encouragement & feedback. Thank you bhaiya, bhabhi, mummy & dad, for your love and support.
I dedicate this final project to my parents and to my God(s) for believing in me and giving me all the opportunities to prove, correct myself as “self� is an endless work in progress like design.
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Annexure
03. Client Brief (5-6)
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Process infographic
04. Understanding of Objectives (7-8) Key directions, target Audience Plan of action
page. (1 - 4)
Contents
05. Research (8-9)
01. Synopsis
Brahmastra
A brief start
06. Mahabharatam (9-10)
02. Introduction
Connecting dots
About WarRoom, Sponsor & client
07. Mahabharata books (11-12)
17. The Final countdown (31-32)
13. Final Sifting (23-24) Typographic expression
Posters & characters
Retelling in brief
14. The Logotype (25-26) 08. A fresh consideration (13-14) Lost in the Epic
09. Synthesis (15-16) Abstract to concrete
10. Point of convergence (17-18)
Face off with the new philosophy
15. The Typography (27-28)
Values known at large (33-38) 18. Values that lie at heart 19. Exploring Arjuna’s visual style
Inhouse Fonts
20. Coming back to Brahmastra 16. Revamping Imagery (29-30)
21. The Bulls’s eye (39-42)
The Brahmastra
Arjuna & eye of fish/bird
Business/corporate
30. The Website (85-86)
11. Supporting visual elements (19-20) The Epiphany
12. Colours (21-22) With better vision
www.mahindrawarroom.com
25. Parallel Universe (49-56) Indian Business model ...
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26. Parallel Universe (57-58) Buddhist Philosophy
27. What exactly is War room? (59-72) Blending & bending slowly
22. From fish to dog (43-44)
Annexure
Brand Manual / collaterals go to Pg. 88 >
Eklavya’s dedication & devotion
28. Final Analogy (73-80) 23. The thumb or the blood (45-46)
The national final round imagery
The diviness in the blood of sacrifice
29. Bangalore the city of temples (81-84)
24. Back to the roots (47-48) Brahma’s brahmanda Vs. Your universe
The final inspiration
Note* Some colours in this handbook are much brighter than they appear as they were out of range of this print gamut & were meant for RGB or through fluorescency, e.g
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01 Synopsis A brief start... This project was sponsored by Broadvision Perspectives’s studio wing, Bangalore. Broadvision is a Business consulting, Marketing and HR merchandising firm, who also offers services in print, web and Brand design. With the brief of the project it was mentioned that Broadvision studio is highly inspired by internationally renowned, Art of Living movement by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar. With the project they offered compulsory art of living courses, which i was initially a bit sceptical about but it occurred to me as a nice opportunity to explore the spiritual path to realize that its been one of the best experiences i have ever had. Design became calm and composed for me. Simultaneously, I realised the potential and the scope of the branding offered and beyond that it was a reality TV show event hosted by a big player in the industry, Mahindra & Mahindra. The Branding of the Reality Business game show is very rare and different, something i have never laid my hands upon. The user group, the target audience and the media everything was different in this project.
This project offered tremendous scope for learning in terms of the scale, medium and dimension. Time was a big constraint leaving very little scope for exploring multiple directions for such diverse and numerous things to be designed. So a perfect theme integrity was required to blend in. In less than 6 weeks i was expected to identify theme interpretation, identity, wide range of posters, website, Evaluation round - cheques, certificates, caselet and booklets had to be done.
The project started on 10th of June. 1st of August was marked as the launch of the event along with the Evaluation round which was scheduled in colleges throughout India. The Final round of the event was dated for 23rd of October at Taj Mahal palace & tower, Mumbai. The project introduced me to stress, lots of meetings, less sleep, late hours, junk food, printers, file errors, colour match which was balanced with a balance of Bangalore weather, meditation, yoga, nature, people, surprises fun, ideas and explorations.
I tried starting the project with understanding the brief & the event and started brainstorming for the direction but after a couple of meetings with the client i was encountered with their adamant decision of not changing the present logotype. I was surprised as the brief given to college and me clearly asked for identity design. The client explained the reason for not changing the old typeface which was, that it has been established for two years and the user identifies the war room through it so it won’t be advised to change it suddenly. However, after the consultation & guidance of my mentor i decided to take it up as a challenge as my advantage and began the project all over again, this time understanding the client, their philosophy and values of Broadvisison. It was understood from the beginning it had to have an IndianBusiness flavour. Client’s association with Art of Living and an Indian outlook towards life hinted me for the same. This project created the opportunity to understand post-modernism in India and appreciate things like Indian literature , mythology and how it has helped as a vehicle to understand the ideas which have evolved through generations & generations and how the same can be blended today.
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Airline partner
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This Business Strategy Event is covered by CNBC TV18 and telecasted in some episodes after a few months of national finale.
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The War Room has become India’s largest and most loved business school event founded in 2008. Conceptualized by Broadvision Group to Mr. Anand Mahindra and Group Executive Board of Mahindra’s. The event is in its third edition in 2010. Traditionally India’s top 17 Business Schools participate in the war room. In this contest the leaders of different Mahindra business sectors share the strategic business issues that they would like the budding managers from these business schools to respond. These issues are then framed into sector caselets by Broadvision and formed as the starting point of the contest. The contest is then launched across the top 17 B-Schools . A conservative estimate of 10,000 students across these 17 business schools attend this Launch presentations. Inspired by these presentations the student then form a team of 4 members each, give their team an attractive name and register themselves on their site. The team then chooses any one of the 10 to 13 sector cases for strategizing and spend the seven weeks burning the mid night oil pouring over the issues outlined in the cases. They are then expected to upload a presentation in respond to the issues raised in the sector case of their choice.
Media partner
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About War Room & Process
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Introduction
This national final round is attended and judged by Mr. Anand Mahindra and the Group Executive Board comprising the very same leader who shared the strategic issues. In this day long event the 17 teams compete with each other, present their strategy and persuade the Group Executive Board on the merits of their approach. The team that emerges as a winner is designated as The War Room Hero and is presented with the Brahmastra trophy which is modelled on the ancient Indian weapon circulated every year & has become quite a sensation amongst B-schools. It is conferred upon those with supreme focus concentration and skill plus with a prize money of Rs 1 lakh 50 thousand
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Knowledge partner
Yo u
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A jury two members from Mahindra dra comprising of a Senior Manager from any of the sectors and a member of the office of strategy management (OSM) visit the campus listen to the top 5 to 7 shortlisted presentations of teams presenting and defending their strategy. Based on this process called as the evaluation round 1 team is selected from each of the 17 business schools and are flown down to Mumbai to attend gala national final round scheduled for 23rd October 2010 at the Taj Mahal Palace Mumbai.
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Team of 4, presenting the strategy. The war room 08
CNBC tv18 coverage of the event
Client Brief “To conceptualize, Design & Execute the visual communication strategy of the war room 2010 and potray an iconic image of war room in India’s B - Schools.
The Mahindra’s Group Executive Board National Final Round 09
Winners with the prestigious Brahmastra
The client expects the designer to understand the philosophy and the process of the war room to create a comprehensive identity for the same which includes several collaterals like wide range of posters for the campuses, banners, standies, t-shirts, stationery, website, invitation, evaluation sheets, caselets kit DVD covers and so on ”
Mr. Anand Mahindra
The National Final Round The War Room 2009
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PR TH O E CE SS
10,000 students A conservative estimate of 10000 students attends the launch.
Launch August
Launch in 17 Top B Schools of India
} Business
ISSUES 10-13
SECTORS
AL TI EN ID F N CO
}
Mahindra shares the strategic business issues of their different sectors & provides the online confidential access of caselets to the participants.
Evaluation Round
Students register as a 4 member team and are expected to choose one sector; then upload their strategic solution presentation before six weeks after the Launch.
Jury of two from Mahindra visit the campus to listen to top 5 presentations shortlisted per campus to select the winner of that campus
} National Finale
The Final 17 campus winners are flown down to mumbai for The National final round to persuade the Executive Board of Mahindra comprising of Mr. Anand Mahindra. The winning team gets prestigious Brahmastra trophy + 1.5 Lakh Rs. 1.5 Lakh +
Brahmastra
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04 Understanding of
Objectives The first phase of the project was to understand the purpose and get familiarized with the process and the event. The War Room was created to enable a better understanding of corporate strategy and providing students with the real corporate challenges. It also acted as a campaign to enhance the employer brand value of Mahindra.
I think the mantra of success of war room lied in the uniqueness and intellectual incentives of the event and its fascinating Indian theme of Brahmastra. In its third year of roll the idea of modern business strategy with ancient Indian tactics was expected to blend with a better integrity of visuals and theme.
Key Direction After the client’s Indian outlook and the constraint of the Indian theme of Brahmastra trophy it was understood that output had to have an Indian flavour.
Target Audience The students of the homogeneous spectrum of the Top 17 B schools of India is the basic target audience for e.g all the IIMs and XLRI.
Referring to students with a corporate persona of business suits and Forbes magazine learning the modern business strategy. However CNBC tv18 ( a business channel ) telecasts the event covering the people at large with interest in business mindset, CEOs and managers across the GLOBE.
The Brahmastra trophy!
Constraints were identified while looking for objectives as constraints always serve as a window to the key directions. So, it was realized that the trophy of the event - Brahmastra which circulates every year was one of the elements that could not be changed. Evidently it was widely recognised amongst B-Schools and also was the symbolic part of the war room and it’s logo. However, it was surprising to know that the meaning of two snakes and star in the trophy was unknown to everyone. Brahmastra was the outcome while brainstorming with the event’s name THE WAR ROOM and Brahmastra being the ultimate mythological weapon of WAR from the creator of world - Brahma and had bestowed upon those with devotion, focus and skill. It was surprising to see the complexity and legibility of the logo and no integrity of brahmastra and loose storyline/theme in the posters.
The War Room logo in 2009
Resemblance with International Symbol of paramedics used over ambulances even in India.
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Plan
Client Brief
of action
Launch/Evaluation round National final round
Modern Business Strategy + Ancient Indian Brahmastra
KEY DIRECTION
Visual language
Basic research
Explorations Finalising concept
Mythology THEME
Content Development Visual Research
Phase 1 3 days 10 June
BRAHMASTRA trophy
More Deliverables Integrate with work spectrum
3 7 days
Research/read literature
4 30 days
Conceptualization
Modern business/graphics
Finalising Identity
Problem statement/synthesis
Develop Storyline Event Process
Spirit of War Room Align the belief
Understanding event
Final round National Final Round Collateral/ Preps.
Visual language
Poster Series WEBSITE
Guideline development Caselets Integrity + Research
Team logos
Present logo/philosophy
B-Schools students/outlook
Invitations
Typography Characters!
Identify Constraints
5 +2 months
New strategy Nomenclature
Visual styles
Indian philosophy/graphics
23 Oct.
20 July
BREAK
Objectives
2
Results
Collaterals Eval. Round Printer/colour match
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05 Research
Brahmastra There are various descriptions of weapons created by Hindu deities such as Agneyastra, Chakra, Garudastra, Kaumodaki, Narayanastra, Pashupatastra, Shiva Dhanush, Sudarshana Chakra, Trishul, Vaishnavastra, Varunastra, and Vayavastra; The weapons of the trinity gods (trishul, chakram, bramahstarm) are the most powerful. These mythological weapons are at times compared to similar Greek mythological weapons such as the arrows of Apollo as well as our modern nuclear weapons. The research started with mythological refrences, Ramyana and mahbharata the two greatest epics of Indian both mentioning the uses of Brahmastra. However in B. R. Chopra’s Mahabharat its more prominent in confrontation of Arjuna and Ashwatthama after the war, (a) Ashwatthama did not have his bow and arrow near him when he was confronted by Arjuna. So he took a piece of straw and after silently invoking the phrase he threw the straw at Arjuna, which carried the power of the Brahmastra. In response, Arjuna also invoked his Bramhastra to counter the other. but the collision of two Bramhastras would have destroyed the universe so, (b) Ved vyasa came between the two Bramhastras and prevented the collision.
Building blocks
Arjuna called back his Bramhastra, but Aswathama did not know this art. So he wished to change the target and (c) charged Parikshit, the unborn grandchild of Arjuna in womb who was subsequently resurrected by Krishna.
The main motive of the exercise was to identify the roots of Brahmastra thus by understanding and identifying the philosophy of the trophy and event to build the further storyline and align a certain belief. It was easier to get information of the form but there was an endless intense search for meaning of the form of the Brahmastra and finally some ISCKON references helped from the building where i lived in.
Similarly, in the Ramayana a Brahmastra is used by Rama as the "final blow" against Rakshasa Ravana during their battle in Lanka. Also, Indrajeet used Brahmastra against Hanuman when he was destroying the Ashok Vatika after meeting Sita. Hanuman with respect to brahma bowed to weapon and surrendered to become a prisoner. Lakshman (Shri Ram's younger brother) also tried to use it with Meghnath in the same battle, but Ram stopped him from using that saying "the use of Brahamastra for this cause is not justified and is not beneficial for mankind."
This further built directions to integrate character association to accumulate a philosophy.
Different perceptions!
a
1. The B. R. Chopra’s Mahabharata has a form based interpretation of Brahmastra. 2. The Ramanand Sagar’s Ramyana has an interpretation as Brahma himself personified on the tip of Brahmastra 1
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c
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Ram > Ravana
Meghdoot > Hanuman
- Lakshman - | - karna -
Arjuna > < Aswathama
Mythologically, Historically & Scientifically Brahmastra is a weapon created by Brahma. Brahmastra never misses its mark and must be used with very specific intent against an individual enemy or army as the target will face complete annihilation. It is believed to be obtained by meditating on the Creator in Vedic mythology, Lord Brahma, and used only once in a lifetime. The user would have to display immense amounts of mental concentration.
The star in the middle represents the energy equivalent to that of thousand suns. Coincidentally the after effects of the destruction in the scriptures is very detailed and matches with modern nuclear warfare like draught or barren land and absence of life form for eons.
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According to ancient Sanskrit writings, the Brahmastra is invoked by a key phrase or invocation that is bestowed upon the user when given this weapon. Through this invocation the user can call upon the weapon and use it via a medium against his adversary.
Who used it on whom?
Since Brahma is considered the Creator in Sanatana Dharma, it is believed that Brahmastra was created by him for the purpose of upholding Dharma and Satya to be used by anyone who wished to destroy an enemy who would also happen to be a part of his (Brahma) creation. The target when hit by Brahmastra, would be utterly destroyed. The weapon also causes severe environmental damage. The land where the weapon is used becomes barren for eons and all life in and around that area ceases to exist. Women and men become infertile. There is severe decrease in rainfall and the land develops cracks like in a drought.
The two snakes symbolizes the swiftness , precision & mysteriousness (snakes symbolises mystery) of the attack. The scriptures speak about the weapon being biological as it can destroy just from a foetus in a womb to the whole world, mythologist connects the DNA symbolism to the coiled structure of the snakes.
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Mahabharatam
Connecting dots.. Although the details of brahmastra moved the perception of the mythology; thoughts were more attracted towards the characters who possessed the weapon and used it and what made them worthy? What you have to do to acquire the might weapon?
06 Indonesian Ver.
Some of the characters identified were indeed iconic like Rama but it was advised by the client and mentor to refrain from the direct involvement of a godly character as for target audience it made more sense to make them feel like winning the brahmastra (trophy) is not a godly act. Selected detailed books were identified for reading, graphic novel amar chitra katha were readily available for reading on the web. Being in bangalore had its own advantage of access to some rare visual kannada references from bookstores. Apart form B. R chopraâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Mahabharata to Peter Brookâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s mahabharata animations and Indonesian version were viewed. It was surprising and helpful in knowing different perceptions.
Amar Chitra Katha
Peter Brookâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Calander art! 9
Breaking rules
Kannada movie
Bhagwad Gita
JAYA
War Strategy
B. R. Chopraâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s
Peter Brookâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s
Graphic novels
Mahabharata is a set of subjective truths. The search was for ideas, philosophy or icons which has lasted the test of time and could be represented in some graphic forms. Initially the search of stories & visual references were random but subsequently particular visual language, story event and character's detail to simplification was focused. The core direction was to identify how to simply change the mindset of the target audience speaking of an example on larger scale : If his business strategy presentations are peppered with examples of bunty aur babli strategy or smart quotes then its time to give a way for mahabharata.
Chandamama
PENANCE 10
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Retelling of the epic
in brief.....
The Mahabharata is an ancient Hindu epic where : A son renounces sex so that his old father can remarry A daughter is a prize in an archery contest A teacher demands half a kingdom as his tuition fee
Mahabharata Books
Fathom the idea.... Two books were chosen to further get the amazing insights of the tale and its various twists and turns. All the time i was reading every interesting event if corresponded with the war room in any way i used to write it down. Kamla subramaniam mahbahrata’s was suggested by Pune’s Bhandarkar institute’s website for being a classic and unadulterated version of the tale in its true form passing from generation to generation, while second book was a retelling by a well known modern mythologist Devdutt Pattnaik. Both the books continued to intrigue, fascinate, mesmerize and captivate me till date. This is one epic from which many have learnt the art of war, art of business, the art of living and is as relevant in today’s time as it was 3000 years back. Most of us broadly know the story of Mahabharata through BR Chopra’s magnum opus on Doordarshan and through various story books such as Amar Chitra Kathas that we read as children. Mahabharata in itself has been interpreted and written in various different versions and till date no common consensus exists about this great epic.
A student is turned away because of his caste A mother asks her sons to share a wife A father curses his son-in-law to be old and impotent
Classic
A husband lets another man make his wife pregnant A wife blinds herself to share her husband’s blindness A forest is destroyed for a new city A family is divided over inheritance A king gambles away his kingdom A queen is forced to serve as a maid A man is stripped of his manhood for a year A woman is publicly disrobed A war is fought where all rules are broken
retelling
A shift in sexuality secures victory The vanquished go to paradise The victors lose their children The earth is bathed in blood God is cursed Until wisdom prevails. A history of extreme human condition 11
While reading or viewing there were several instances where i could connect it to countless morals and lessons but the association with some simple integral theme for business, strategy or war was inconsistent. Only Gita and some war strategy events felt relevant, In the end any idea as an important event or of a character was simultaneously written down!
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08
UPDATE Blend
Mentor
consider a need to introduce the event for a first time viewer/participant.
Client
The medium(Posters) of the theme should also integrate the message of the war room with what war room is!
A fresh Consideration
+ + + Mythology + + + + * * * ** * * * * -- ** * +
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- -- - - - -Contemporary - -Business - -- -- -- -
concept/approach
Lost in the epic .... With so much happening in the epic i felt lost and it was time to go back to brahmastra and from there to Brahma the creator of the weapon, and as i proceeded i landed up with several online references of Vedas & puranas.
After reading the mahabharata i felt that the association made was so vast and vague to develop any integrity of some strong theme. The same vastness increased ten folds more and more as i read further about Brahma and Vedic maxims, but it also resulted in converging over the idea that why not to speak through the same visual language as of the vastness of the concept by using some common iconic theme known more to the people at a large or a simpler theme understood or recalled by the people easily.
BRAHMA ( create ) (entrepreneurship)
VISHNU ( manage ) (sustainability)
MAHESH ( destroy )
Vedic Maxim : Aham Brahmasmi I am Brahma!
(dissolution) Sounds like a business model
Everyone is Brahma. The creator of their own worlds. â&#x20AC;&#x153;tat tvam asiâ&#x20AC;? : you are (brahma) too !
It was also realised that to synthesize the vastness of the association it was needed to write it down in the form of an essay or something to converge it down more.
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The following compiled essay was an attempt to secrete out the spirit and philosophy of the war room while understanding more about Brahmastra & Brahma - the creator as well! Most of the references came from Vivekananda, Devdutt, Vishnu purana & Rigveda.
The three Gods Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva who create, sustain and destroy. What is most baffling about this triad is that the sustainer and destroyer are worshipped, never the creator. There are one or two tiny insignificant shrines of Brahma, but these are more exceptions than the rule, most likely constructed to harvest pilgrim and tourist traffic through their unique theme. The fact is that Hinduism makes no provisions for any major rituals or festivals or traditions or sects with Brahma as the focal point. So why is it so? What makes Brahma, the creator, unworthy of worship? The problem here lies more with the question than the answer. When the word ‘creator’ is used we unconsciously associate it with the notion of creator in the Bible. And we ask why is the one who created the world not worshipped? Why instead is the one who destroys the world, Shiva, so venerated? The world being referred to in Hinduism when referring to Brahma is not the objective world but the subjective world of thoughts and feelings. Brahma creates these worlds through desire and attachment. Creation began because Brahma wanted to know who he was. Self-realization was the goal for which the world was the medium. But when the world was created, Brahma was so enchanted by this creation that he got attached to it and tried to control it. In his attachment and desire to control it, he lost all sense of himself. And by doing so became unworthy of worship. This thought is expressed through an allegorical story narrated in most Puranas all alone. He could not see whence he came from. Who was he, he wondered. Finding no answer, he decided that the best way to know who he was, he had to know who he was not. So he created the ‘other’. This ‘other’ took the form of a woman. She was Shatarupa, on of many forms. And she kept changing form. Brahma was so enchanted by her that he sprouted four heads to look upon her at all times. He chased her but she ran away. He tried to catch her but she kept giving her the slip. When she turned into an animal, he transformed himself into the corresponding male form. When she was cow, he became bull; when she became mare, he became horse. This pursuit continued. He was determined to control her, conquer her. In his obsession, he sprouted a fifth head. Watching Brahma chase Shatarupa, the creator chasing his creation, the gods shouted: the father chases his daughter (this allegory is sometimes, most unfortunately, taken literally). In disgust, they called upon Shiva who raised his sword and cut the fifth head of Brahma. Shiva then shut his eyes and became the destroyer. Thus creation is seen as that which is produced through desire and attachment. Destruction is that which follows desire-less-ness and detachment. Brahma yearns to control creation; he is enchanted by it. Shiva has no such yearning; he is indifferent to the charms of Shatarupa. Vishnu, stands in between. Not as indifferent as Shiva to Shatarupa, who embodies the material world, but not as attached to her as Brahma. He engages with her but with detachment. Thus, Shiva and Vishnu are appropriate responses to the problem that is life. Shiva and Vishnu represents how one should live life engagement with detachment. This is the Hindu ideal and this makes Shiva and Vishnu worthy of worship. But not Brahma.The world Brahma creates is not the objective world. Hindu seers had scant regard for the objective measurable reality. They believed that the human mind is so prejudiced that it can never ever truly break free from the fetters of bias. They focused their explorations on subjective reality, the virtual image of the world that every individual constructs in his or her mind. Who is this Brahma? Who is this creature who yearns, creates subjective worlds, imagines situations, gets attached to them, seeks to control, to dominate, to possess? Sounds familiar does he not. Could he be us? You and I? Is Brahma who we are ? the creators of our world? Creators of our values and judgments and issues? Is that why there are no temples of Brahma? How can we worship ourselves? We have succumbed to the charms of the world we have created. We have become subservient to our own constructs and our own delusions. We are the creators of our own ambitions, goals and misery. Data for this mental image of the world comes from the five senses. It is then shaped by prejudices, both positive and negative, which in turn is informed by memories and dreams, both pleasurable and painful. This is Brahmanda, Brahma’s world. This makes each and every breathing person a Brahma. Hence the Vedic maxim: aham brahmasmi, I am Brahma (corresponding - tat tvam asi - you are Brahma too) We are creators of our subjective world. And our behaviour is a function of this constructed world of ours. While most of us construct a finite prejudiced worldview, it is theoretically possible to construct an infinite unprejudiced worldview. He who does that becomes one with the brahman, divinity itself. Until then, we remain Brahmas, unworshipped creators.. As Brahmanda expands, it splits into three. This is Tripura, the three worlds, comprising of who we are, what we possess and what we do not possess. In other words: me, mine and others. Invariably ‘me and mine’ matters more than ‘others’. In our myopic vision of our world, we delude ourselves that ‘others’ exist only to ensure the survival and significance of ‘me and mine’. In delusion, we forget that others around us are also constructing their own subjective realities, harbouring similar ambitions of survival and significance, and having their very own Tripura. And in other peoples’ Brahmanda, our ‘me and mine’ is relegated to the world they address as ‘others’. When my Brahmanda expands at the cost of your Brahmanda, conflict is inevitable. We end up as beasts fighting over territory. We end up playing the game ‘dog & bone’ . At the core of this game is human fear of insignificance. This fear fuels our cupidity. This fear makes us go to inevitable war. Arjuna was told this secret by Krishna. with his dedication, passion , skills and penance he overcame this fear and became trustworthy of Brahmastra by the God himself.
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09 Synthesis
Mind the clock... Being the last week of july, my time was nearly up to read or research for anything. It was time to stop and lay down some concrete and final directions.
It was understood by now that even though the research should be headed towards studying of other existing events like war room, it was soon realised that due to the uniqueness of such an event, research was needed to be held in the field of contemporary business graphic style which are better intertwined in business magazines directed towards students, managers, CEOs. Following the guidelines set by the mentor and the client being, one to keep in mind a first time viewer and two, keeping the essence of what warroom really is, a blend of the concept (mythology) and the approach (contemporary business) was well identified to further detail the larger perspective of how there existed a close relation of the visual language being influenced, but at the same time following the system of contemporary business and great combination of the mythology represented by an abstract approach for a subjective view.
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slowly moving from
abstract to concrete
Glorify participants with the ethos and values that lie in the heart.
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Keeping the medium of only posters in mind, it was realised that stories could work if the audience already knew them so, simpler and iconic themes/characters/stories which were relevant for brahmastra and war room were chosen. It was also kept in mind that as usually seen in Indian paintings viewer is allowed to connect/recall or weave a story, rather than forcing a single story. Likewise a simplified reflection(emotion) of the story should be portrayed.
Research Contemporary business graphic style/ iconic elements
Blend
+ + + abstract/ + + subjective + + + + * * *** * - * * ** * * +
- -
+
-
-
- - Visual - - -language - -- - -
-
feel/look
target
Use
Mythical/Indian ICONS
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- *- * ** * * * * * * ** * * - - - - -- - - - -
+ + + + Visual language Mythology + * ** + * * * * * * * + * * + ** * * * * * -* *- * * * * * * * * * * * * * * -* * -- ** * * * * * * ** * -Contemporary * abstract/ - -Business - subjective - +
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+ +
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concept/approach
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- - --
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look/feel
Broader spectrum/layers
creation process actions
Strategy Quotes
BRAHMASTRA
BLEND + CORPORATE
BRAHMA
I am brahma About War Room + Contemporary business style
Eklavya
Bhagwad gita
Common Story
War ARJUNA
Persona Attitude Dedication skills penance
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10 FORBES contemporary
Point of Convergence
Business/corporate... Looking Back at the major target audience of students it was difficult to understand and appreciate any visual style suitable for the war room because there was hardly any references on the business strategy event graphics as the war room was one of its kind . However the briefest study happened with random google searches but the colleagues's idea of looking at the graphics of business magazines like Forbes and business world was quite helpful. Most of the colleagueâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s at office come fresh from B schools and suggested their preference of business blogs and magazines which are filled with words of STRATEGY,
IDEAS,
t St ra
egy
General style
Western influence
INNOVATION,
ENTREPRENEUR and most of the time there is either a man in a business suit climbing the 3D graph towards the cloud or the same man with metaphors of ideas and innovation like bulbs!
During a visit to the campus it surprised me that students attend the lectures in suits and tie. Even in the invitation of war room finale formal suit was mentioned as a dress code. Indeed suits and tie was the general uniform of the corporate world which could really work as an iconic symbol. 17
Characters/User Images Brahma, Arjuna, Eklavya
Corporate Elements Suits/tie most iconic/visual symbol
Become the Arjuna > 18
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Halo at the back!
11 Supporting Visual Elements
The Epiphany.... While viewing so many graphic references for business and most of the time what used to pop back was men in business suits, graphs, innovation abstract, bulbs and man flying over the money carpet. Money surprisingly is the agenda of any business or business strategy and it occurred to me very randomly like an epiphany to explore more over the visual language of money and while looking to bank note in the pocket some really interesting patterns fascinated me. I can get lost for hours in all the details, seeing how the patterns fit together, how the lettering works, the tiny security. The idea was to explore the visual elements of war room through the visual elements of a bank note. What i found out was not less interesting; there was ample amount of information and means to make and explore some spiral curve patterns which are known as the Guilloche Patterns. For currency, the precise techniques used by the governments of Russia, the United States, Brazil, the European Union, Madagascar, Egypt, and all other countries are quite different. It was never a motive to make people think about money but simply a mean to extract some visual elements .
Guilloche patterns GuillochĂŠ patterns are spirographlike curves that frame a curve within an inner and outer envelope curve. They are used on bank notes & passports worldwide.
Guilloche patterns, which can be created mechanically with a geometric lathe, or more likely these days. mathematically through a software. Some basic hypertrochoid equation explained a lot about it but most of it went over my head.
Luckily there were free softwares to explore the hypertrochoid equation by changing the variables through a manual interface and export the final spirals in .eps format. 19
BUSINESS STRATEGY...
The idea was to explore the visual elements of war room through the visual elements of a bank note.
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R 236 G 029 B 035
12
War Room 08,09
RED
Colours
with better vision.... It was not difficult to converge to the colours of the event. The only task was align it with the explored philosophy of the event. Colours of Brahma, Vishnu & Mahesh - Brahma with pink flower and purple robes is always associated with the red and pink(purple) for being the colours of potential/creativity (as explained more in infographic) . Vishnu who never creates or destroys but sustains the world has been associated with blue the nourishing universal colour. He even takes his human reincarnations in the same divine blue colour. Shiva on the other hand being the destroyer rejects everything and with ash on his body and blue throat is always associated with blue-ashblack colours of destruction and darkness. The War room since its first roll is using the mahindra red house colour as its primary colour. This time also we retained the mahindra red in the primary colours but with slight difference (towards orange hue for pantone printing ) however, keeping all the explored philosophy, selected themes/stories and characters a wider secondary template was further evolved to depict the drama or mood of the different poster/contemporary themes. The purple colour was preferred in the primary template for the on screen purposes while Red was preferred for the print media.
The PROBLEM of Primary purple : fluorescency
R 133 G 040 B 255
R 240 G 070 B 025
Not available
Pantone 179C
C 067 M 077 Y,K 00
ANPA #728-0 AdPro + Standard Fluroescency The unavailability of primary purple even in pantone gamut further required special fluorescent colour mixing done by other paint standard known as ANPA ( American Newspaper publisher Association )
Please refer to the on screen(RGB) version of these pages as some colours like purple may appear darker. For CMYK and more please refer to the Brand manual.
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Destruction
VISHNU
BRAHMA
+
+ + +
+
+
+
+ Spiritual
Deep introspection/Meditation + Mystery + + +
+
+ Creativity
+ +
+
+
BRAHMA
*
Warroom adjectives
+
Calm/still
+ Imagination
BRAHMASTRA
+
+ +
+
+
*
*
* +
*
Different character/story Different mood/drama
*
* *
Energy
*
*
Passion
*
SHIVA
*
*
* *
*
*
*
Call for Action ( Karma / Curiosity )*
*
*
*
*
*
Warfare
*
*
*
*
*
Power ( Business : tie ; Red carpet )
R 104 G 194 B 192
R 135 G 171 B 193
* *
Primary domain
R 255 G 255 B 255
R 201 G 184 B 154
R 133 G 040 B 255
R 240 G 070 B 025
R 60 G 28 B 52
R 254 G 196 B 000
R0 G0 B0
R 201 G 184 B 154
R 243 G 237 B 213
R0 G0 B0
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13 ...not the Curves
.....too Soft!
Final sifting
Typographic expression.. The old typeface of the war room 08 and 09 comes from the Gothic style family of typefaces, it was surprising to see the poor legibility/flexibility & association with the event theme with this typeface however the client explained the curved bow like structure of typeface and the fiery abstract form attracted the war sense. This called for the action of understanding the appropriate or better typeface for the war room. Incidently ideas of focusing more over the words like MANAGEMENT GURU (which simply associates to the relevant mix sense of Indian/business theme) were kept under consideration.
.....too executive
Management Guru!
The War room 08,09
Gothic family style Was Selected for its fiery abstract 23
} the fun part! 24
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Client/participants >
14 The Logotype Face off with the new philosophy Why not with the symbol ?
tags.
ENERGY Powerful Strong/Bold Thunder Lightening Swiftness War Hero Charge EVENT Strategy Business Corporate hero Drama Tension Are you game? Cutting edge Action/Fun
Generally what happens in a logo design process that you explore from some visual icons to symbols and integrate it with the complementary typeface but this time as the client was adamant over not changing the logotype from the last year, a small exercise was practiced in which the tagging of attributes of war room imagery happened. This was Compared with the old typeface which ultimately could not stand in front of it. The same attributes helped on narrowing down the choices for the typefaces. There were several trials of typefaces on the screen and based on these attributes final five were selected but this outcome was totally different as the chosen typeface (kilogram) went under extensive tweaks to sync it with the identified attributes. This new typeface was explored after some final posters in which the visual language was decided. This delay was because of the conservative decision & delay of the client for keeping the old logotype. This in turn unknowingly helped later on deciding to keep the logotype free of symbol like brahmastra from last logo as it was felt that whole poster series integrates the philosophy & brahmastra in a better way. The Brahmastra itself was an iconic symbol of war room but being a look alike of the international medics symbol it was decided to exclude it from logo. Instead, build the whole war room posters/philosophy around it. Meanwhile the new logotype was also found practical and flexible in usage and could be integrated with the different story, visual elements at the same time and most of all it simply encompasses the imagery of the event.
Please refer to the brand manual for other uses of the logo and screen for the primary purple; which will appear darker here!
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Purple fluorescency
Powerful/strong, Dynamic, Energy/thunder, Game, Drama/Action, Cutting edge, War hero
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15 The Typography Inhouse fonts.... The Typeface chosen was Museo because of its availability in different width family and versatility ,which perfectly blends across from print to screen. For example in letter “ U ” The top of both stems bent into semi-slab serifs. From this principle rest of the uppercase letters were worked out.
Glyphs
abcdefghilklmnopqrstuv ABCDEFGHILKLMNOPQRSTUV 0123456789 !"#$%&'()*+-/<=>?@ ©§¥£¢|«®±µº»¼½¾°ª†‡•¿¡• ÀÁÃÄÅÆÇÈÉÊËÌÝÜÛÚØÒÑàßÞæfjȚ‰ŴŵŶŃ
It is a sturdy, high contrast, geometric, highly legible slab serif typeface very well suited for any display and text use. Being a slab serif it felt strong, professional and appropriate for any formal business event like the war room. This Open Type font family comes in five weights, and each weight comes with support for CE languages, even Esperanto. Besides ligatures, contextual alternatives, stylistic alternates, fractions and proportional/tabular figures.
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Hello I am the Font. 28
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The Divine Glow ?
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It was also focused over to make people aware about its meaning & uses in mythology by including the info in posters etc.
Revamping Imagery The Brahmastra Tangible trophy Vs. Perception
The problem was to give a new avatar to the old imagery of the Brahmastra which was too soft and lacked the major imagery of brahmastra being powerful & Divine.
The old illustration of Brahmastra happened to be the sketch drafted out by an expert of the subject for the Broadvision and same was sent to cast the trophy. On the other hand Mahabharata serialâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s version of brahmastra shows 11 coils of snakes ( explained with the Kundalinis of human consciousness ) while our Brahmastra portrayed only five. The only thing that matched was the golden snakes in our trophy. Attempts were made to bring out the essence of brahmastra in terms of being powerful and divine but at the same time it was kept in mind to keep some resemblance with the trophy. So, golden effect was retained but with a more divine molten golden glow. Simultaneoulsy it occurred that the metaphor of star in the middle representing energy could be excluded or combined with a more perceptual and direct meaning of star. Thus, the abstract of energy ball and star glow was added later.
In the end the powerful blend of the war room logotypeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s inspired typography supported the imagery. 29
The new avatar!
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17 The Final Countdown The Posters and characters The focus was more over now to project every identified character by aligning everything in the simplest way possible. It was necessary to simplify the character also to make it properly blend with other elements for example Arjuna the man who possessed Brahmastra is generally represented as tall handsome man with moustache and long hairs and a bow in the other hand . FIRSTLY The Ideas were explored with unique combination of moustache , hairs and bow. SECONDLY Integrated with the other elements like corporate dress - tie & the Guilloche patterns behind as the halo. AND FINALLY Association of the character with Brahmastra with a simple message of seeing themselves(participants) as the Arjuna with Brahmastra of the event.
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Discover the Arjuna in you.. visit www.mahindrawarroom.com for the schedule of your Campus Launch.
Knowledge partner
Airline partner
Media partner
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18 Values known at large Values that lie at the heart...
Classic calender art
In search of capturing the simplest of ideas the inspiration of this surprisingly didn’t strike from sita’s pyre test but from a incident in mahabharata in which Arjuna after loosing a challenge from hanuman tries to gave away his life by entering into “agni”.
Modern representation
On further research of the “agni pariksha” it was detailed enough to explain sita’s fire test vividly in which fire actually taking the form of some symmetrical flames, which is known as “kamal khridaya agni” meaning fire of a heart as pure as lotus and the agni deva himself personifies out of it to bless and protect. The new nomenclature was proposed for event’s evaluation round in which thousands of students compete to prove themselves to be in top 17 of final round to achieve brahmastra. The synonym was appreciated widely
Symmetrical (Lotus) formation of fire! Known as “kamal khridaya agni” means Fire of a heart as pure as lotus
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Evaluation Round vXuh ifj{kk
flu Pu or rp es le ce nc y
www.mahindrawarroom.com
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19 Values known at large exploring arjuna visual style Arjuna’s conch known as Devdatta meaning given by god was given by agni deva to arjuna after he asks him to burn down the khandav forest to regain his luster. Business
leader
Conch blow
Its also a symbol of Vishnu. Shankh or conch-shell trumpet is blown to announce presence on a battlefield. In Vedic times, this instrument was used by commanders to rally their troops. Warriors also used this to demonstrate their stamina before their enemies for blowing a conchshell trumpet was a measure of lung-power and mind control. Every warrior in the Mahabharat from Krishna to Arjun had his very own conch-shell. One can view the conch-shell as an instrument of COMMUNICATION. The first rule of leadership is to be an effective communicator. Your team must know who you are, what your capabilities are, what your vision is and what you expect them to do, and why, and how this will help in achieving your final objective. Your competition also needs to know that you are powerful and they must avoid confrontation. Unless you communicate, nobody is aware of your presence. ‘Blowing your own trumpet’ and getting your thoughts across is necessary if anything needs to get done.
It has begun ! Agni dev as brahmin gives devdutta!
DEVDUTTA - Arjuna’s conch!
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Knowledge partner
Airline partner
Media partner
It has begun! visit www.mahindrawarroom.com for the schedule of your Campus Launch.
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20 Values known at large Always coming back to brahmastra
In mythology, Rishis are both performers of yagna as well as performers of tapasya. Yagna was an external ritual while tapasya was a spiritual practice that involved withdrawing form the material world and involved contemplation, concentration and meditation. To get the boon of brahmastra only a person like arjuna could undergo this vigorous practice of self cleansing of the soul and becoming fearless and pure with skills and determination. Same determination was also shown by Bhagirath who also called ganga to the earth because of his penance.
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Ă&#x;rilĂ&#x17E;
It requires great penance to win the Brahmastra. visit www.mahindrawarroom.com for the schedule of your Campus Launch.
Knowledge partner
Airline partner
Media partner
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Pattern for notebooks cover etc.
21 The Bull’s eye
Arjuna & eye of the fish/bird ! Everbody is aware of the story of arjuna hitting the fish’s eye from its reflection at swayambar of Draupadi and there is another really interesting incident in which when the five Pandava brothers and Karna were assembled for an archery instruction session with Guru Drona. He instructed them to aim their bow and arrow at the fish’s eye, each student came along and took his turn, Guru Drona made them pause in the stance and asked, “Son, what all do you see?” The oldest, Yudhisthira, answered, “The sky, the tree, the …,” and before he could finish, Drona stopped him and replaced him with the next boy. Bhima answered, “The branch of the tree, the fish, the…,” and met the same fate. Even Karna was asked to step aside. When Arjuna, the ace-archer, was asked the same question, he stated without hesitation, “I see the eye of the fish.” And Guru Drona exclaimed with delight, “Shoot!” and Arjuna’s arrow unwaveringly pierced right through the eye of the fish.
In the representation of the story i was really tempted to visualize the scene abstract as narrated in the story to show some complex visuals like trees, leaves and sky to make the eye difficult to spot out but the shift was already towards portraying the idea or just reminding people of the idea as simply as possible like in the last three posters with same simplicity and minimalism, however i had tried some fish eye’s abstract pattern for the same, which could be used over notebook covers etc. In next two pages more ideas were explored for the same theme of the eye.
Arjuna’s famous Bird and the fish incidents 39
Some just see the eye. o you ? visit www.mahindrawarroom.com for the schedule of your Campus Launch.
Macro explorations
When Arjuna hit the eye, He meant the eye. visit www.mahindrawarroom.com for the schedule of your Campus Launch.
Arjuna,more than meets the eye. o you? visit www.mahindrawarroom.com for the schedule of your Campus Launch.
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22 From fish to the dog Eklavya’s dedication & devotion
Eklavya learnt archery by himself by keeping Drona’s statue as his guru after Drona denied to teach him because of his caste. Because of his passion & dedication he learnt archery to such a level of precision that he could even shut the mouth of a dog without hurting it. After seeing such skills Drona thought that he could become the greatest archer in the land, but Drona wanted arjuna to be the greatest so,he took away his right thumb as gurudakshina. Not much is known of the life of Eklavya after he gave his right thumb to Drona as guru dakshina. But, in most earthly and non-earthly terms he must have grown to be a successful man. He knew “how to learn” and had the tenacity to pursue his ideas. Ekalvya’s story tells that what matters at the end for accomplishing success is the eager to learn more no matter whatever the opportunities are and also if you have opportunity use it wisely.
The image of dog was more focused to keep a series and consistency of the idea of fish as seen in last poster. Here again the relevant attribute for the war room was focused keeping the same simplistic visual language. The character of the dog as the story said it was unhurt so, an expression of exclamation and innocence was tried to achieve.
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visit www.mahindrawarroom.com for the schedule of your Campus Launch.
Precision of Eklavya. o you have it ?
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23 The thumb or the blood the diviness in the blood of sacrifice!
So the same idea was explored again without showing the thumb. The blood colour was associated more with the power of sacrifice and the “ pearl” like divine devotional drops.
visit www.mahindrawarroom.com for the schedule of your Campus Launch.
Devotion of Eklavya. o you have it ?
visit www.mahindrawarroom.com for the schedule of your Campus Launch.
This decision also dropped the next idea of the scene of Mahabharata war and many more like the devastation of Brahmastra or any scene depicting direct representation of Violence.
Devotion of Eklavya. o you have it ?
The client’s approach towards this idea was not to show the thumb or the blood as they themselves don’t associate with the warcry and blood bath. For them it was a very GORY image of the word the war room.
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24 Back to the roots!
Brahma’s brahmanda vs. Your universe
Brahma the first God of trinity and not worshipped even after being the creator of this world symbolizes the universal mind, as creation is the work of the mind and the intellect. If we consider this, from an individual's point, Brahma represents one's own mind and intellect. As an individual is god gifted with the mind and intellect it may be assumed that a person has already attained Brahma. This could be the possible reason that worship of Brahma is not so popular among the Hindu people ( and the others were explored through idea of “aham brahmasi” earlier, you are brahma too, how can we worship ourselves ?) However, he is worshipped by seekers of knowledge such as students, teachers, scholars and scientists. God Brahma can be seen as a four-faced, four-armed, bearded deity. He carries a rose and a book in the upper hand; a water pot (Kamandala) in the lower hand and one hand is always there to bestow grace. The four faces represent the holy knowledge of the four Vedas (Riga, Yajur, Sama and Atharva). It symbolizes that Brahma is the foundation of all the knowledge required for the creation of the universe. The four arms represent the four directions and therefore symbolize that intellect is the omnipresent and the omnipotent. The white beard conveys wisdom and the long beard gives the idea that creation is a never-ending process. Brahma sitting on a lotus represents the creative power of the Supreme Reality.
The half shut eyes : Symbolism of a yogi/meditator for involving himself in this world observation.
Vishwakarma ( Architect of this world ) the one headed form of Brahma representing the same idea of creator but transcending from subjective point of view to objective view. Like Shankara is to shiva. To bring the character closer to human/any individual one headed form was explored ( as the message was itself depicting that everyone is brahma the creator of their world ) with half shut eyes ( it is also known that reason for not worshipping brahama because he has got an ego for creating his world, so character’s eyes should show the same )and same simple language ! 47
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25 Parallel Universe Indian Business model and Brahmas of universes!
Business
input/output
Swaha/Thathastu
In ancient India, the key ritual of society was called the yagna. It involved setting up of a fire altar into which oblations of ghee were poured to the chanting of hymns. The ritual was meant to benefit the community. The leader of this community was the Yajaman,or the patron. He initiated the yagna and it was he who invested in it. He provided the wood for the fire, the offerings for the flames and it was he who paid the priests their fee. All offerings were made by him and each time the offering was made, he would say, “Svaha”, meaning ‘so I give’. If the yagna was successful, the deity being invoked would appear. This was the Bhagavan and he would offer a boon or blessing. When the Yajaman made his wish known, the Bhagavan would say “Tathastu”, meaning ‘so it shall be’ and leave. The Yajaman was the prime beneficiary of the yagna, and he shared it with the entire community. This sharing with the community made him the leader of the community. The ritual was conducted by a Rishi who had no stake in the process. He was merely an enabler. At the end of the ritual, the Rishi received his fee, the dakshina, and left the yagna-shala or the sacrificial hall.
Infinite Brahmas/Universes Infinite Brahmas and their Brahmandas originating from Vishnu simultaneously. This more strengthened the concept of “aham Brahmasmi”, The same idea was explored in the poster on the next page. The integrations of Brahmastra with the association of “aham brahmasi ” was always a challenge. The concept of Infinite Brahmas took it to another level. Yagna is a metaphor for a process where there is an input (Svaha) and an output (Tathastu). As is the Svaha, so is the Tathastu. As one sows, so does one reap! As any data warehousing expert will say: rubbish in leads to rubbish out. The corporate world is full of processes. Yagnas are taking place in the conference rooms, in the board rooms, in meeting rooms, in town hall meetings, in brain storming sessions, in review meetings, in client interactions.
some concepts went unexplored
This idea is not new, but cultural terminologies such as these add soul to other wise bland functional words. 49
“Swaha”
So i give.
“Tathastu”
So be it! Creator of my own world. visit www.mahindrawarroom.com for the schedule of your Campus Launch.
Purple fluorescency
I am Brahma. - Rigveda
Creator of my own world.
visit www.mahindrawarroom.com for the schedule of your Campus Launch.
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A god like us ! He creates infinite He gets created infinitly. visit www.mahindrawarroom.com for the schedule of your Campus Launch.
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Purple fluorescency
Can you imagine what I would do if I could do all I can? visit www.mahindrawarroom.com for the schedule of your Campus Launch.
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To conquer thyself, first know thyself! - Bhagwad Gita
visit www.mahindrawarroom.com for the schedule of your Campus Launch.
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Only worthy can acquire the Brahmastra. Become the creator of your own world. visit www.mahindrawarroom.com for the schedule of your Campus Launch.
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Kalpa(creation) = 1 daytime of Brahma Pralaya(dissolution) = 1 nightime of Brahma
1 Kalpa D E V A S TAT I O N
C R E AT I O N
306.72 million years = 71 Chatur Yugas
1 Manvantara
An infographical Idea proposed later to be integrated with such informations in the War room diary as postcards , go to page > 94
4.32 Billion years = 14 Manvantara + 15 Sandhyas
Purple fluorescency
311.04 trillion years = 36000 kalpas + equal pralayas
D E V A S TAT I O N
C R E AT I O N
Brahmaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Life Span
1 Chaturyuga = 4.32 Million years
Tretayuga
1,728,000 yrs
1,296,000 yrs
Dwapara
Kali
864k yrs
432k yrs
At any given time there are infinite Brahma Originating from Vishnu creating infinite parallel universes! As Veda Vyas explains in the Mahabharata that 155.52 trillion ( half of his age) has passed since Brahma originally created this Universe, But it does not seem to be a mere coincidence that according to modern science Our SUN originated 155 trillion yrs ago and exact half amount of fuel is left to make it run for another 155 trillion yrs !
D E V A S TAT I O N
C R E AT I O N
Satyuga
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26 Parallel Universe
Buddhist mythology - Lotus Sutra
There was a lot known about the Brahma, his age , his universe and appearance but the association of some elements with war room strategy was the prime motive. Incidently while looking for more references it was found out that Buddhist pantheon of gods are same as that of Indian. Even the most of mythology is also same only the point of views are different. “Aham Brahmasi ” has a new dimension to it. In Lotus sutra its has been mentioned that everyone is Buddha, you just need to identify the one in you, there have been countless Buddhas in countless universes. The Lotus sutra as a chant “ Nam - myoho renge - kyo ” which means i bow(naman : sanskrit) down to the mystic law(myo) of Lotus(renge) and teachings of Buddha(kyo). Law of lotus is explained further , Lotus is the only flower which blooms with the seed and the fruit at the same time. It is equivalent to law of karma, as soon as you perform the action( the seed ) the effect (fruit) will appear simultaneously . 57
Brahmaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Lotus The simultaneous nature of strategy and effect as lotus blossoms seeds and fruit at the same time. visit www.mahindrawarroom.com for the schedule of your Campus Launch.
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27 2010 platform explorations for the bulb man
What exactly is War Room? Blending & Bending Slowly !
Rejected but integrated in poster series
After so many concepts in the poster it was time to focus over blending and coming up with some concepts for the first time viewers/participants to convey the idea of war room. In the explorations for the same the attempt was made to integrate the war room typeface . However adding 2010 to the logo was not required but it was needed for some instances like in the final round of the event declaring the war room 2010 Hero.
The need for explaining war room for the first time viewers.
The concept of bulb headed man kicking others idea spoke clearly about the drama in the final round. In where you have to defend your strategy and new ideas and prove that how your idea is better than your competitors. The proposed concept of the Flash Playback loop for CNBCâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s telecast and for the final eventâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s screen at the podium. The man running from the left breaks down the man climbing from the right bottom and makes him fall back. Due to time constraints, it was just integrated in poster series(on the next page )
Other explorations & integrations
Resonation with Kill Billâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s colour template!
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A proposed concept of the Flash playback loop for CNBCâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s telecast and for the final eventâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s screen at the podium. The man running from the left breaks down the man climbing from the right bottom and makes him fall back. Due to time constraints, it was just integrated in poster series !
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visit www.mahindrawarroom.com for the schedule of your Campus Launch.
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Now, you got the idea? This is WarRoom. visit www.mahindrawarroom.com for the schedule of your Campus Launch.
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Some more explorations, finally some were selected out of all these 30-35 posters in the end.
Ideas arenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t enough, make it happen! visit www.mahindrawarroom.com for the schedule of your Campus Launch.
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To a surrounded enemy, you must leave a way of escape.
- Krishna to Arjuna
visit www.mahindrawarroom.com for the schedule of your Campus Launch.
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Superstar? Opportunities multiply when they are seized! visit www.mahindrawarroom.com for the schedule of your Campus Launch.
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Get ready, Again! visit www.mahindrawarroom.com for the schedule of your Campus Launch.
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The major incentive of War room Finale was meeting Presidents of Mahindra sectors and hear them talk about their sectors.
visit www.mahindrawarroom.com for the schedule of your Campus Launch.
o Learn Indian values of business. Meet Management Gurus.
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Your idea should ignite the water. Do or Die. visit www.mahindrawarroom.com for the schedule of your Campus Launch.
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... The words & arrows; easy to send forth, impossible to retrieve.Quote carefully! visit www.mahindrawarroom.com for the schedule of your Campus Launch.
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Right words on the right time! visit www.mahindrawarroom.com for the schedule of your Campus Launch.
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{
28th AUG
Launch presentation Venue : Time :
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{
{
23rd OCT
Grand Finale @ Taj, Mumbai.
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28
B. R. Chopra’s
The Final Analogy
The national final round imagery!
Like in The evaluation round the usage of “Agni Pariksha” was proposed same analogy was explored for the national final round.
Abhimanyu in Peter Brook’s Mahabharata
Before starting the analogy it was understood that the grand finale consists of the best 17 strategies from thousands and they have to defend and prove their strategy to be the best. It was like you are attacked from all the sides from the best warriors like what happened in mahabharata war with Abhimanyu.
CHAKRAVYUH The Chakravyuh/Padmavyuh, is a multi-tier defensive lotus-like formation, used by Dronacharya, commander-in-chief of the Kaurava army after the injury of Bhishma Pitamah. The formation is like a blooming lotus, when viewed from the top, the warriors at each interleaving position would be in an increasingly tough position to fight. The various vyuhas (military formations) were studied by the Kauravas and Pandavas alike. Most of them can be beaten using a counter-measure targeted specifically against that formation. It is important to observe that in the form of battle described in the Mahabharata, it was important to position the powerful fighters in positions where they would inflict the maximum damage on the opposing force or defend against the attacks of key warriors of the opposition. Only Arjuna, Krishna and Abhimanyu knew how to break into it.
The Chakravyuh as per description in Mahabharat
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29 Bangalore : city of temples!
Bheesma Pitamah
The final inspiration
Ardhnareshwar temple
Hindi Analogy
While exploring the city of Bangalore i came across garden & temples, and so far the best detailed and colourful sculptures of deities that i have ever seen. Near the end of my project while travelling in a bus i happened to see an Ardhnarishwar * temple and within moments i drew a rough note in my diary to remember the concept which Sriram (CEO , Broadvision ) named later as Yudhyogpati.
“ Yudh ” = War “ Udhyog ” = Business “ Udhyogpati ” = Businessman
Yudhyogpati
However, the character for such a strong concept with a personality like the one who has conquered senses had to be someone like the one with the wisdom of the presidents of the sectors of mahindra , the ace players and masters of the trade. Old but professional and someone like Bheeshma pitamah the commander of the army in mahabharata who knew everything and mastered every weapon and strategy. **Ardhnarishwar is an androgynous deity composed of Shiva and his consort Parvati, representing the synthesis of masculine and feminine energies. Shiva. Ardhanari in iconography is depicted as half-male and half-female, split down the middle.
A sketch in my diary.
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Yudhyogpati When the senses are mastered then let them act, untainted by action THE NATIONAL FINAL ROUND 2010
- Bhagwad Gita
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30 The Website 2010
www.mahindrawarroom.com Before the launch of the event the website was required to be up and running for online registration and details. Preference was given to neater, cleaner & user friendly website unlike the last yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s version. Videos about war room were on the home page for better involvement and quick introduction to the users. War room calendar and updated notes of imp. downloads were introduced with the war room merchandise shop.
HITS FROM LAUNCH TO EVAL. ROUND
1,10,000
2010
45,000
2009
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01. Promotional Tees ( 89-90 ) 02. CDs & Markers ( 91-92 ) 03. Notebook & Bags ( 93-94 ) 04. Caselets & folder ( 95-96 ) 04. Corporate gifts ( 97-98 ) 05. Vehicle graphics ( 99-100 ) 06. Stationery ( 101-102 ) 07. Cheques & Invite ( 103-104 ) 09. Team Logos ( 105-106 )
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Collaterals Brand Manual The guidelines discussed ahead are shown through various uses of logo and visual language in the collaterals by trying to keep the domain of uses as wide as possible.
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Promotional tees.
Pre & Post Evaluation round
For the new identity to be launched as promotional tees the new typeface in primary colours & a standard white background was to be distributed on the launch, evaluation round to the final 17 team on the final round with their logos on the back . Artwork with a two colour job was chosen for the screen job because of the economical printing price. Its advisable that as an advantage of the simple & symbolic visual language all the posterâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s with the tees of their background colour (War Roomâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s colour template ) should be used.
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CDs & markers
Evaluation round + Final round
The Top 100 presentations of the war room every year are distributed in CDs at the final round to the Group Executive Board and other concerned people in Mahindra & Mahindra. It was proposed to distribute blank CDs to the participants to submit back their final presentations to war room and for any personal use. After the launch of the event and Evaluation round there was a commendable feedback for the Character Arjuna so it was decided to brand the character more towards the final round. The final Arjuna in the Chakravyuh was used on the CD covers.
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Notebook & bags. Final round
The were about 45 different posters which were explored. Final 20 posters were selected and attached in between notebooks as tearable postcards as a memoir of that yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s war room theme and artwork! The goodies (hand bag) which were handed in the final round to the participants , crew and Mahindra & Mahindraâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s managers and CEOs (with corporate gifts ) contained t- shirts , notebooks , caselets(only for Mahindra & Mahindra ) along with CDs and markers !
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The war room is challenging !
Ă&#x;rilĂ&#x17E;
It requires great penance to win the Brahmastra. www.mahindrawarroom.com
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Caselets Handbook & folder Evaluation round + Final round
The compilation of sector caselets were based on the detailed in-depth Interviews with the respective sector presidents. Caselets had multiple business issues that the sector was considering for the participants and Mahindra group to address. Different artwork was dedicated to different sector using the same War room visual language and elements.
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Corporate gifts Final round
Although it wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t coherent with the philosophy of war room to allow wine or champagne bottle for a corporate gift, but these being traditional corporate gifts globally like champagne opening also symbolizes victory celebration so some blank bottle templates ( Sav stock photography ) were explored to show the visual language of war room around bottles if any, which could be any relevant thing like Amla , juices etc. Things like coffee/tea cups could also be given because they humbly represents meetings, talk, freshness or as they say in China that tea brings enlightenment!
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Promotional tees.
Evaluation round + Final round
The war room buses and scorpions from mahindra are used by participants and war room staff to commute from their arrival at the airport to their respective hotels, event venue and other places. The visual language of the bus also shows the usage of war room logotype free of circular space around it.
Stickers of team logo & vehicle no. goes on the front & back windshields
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Evaluation round + Final round #23 Newsletter
The circular stickers of the war room logo could be used over any surface and in many forms like an envelope seal, on letterheads or such like many other applications as an authentic seal.
To, Arjuna Block 12A, Strategies IIM Bangalore 560041
www.mahindrawarroom.com, Mahindra Enclave - Mumbai
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22nd June 2010
Dear Arjuna, Greetings,there are BSchool Events and there are BSchool Events. And then there is The War Room. Once in a way, God sends an event that truly blows your mind, making you immerse in love all over again. An event that challenges you, stretches you, stimulates the talent in you. An event that is something beyond a company just throwing some money to sponsor some activity. An event that has passion written all over it. Just like you. The War Room 2010 cannot be called God's gift to Bschool-kind, but it comes close. Join the best and the brightest from the Top 17 Business Schools of India, in their quest to participate in live strategizing. With Presidents of multi-billion dollar businesses writing out strategic problem statements for you to address, you can't ask for me. Give your talent a platform. Regards & best wishes Mohan Chandok Coordinator The War Room 2010
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The collaterals which allowed the usage of dark backgrounds like the sunboard cheques and invitations could use ancient and Indian traditional ways of invitation rolls to add drama and align it more with the war room. It could be sent in the forms of rolls with the insertion of war room arrows as invitations. The cheques on the other hand used the old paper with the burnt edges look to produce the same war room drama!
Airline partner
150,000/-
Media partner
36 x 18 inches Sunboard cheques
Knowledge partner
Invitation rolled around the war room arrow!
Pay a sum of Indian Rupees One Lakh fifty thousand. for being The War Room Hero 2010
Evaluation round + Final round
at the National Final Round held at the Crystal Room of The Taj Mahal Palace & Tower, Mumbai on the 23rd day of October 2010 as judged by The Group Executive Board of Mahindra Group. This victory bestows upon you the glory of receiving the Brahmastra from the hands of Mr. Anand G. Mahindra.
Congratulations on doing your campus proud!
Cheques & Invite
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Group Human Resources Team cordially invites you to the National Final Round of
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23rd OCT 2010
10:30 AM - 5:30 PM Crystal Room Taj Mahal Palace & Tower, Mumbai
RSVP - g.harish@mahindra.com Lunch will be served Dress Code : Business Formals Entry by Invitation only.
Knowledge partner
Airline partner
Media partner
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Team Logos.
The overnight assignment.. 17 B-schools participated in the event and for the evaluation round the no. of total teams registered were 946 ( last year 700 ). Each of the 17 teams from different schools were encouraged to name their teams to compete for the best creative name award. Although they declared that this year each team will get a customized logo, it turned out that the time allotted for the completion of their logoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s and collaterals ( printed as well as shipped ) needed to be done as early as possible since it was immediately after the completion of campus round. Every team sent a huge brief demanding their fonts style and articulation. In a night it was not possible to cope up with the proposed design briefs so finally we settled for a constant typeface for every team logo along with Gullioche pattern. The results were not self satisfactory but the exercise got praised by everyone and surprisingly most of the people were happy with their logos.
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Conclusion It was constantly felt that the real challenge was to bring objectivity first from vast subjective ideas of mythology and than associate, integrate it at the same time with an appropriate visual language required for such a corporate game show. It was difficult to keep track of explorations as fast improvisation was the key to final results due to time constraint & barriers which i never experienced before in any of my classroom projects. In terms of scale it was more than big enough for a single designer to handle as many things like team logos, stage design were left nearly untouched and unexplored. Overall it was an exhilarating experience. The reading of books and watching videos and other versions for the project was a very different kind of experience. The Outcome was process driven yet intuitive. The real success also lied in finishing and delivering the results on time. Increase in no. of teams this year was a positive result. Agni pariksha and the characters were widely appreciated and the war room finale 2010 was a big success. I believe that this was not the ending as my attempt was to align a belief and after that possibilities are endless with the evolved language and beliefs for the upcoming war rooms.
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