Major Project Report
Major project report 2014
Muktai Joshi JOS 13407858 Unit 3 : Major Project This major project report reflects my journey during M.A. in Graphic Branding & Identity at the University of the Arts London in 2014.
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Contents 01 Research question 02 Introduction 03 Field of study Concepts Objectives Research methods Research findings Case studies Target audience Conclusion
04 Brand Ideation Nomenclature Logotype Brand colour Brand language
05 Visual Outputs Stationery Identity guidelines Playing cards Magazine Dating website
06 Conclusion 07 Critical Reflection 08 Bibliography
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Research question
How can a brand celebrate the fusion identity of young British citizens with Indian roots? 5
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While some believe we are born into our identities, others believe identities are created. Regardless, it is sometimes hard not to make assumptions or stereotypes about people and places. However, it is important to try to put ourselves in someone else’s shoes when we may not understand them... -Unknown
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01 Introduction From an early stage of my project I wanted to use graphic design as a tool to investigate a social or cultural research area. Free from the constraints of a commercial client, I wanted to explore how graphic design’s process, methods and techniques can be used to critique or potentially improve an issue, which I believe needs attendance. My research study was prompted by the experiences and observations I gathered during my part-time work as a waitress in Indian marriages and thereafter I started investigating the “confused identity of people of Indian Origin (PIO).”
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Anish Kapoor ‘As if to Celebrate, I Discovered a Mountain Blooming with Red Flowers�
Multicultural Britain has allowed Asians/Indians to express their culture through food, henna tattoos, music etc. Indian-origin people from Anish Kapoor, Jay Sean and Meera Syal to Jimmy Mistry, Krishnan Guru-Murthy and Shruti Vadera play an important role in the culture of this country. Looking at the commercialization of this multiculturalism, every brand in the UK is now realizing this important audience present in the country and they are trying to target it in various forms. I decided to look at this diaspora not as a customer segment but as real human beings and endeavoured to use design to help in the betterment of their social and cultural lives. I was influenced by Frascara who observes that,
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“Design work contributes to save lives, and to make them functionally better, but it also adds value to life... Design is based on projective thinking; it is teleological, future-orientated constructive action developed in pursuit of a realizable utopia.� -Frascara My project aims to create a tool to resolve the cultural duality amongst the British Indian youth. The brand, I have created, named _ING, aims to create a community, where every young British Indian person will have a freedom to express and own his/her cultural identity in his/her own way without any pressure or compulsion by the society . At the same time they will strengthen their self-image by coming together as a community. My brand will celebrate the fusion between two cultures and in the future this brand model can be applied in every region of the world where dual cultural identity exists.
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Conception
Expression
Self image
Sexual
Unique
formation
Personal
Distinctive Characteristics
Identity
Place/ land Cultural
Nationality
Social
Group
Role
Affiliations identity mind map
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Cultural
Community
Nationality
Ethnicity
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03 Field of study
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Concepts
3.1 British Indians The current generation of Indians in Britain needs to inherit two cultures: the British and the Indian. The current study captures the issues of cultural identity of British Citizens who were born in Britain but their parents have possibly migrated to Britain and have Indian Origin. More than the nationality and legal aspects, the study captures the issues of British Citizens who are brought up as British in terms of their day to day living with their peers/ friends but their parents have a strong connection with their Indian roots in terms of cultural aspects like celebration of rituals/ festivals/ values etc. The term British Indian in this report represents these people.
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Visualising Ethnic Slurs Indians trying to imitate British people are called Coconuts. My experiment was to take existing families in the UK and visualise them in a coconut form
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3.2 Group Identity There are diverse assumptions about what identity is, and about its relevance to our understanding of people. Yet on the other hand, identity also implies a relationship with a broader collective or social group of some kind. When we talk about national identity, cultural identity, or gender identity, for example, we imply that our identity is partly a matter of what we share with other similar people or a community we live in. Here, identity is about identification with others whom we assume are similar to us (if not exactly the same), at least in some significant ways. Identity is a fluid, contingent matter, it is something we acquire practically through our ongoing interactions and negotiations with other people. Collective identity is something created by the socialization process, and the individual and social interpretations and actions of people. It is not something that is given only by biology or nature. For example, being black or white, or male or female, have significance in society because people attach some importance to these characteristics, and define people in terms of these categories. It is the socialization process that transmits both culture and identities from one generation to the next.
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The Sikh Project Photographers Amit and Naroop’s collection of photographs celebrating the evolving identity of British Sikh men
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Krishna Jayanti in Leicester 2011
3.3 Cultural identity Cultural identity shapes who we are and how we see ourselves as individuals. By knowing our cultural history we can understand our families, the society we live in and expectations that people have of us. This gives us confidence and increased self-esteem, we feel that we belong and understand the values that are important to us. Our cultural identity leads us to act, conform and behave in a manner that is an important part of our lives.
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3.4 Third culture kids While researching about multiculturalism, acculturation, melting pot and salad bowl I came across the concept of third culture kids. Third culture kid is a term used to refer to children who were raised in a culture outside of their parents’ culture for a significant part of their development years. Initially I was convinced to signify my target audience as TCK but after reading about them I started to differentiate them with my target audience of British Indians. TCK are born and brought in two or more countries and usually known as global nomads. They lack sense of home. But in this case my audience has a clear vision of what home is and they are not travelling to settle in various countries. This gave a clear picture of what my target audience is and what problems they are exactly going through.
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3.5 British Identity: Britishness is the state or quality of being British, or of embodying British characteristics, and is used to refer to that which binds and distinguishes the British people and forms the basis of their unity and identity, or else to explain expressions of British culture—such as habits, behaviours or symbols—that have a common, familiar or iconic quality readily identifiable with the United Kingdom. -Wikipedia. For the purpose of this study British Identity is represented by, Monarchy, Victorian architecture, British mannerisms, humour, fish and chips and Christian traditions and festivities that are important from an Indian perspective.
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flickr.com
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3.6 Indian Identity It has always been a challenge to define what constitutes Indian identity, with its 1652 languages and dialects, its many religions, and still, the many thousands of castes and ethnic groups? It is impossible to construct a single Indian identity. To some extend it is possible to define Indians along one particular ethnic, religious, or linguistic line. In the context of the current report the word Indian identity refers to affinity shared by many Indians particularly the youth with respect to Bollywood, Indian Flag, Diversity of languages/ traditions experienced through media or tourism, Diverse traditions of Indian cuisine, Indian dressing styles, image of being a youthful country and a rapidly emerging economy with IT/ITES sectors as its economic brand ambassadors. This is particularly relevant for British Indian Youth, as they do not particularly identify with a specific religion, language or region in India. Their idea of India is at one level very shallow and at another level incorporates the more publicized aspects of India.
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flickr.com 21
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Aims and Objectives of the Research The purpose of this research is to explore the mind-set of British Indian young people and to capture the experience of living with a ‘double identity’ so that specific needs of these young people can be better understood and therefore valid and efficient design solution can be provided to this targeted audience
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The key questions:
1.What do researchers understand
about the cultural identity needs and practices with particular reference to the target group?
2.What are the family, cultural and
social factors that influence and/or shape how the
young people behave in different environments?
3.How do British – Indian young people negotiate double identities? 4.What could be some of the
strategies to deal with the double identity issue?
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Research Methodologies I have used the many research methodologies. I took help from the book Research Methods and Statistics by Ian Walker. Use of these methodologies, I believe, have helped in triangulation of my findings
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1.
I browsed through internet, books, articles, videos to understand concepts/ issues related to the broad topic. I came across researches on identity and culture but I was unable to find research done by any designer on the same subject. I read books on psychology and sociology to understand the concepts like multiculturalism, acculturation etc.
2.
I had discussions with Dr. Manisha Das, who is pursuing her Ph.D. on dual identity of Asians in Britain. I interviewed 20 young people of British Indian community and also had exploratory conversations with them. I also did in-depth interaction and observation of a family as well as my cousin for 2-3 days each.
3.
I had read about participant observation as a research methodology. If a researcher wants to observe people in action where the researcher acts as observer it becomes difficult as the observed people become conscious of the process of observation and hence don’t tend to behave naturally. Hence it is recommended that the researcher becomes a participant by taking up some role in the group of people to be observed. My part time job as a waitress in Indian marriages provided me an excellent opportunity to observe people in action without making them aware.
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Interview guide:
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Introduction of the why, what and how of the interview.
Marriage
01
Family
Attitude towards retention of Indian/ Hindu culture
Relations
02
Family Origin
Attitude towards Britain and the British way of life
About Britain
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Identity Family dynamics
Visits to India
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Interview guide: 1. Visits to India: - Do you have any contacts with friends or relatives in India? - Have you ever been to India? 2. Community matters: - Is your family a member of any Indian organization, association or club? - How do you feel about the Asian community (here)?
was settling in Britain? 6. Family relations - How do you feel about family meetings and celebrations? What do you like about them and what not? - What is it like when your grandparents are around?
4. About Britain: - What do you like about Britain and living here? - How do you feel about the British society?
7. Marriage - What do you feel about arranged marriages? - Did your parents have an arranged marriage? - Do you think you will they have one or not?
5. Family’s origin - Where did your grandparents come from? Did they ever tell you why they have moved here? - What did they tell you how it
8.Identity -How do you answer this question: “ Where are you from?� -Which term describes your identity?
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Case study I got a chance to be with a family with Indian roots where I was able to see all three generations in one house. I asked them questions and tried figuring out what cultural identity means to them. Fortunately I met them during Diwali Festival where every member of the family was a part of it. It gave me a clear idea of what my audience will be as I was able to see the clarity and confusions in the young generation present there. Raunak, age 18 and Gia, age 21 are the youngest of all. Their grandparents came to this country 40 years back .Their parents are born in India but brought up in a very traditional Indian manner in the UK. Whereas Raunak and Gia are influenced by both the cultures. The confusion of cultural identity started when these two went in the university where they were staying away from parents and have much more independence than their school days. Their tastes and interests were deeply influenced by the culture of their peers. Issues of duality of cultural identity became prominent at this stage of their lives. In a personal conversation with my cousin in UK, she finally accepted that, due to certain restrictions by her parents as a child, she would often be seen as ‘different’: “People knew I was different not only because of my skin colour but also because of what I could and couldn’t do.” “Other girls would go on sleepovers but I wasn’t allowed, unless it was a close family friend or relative. Although these things seem minor at first, they were still restrictions which meant that there were certain things that I, as an Indian couldn’t do, whereas other English people could,” she said.
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Annalysis of interview responses for two key question
How do you answer this question: “ Where are you from?� I simplify as much as possible
50%
I make something up
25%
I tell the entire story
15%
I avoid question entirely
10%
Which term describes your identity? British Indian
25%
British Asian Other Asian British Hindu/Muslim/Sikh NRI
20% 15% 5% 20% 15%
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Exploratory Conversations “ People don’t understand why I would not consider India home, when I am clearly not an Indian. “
I think I live in a grey zone between the British and Indian culture and I cannot integrate it with one another
When I was a kid, I wanted to define who I am and now I feel like I’m split down in middle.
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Exploratory Conversations I appreciate Christmas and thanksgiving but I also celebrate Diwali at home!
So many people say I look Indian, just like them , but I know I am not!
I definitely do not call India home, but despite that I never felt I am local here and I think ill always be a foreigner!
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Research Findings I have tried to summarize the research outcomes based on the key questions. Wherever possible I have tried to quote from the original source of data/ research paper/ article etc. to capture the essential aspects to be highlighted.
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Q1
What do researchers understand about the cultural identity needs and practices with particular reference to the target group? Some interesting quotes are as follows-
a
. The divergent memories of the social groups, as well as their contingencies in separate geographies, divide and connect, and create altogether different meanings for the Indian diaspora (Shukla 2003: 215).
b
. During the interview, Manisha Das, pursuing Ph.D. in dual identity of Asians in Britain said, “Well all TCKs go through that state of not belonging anywhere. It’s their fundamental problem because they are so immersed in two different cultures. They have their parent’s culture, which they go home to, and the other culture.
c.
I created a small questionnaire (based on a published article) to understand how these people perceive themselves in the terms of their identities. Most of the people I interviewed were comfortable in calling them as British Indians. During my research I observed that almost all British Asians have heard the question – “Where are you from?” Most of them, “I’m from here – the UK” some of them added, “But my parents/grandparents are from India.” But no one mentioned that, “My ethnicity is Indian.” Many of them felt compelled to add a second comment. In my observation the second comment was added because of a puzzled response by others to the first answer or because some felt the first statement did not fully describe who they are. This is a question of acceptance and belonging.
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Q2. What are the family, cultural and social factors that influence and/or shape how the British Indian young people behave?
Some of the experts believe –“The newborn child is not born with an understanding of culture, and human societies are not based on instinctive behaviour, like that of animals. Children born in Britain will most likely develop into members of society much like any other British child, but if those same children were born in France, India, China or Peru, they would be likely to develop many different ways of behaving because they would learn different cultures.” - Universität Potsdam Philosophische Fakultäthave in different environments “On the other hand some others state that, “ Contrary to the common belief, children are ‘colour-blind’ in terms of race, psychological research suggests otherwise. Research shows that children, can in fact, recognize race from a young age, and have the ability to develop racial biases as young as age 3”. Equality and Human Rights Commission
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The inter generation dynamics of Identity change is well captured in the following remarks-
“ As a consequence of this bi-cultural outlook young British Indians inevitably create new cultural identities. Concepts represented by denominations like “half-way” or “in-between”, which are based on the idea of two clashing cultures and communities are ever changing human constructions. In each generation experiences and relations are different. In an ethnic minority the family and the community solely pass on cultural norms and values, religion and language to the next generation. Of course, both cultures and discourses inspire one another. Complex exchanges, adaptations and rejections take place. Migrant communities often adhere strongly to their heritage culture setting up native structures in their new environment. Growing up in both cultures, the second generation of the diaspora feels more at home in the “culture of arrival” than their parents do. They often feel more attached to this culture than to the structures and beliefs of their ethnic community. Consequently, in the second generation certain aspects of the culture of origin may already be lost”.
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Q3.
How do British – Indian young people negotiate double identities?
a.
Some research concludes “ One expects that the longer an ethnic minority live in a culturally alien milieu the more it looses its particularities: its norms and values, habits and beliefs” (Schnell 1990: 64- 65).
b.
A supporting voice from another country states “All my life, I have been identifying myself as an Indian, then I realized something, I was born and raised in Canada, and there is nothing Indian about me , Only what Indian about me is my parents & my skin tone!” – Russell Peters
c
. In the past many researchers have focused on identity crisis in the context of diasporic and bi-cultural lives. Therefore, terms like “in-between” or “half-way” became prominent to describe the second generation of British Indians, who appeared to be uncertain where to belong (Ghuman 1994: 22).
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d. As per one studied 1.
Young Indians in Britain consider themselves as British for being a British citizen and for having been brought up on the British Isles. However, they have not always been accepted as being British.
2.
They are part of two very different cultures having strong affiliations to both. But, they feel that they are neither like their English peers nor like their parents, so that they do not have any role models.
3.
British Indian youngsters cannot identify with their country of origin like their parents because they feel strange or have not even been there.
4.
Many have undergone phases of rejection and retention of heritage culture. On the one hand they underline their western English way of life and on the other they have deep interest in their heritage culture.
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It is impossible to abandon ones culture and ethnicity completely, as considered above. F A different perspective suggests-“.What we have inherited – as culture, as history, as language, as tradition, as sense of identity – is not destroyed but taken apart, opened up to questioning, rewriting and re-routing.” -Chambers
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Q4.
What could be some of the strategies to deal with the double identity issue?
a.
In a BBC survey 58% of British people thought that ‘people who come to live in Britain should adopt the values of and traditions of British culture.
b.
This is also supported by a major study by Professor Ghuman featured in “Double Loyalties, South Asian Adolescents in the West” (2003). The study highlights that to understand the real issues facing South Asian young people, there needs to be an improvement in their education, lifestyles as well as understanding the impact of family, culture and religion.
c.
A study supported by The Runnymede Trust, which says, “it is essential that young people gain an understanding of their culture and traditions so that they can develop a positive cultural identity” (Weekes-Bernard, D; 2007)
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d.
“.Considering the information from the literature and theory as well as the findings from my research about the second generation of Indians in Britain one can conclude that the third generation is fully integrated in the two cultures which characterize and form their lives. They are part of the British society as well as of their own ethnic and religious community fully belonging to either. They enjoy cultural aspects of both cultures: football as much Bollywood. Their lives are characterized by the hybridity of two or more cultures and identities. However, as much as they enjoy their hybrid and bi-cultural life they consciously retain ethnic pride and identity�.
e.
For past one year especially in summer, to celebrate Indian festivals and programs I visited various places like Maharashtra Mandala, Hounslow Mitra mandala for Ganesh Festival, also some Hindu organizations like Swaminarayan Trust, ISKON etc. I also participated in Alchemy Festival at south bank centre and Indian Mela, which explores the rich cultural connections between India and UK through music, performance, literature, debate, fashion and design. During these visits I observed that Indians in this country have formed some communities or become part of one. These communities can be Linguistic communities (Guajarati community, Marathi community etc.) or - Geographical community – south Indian community or Manchester Indian club etc. As I studied a little deeper in this, I found that all the communities are formed by first generation
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Indians and the motto of forming the community is to have a venue for grown-ups to gather, chat and discuss, participate in events and generally have a fun time. The young people do not attend these gatherings in a big way. What I observed during this process was there is no organization or business specially targeted for the young British Indians
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Target Audience The research helped me to discover and precisely define my target audience. In terms of the looks, bodily features, colour of the skin etc., it is practically impossible to distinguish an Indian from other South Asians. While the dilemmas of south Asians and Indians are very similar there are some differences. In the recent past, due to economic progress India has emerged as a significant country (especially after the recent global recession) and has been admitted to G 20 (top twenty economic powers in the world). Thus compared to its other south Asian neighbours like Pakistan or Bangladesh, India has acquired a certain degree of prominence in the world. This in turn has led to the change in the mindset of British Indians. They possibly would like to distinguish them as British Indians rather than as British South Asians. This transition in the self-image and need to connect back to India gives an important dimension to the branding problem. On the other hand I also realized that I need to focus on the Youth because they are the ones who are confronted with the cultural identity issues on everyday basis. They experience conflicting forces of peer pressure and family pressure and hence need to resolve the conflict both externally and internally. I decided that the ideal set of audience for this project was, girls and boys of age group 16-24, who are born and brought up in UK but raised by India born parents. They can be from any part of any Indian states/ community/caste.
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Conclusion Overall, my findings support the idea that there is a strong existence of dual identity in British- Indian young people. Participants accepted that family pressure and peer pressure were key factors for the existence and negotiation of a double identity. Other key factors, which contributed to double identity existing amongst British Indian young people, were dress codes, appearances, and rituals they follow like marriage. On the other hand I also felt that the targeted audience is well knowledgeable about the “British culture and mannerism� but Indian cultural understanding is very shallow and superficial (which is mostly projected through the Indo-British cinema). I understood that identity changes according to different situations and environments. Some of them felt that they were trapped between their culture/ ethnicity and the modern western society they live in. Few also agreed that they do behave differently at home, compared to another environment and setting. It will thus be appropriate to assume that they want to be both British and Indians at the same time. (Not either /or). In fact they can use this unique fusion as a basis of their uniqueness in the multicultural society like Britain. This fusion identity can act as a point of difference for them. I realized that forming communities can strengthen the identity. The existing communities of Indians are unable to attract or engage the British Indian youth and hence they will be better off to create a community of their own. In brand terms this will be a unique brand because it is not promoting a specific facet of Indian identity like geography or language nor it is making appeal for retaining Indian identity while being British citizens. I started strategizing and visual experimenting to come up with an apt creative and achievable solution.
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“In our culture, the tradition is to strive for a closed product: a kind of statement composed of form and content that is somehow complete in itself. Graphic designers find themselves in a situation which supports the institution and that becomes part of the product. If you strive for a closed message, both in form and in content, then you are not being true to the communicative character of the message, to the real aim of the communication. Producers of information try to hide their real aims and motives. Information becomes a commodity. Design is the ultimate answer to that.� - Jan Van Toorn: Critical Practice.
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04. Brand Ideation The core of my project is dual identity of the British Indians. As an output, I decided to form this duality into fusion and translating it into a brand, which will act as a symbol for the community. During a talk in LCC I got to know about the project “Gay Pride” and the multicolour flags, shoelaces etc. and how they were depicting this community. I realized that unlike the gay community British Indians are not fighting the issues of exclusion or discrimination. They in fact would like to create a sense of exclusivity while being a part of the larger community. In the initial stage of experiments my approach was a very open one to explore the visual language for depicting the mental state and the transformation. I worked in a very spontaneous way, preferably using hand- rendered techniques like collage, sketching, drawing and tracing rather than using digital software. Initially I wanted to go for lenticular printing which I gave up because of prohibitive cost. I tried to bring that effect in static imagery. I tried to combine two images to create a third image. That represented duality but not fusion. It could also have been interpreted as split personality. I wanted to create a positive imagery and hence I moved away from that path After many experiments about how to show the concept of duality and fusion – some successful, some less effective – I was still looking for a stronger consistency between them. A collection of visually and conceptually heterogeneous brand could have been one answer and I started digging through it. As I was going through some of the
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existing work done in the field of graphic design I was highly impressed and inspired by looking into the unique work of Singh sisters residing in Leicester, UK. I think that is the best way of showing a fusion through an art form. Kilt meets Kirpan by photographer Hermann Rodrigues gave me some imagery idea for my project. I was also able to gather some information about Monarchs of the East End by Fernandez, Gavin (2006) in the University of the arts London and was highly inspired by the unique expression of Victorian Indian fusion. Existing brands like Duke of Delhi helped me understand the visual interpretation of fusion and made it easy to visualize the look and feel for my brand. After my initial project proposal in Unit 1 and 2 I had got a basic idea of youth branding and marketing as I studied it thoroughly to write an essay. That understanding was also helpful as an input to my thinking at this stage. It was easy for me to create just an online page and a website like Facebook but as I observed people tend to loose connection with these online networking sites after some period of time. The binding with one another happens with direct human interaction through events as well as sharing of events and experiences. Print medium products like magazine (say a bimonthly) or merchandise like playing cards tend to remind and reconfirm the message. Thus I decided to create multiple ways of communicating, reminding, enacting and reaffirming the identity.
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Kilt meets Kirpan by photographer Hermann Rodrigues and work by Singh twins
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Monarchs of the East End by Fernandez, Gavin (2006) in the University of the arts London
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“People who have gone, are still here, in us. Places we came from, are carried to the places we go.” – Anoushka Shankar
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4.1. Nomenclature To come up with an apt name for a community brand like this can sometimes be tricky. I didn’t want to sound it like some cultural festival or typically boring organization, which you find in every town or city in UK. I wanted a name to be youthful, English with an Indian flavour in it. I tried fusing various common words used in English which are originally Hindi/Sanskrit like Yoga, Mela, Avatar, Guru, Karma, Mantra etc. and fusing them with English words and coming up with some creative names. Desi George, Curry Mantra, Duke & Maharani, West British company etc. were some other very interesting names to create fusion brand. I also found some word depicting the meaning of “fusion” like Mélange, Endemage (meaning merging of two). But none of these words were making any sense in terms of a community. During summer I came up with the idea of merging India and England and came with a short and simple name ING. Ing can be used as term to indicate a present continues tense as per grammar conventions. It also indicates a state of continuous evolution, dynamism and fluidity. I decided to team it up with an underscore sign to make it as a unique recognizing element. The underscore element is also used in writing internet addresses to serve as an adjunct to a name. _ing can be seen as an adjunct to the persona of British Indians.
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Hindustan + England = HINDULAND England + Hindustan= ENGLISTAN England + India = ENGLIA
INDIA + ENGLAND INDIA + ENGLAND INENG INNG
_ING *ING -ING +ING 53
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4.2.Logotype After choosing ‘_ING’ as a name, I moved on to developing a type specimen to demonstrate the type face. Since very beginning of my project I was thinking of mixing English and Hindi portraying as Hinglish. For the final logotype I decided to study the Devanagari script and Roman script and tried finding the similarities between them. Some of the widely spoken Indian Languages like Hindi, Marathi and to some extent Gujarati are written in Devanagari script. Ancient Indian language Sanskrit was written in Devanagari script. I had to find similarities between ascenders, descenders, arc of stem and baselines to create perfectly coherent typeface. I had to study both the typefaces thoroughly and scientifically to create a perfectly balanced typeface inspired by Devanagari. During the experimentation I found out that the base of every alphabet is a line and a circle. In the unit 1.1 I had done an assignment on circle as a form. I was able to conclude that the circle shows unity, fullness/completeness and transformation and co-incidentally my brand was trying to portray the same feeling. I tried fusing the shape into various forms and I was able to see strong visual sense in the composition formed. So my final visual language is based on a circle grid and I have tried to come up with unique solutions to present it. The experiments I have carried out at this stage mainly attempt to demonstrate the power and authority of the visual language of the shapes and composition.
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ing
ing
inging ing n i g ing ing
Unlike the Roman script, Devanagari letters are written below the line (someone has described that Devanagari letters are like clothes hanging on a rod). The curvatures of G and I in the identity suggest two end points of a line, which is another element of the Devanagari script.
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Final identity
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Vaisakhi in London, Migration museum, London
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4.3.The Colour While deciding the colour I was thinking of fusion of two colours creating a third colour. That would have meant creating three colours which in turn would have made the logo printing more difficult on mass scale. I tried to use the colour to depict the community’s need to assert themselves in the British Society. In Britain the red colour signifies prominence, authority and hence I decided to use the bright red colour.
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4.4.Brand Language I decided to create visual elements which could be used as a brand language. Since the Logo was based on the form of circle I decided to make the circle as a core of the brand language. I wanted that the brand language should be dynamic and open to further experimentation. This was necessary for two reasons. I wanted the brand to be dynamic. I also wanted that the members should have a sense of co creation as they are together going to create this community. Thus I decided on red circular rings as the basic element of the visual language. As given in the brand guidelines members are encouraged to create many more patterns in addition to once depicted here, as long as they use 2 or more red rings or parts of the rings of the same size.
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identify
bond
blend
connect
explore
celebrate
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05.Visual Outputs
5.1. Stationery and Merchandise I have explored the possibilities of designing various product graphics by using the brand logo or the language including t-shirts, letterheads, visiting cards, folders, badges etc. which will help the brand promote its identity.
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things to remember!
5.2. Identity guidelines Brand guidelines were created to ensure proper usage of the brand identity and brand language. Keeping in view the fact that the members are young and would not be interested in a rigid, long set of rules, I decided to keep the rules to the minimum. I have in fact encouraged flexibility and co creation. Brand guidelines have been presented in a modular way emphasizing one aspect at a time. Hence instead of a book they are presented as set of independent cards in a box.
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5.3. Playing cards/ deck I decided to combine psychological techniques of creating a community through interactions and I created a unique and creative playing deck, which can be used as to facilitate starting of a conversation. One could pick a topic or create one’s own. I consciously selected the images used for the deck and searched for words, which are effective and indirectly related to this topic. The purpose of the deck is to transform community atmosphere & bringing people together by opening their emotional sides by sharing thoughts and ideas. I have come up with the unique idea of combing a deck and conversation starter cards, where people can play games and bond to strengthen the relationships having various conversations. Front of the card includes the regular deck designed according to the brand language for which I created symbols representing the spades, hearts, diamonds and clubs following the brand language. I also changed the traditional layout of a card to a modern looking dynamic arrangement. On the other side of the card I have selected few visuals depicting various aspects of life including home, travel, family, culture etc. that will indirectly trigger the conversation. In the deck there are few pages having just the words and also some cards are kept blank in-case somebody wants to write their own topic of discussion or want to make any notes on it which can be forwarded to another set of group playing the same deck of cards.
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5.4. Magazine: Magazine will consist of experiences and expressions of British Indians. On the print front translating the idea of fusing and duality I created a magazine opening from both the sides (one side being the brochure of the organization and other being the expressions blogs and writing collected by me through internet and various friends). I have created provision for small cards/invites for various festivals/ events including Diwali and Holi on the backside of the magazine. Ing magazine is a magazine dedicated to today’s generation of British Indians, complete with attitude, expression and creativity. The layout of magazine is modern yet simple. Uses of colours, pictures are coherent with the brand language. In this magazine various arts and creative ideas will be published along with interviews. Variety of work from people on of how they depict their identity will be showcased. In this particular issue I have added an interview of a UK based artist, Hiten Patel and the magazine also consists of a review about a movie with the similar subject of identity expression. This section will broaden the mindset of the people. This section can also include creative expressions like short stories/ poems written by members I visually approached the content with vivid, unapologetic colour and illustrations, bringing an unexpected sense of levity and optimism to the otherwise sensitive content.
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5.5 Dating + Social Website As a web application I created a unique social + dating website inspired by Facebook and a very famous arranged marriage site called Shaadi.com and fused it to create a unique interface which will be apt for the audience. To achieve that, I actually opened a fake account on one of the website to understand the function and relevance of the same. It gave me great insights to come up with a perfect solution for the problem I have discovered during the research. It is a dating-social-network application. It enables users to create a profile, upload photos or integrate with Instagram. One could either sign up with their Facebook or (for the more shy/devious ones out there) one can create a new account. I kept the interface very simple and easy to understand.
Intended use of brand applications: The website will be accessible only to the members while the playing cards, and stationery/ merchandise can be used by members to interact with/ engage/ gift to other members of the community as well as citizens outside their community. The magazine may be of interest primarily to the members, while the non members can make use of it to understand the community. The members can use brochures/ invitation cards in the magazine to invite non members to involve them in the community celebrations. I have incorporated duality or fusion in every output.
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06.Conclusion I realized that the British Indians are better off using their duality as a point of difference in a multidimensional metropolitan society of Britain, particularly London. I felt they could celebrate their dual identity as appoint of difference and value themselves as a distinctive, unique community which draws upon best of both worlds. The community can provide a variety of platforms – both real and virtual, to come together, to express their feelings and their creations, fulfil their needs of celebrations and relationships. Thus the branding solution not only provides a visually appealing identity but also ways of connecting within the community meaningfully. It also provides a medium for others in the country to know this community better and relate with them in a sensitive and sensible way.
07.Critical Reflections Looking back at the whole research process I have gone through, now I can recognize how all accidental discoveries, all reading and looking, seeking and finding, traveling and noting has actually developed into this project. None of the
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information encountered is ever useless; every piece could contribute to shape the final outcome. During the journey it was difficult to identify which notions will be more relevant than others and will dictate a clear direction, but the logical thread became visible at the end. Now, I can follow my route backwards, and I am satisfied with the way I have gone through. In the beginning of the course I was unsure of why we are working on such a simple shape as circle and why I am writing a long essay on a subject, which is not at all related to my major project. At this stage I feel like redoing the whole assignment all over again with more deep research. In the end, I understood the importance of these assignments and I was able to connect my previous knowledge for my major project. The research process has been very long and productive, but taking the decisions for my final outcome has been the most difficult task. The final piece is one small answer to my question, but does not seem to represent well enough all the other ideas and experiments on which I have worked during these past months. After this intense research and coming up with your own brand, I think that there is much to do for a brand than a just a letterhead, visiting cards and printed t-shirt. I value the design research and process than never before and I want to translate my new gained knowledge into the branding and design profession I want to pursue.
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08.Bibliography Cheng, C.-Y. (n.d.). Assimilation and Contrast Effects in Cultural Frame Switching. journal of cross cultural psychology. [Online]. Available at: http:// jcc.sagepub.com/content/37/6/742.abstract. Dason, A. (2010). Desi Dreams. 1st ed. india: Oxford Bookstore. Grosjean, F. (n.d.). Franรงois Grosjean. francoisgrosjean.ch/blog. [Online]. Available at: http://www.francoisgrosjean.ch/blog_en.html. Hankin, N. (2008). Hanklyn-Janklyn: A Rumble-Tumble Guide to Some Words, Customs, and Quiddities Indian and Indo-British. 2nd ed. india: India Research Press. Lee, C.-Y. C. and F. (n.d.). Multiracial Identity Integration: Perceptions of Conflict and Distance among Multiracial Individuals. Journal of Social Issues, Volume 65 (Issue 1). M.Mok and W.Morris. (2012). Managing two cultural identities: The malleability of bi-cultural identity integration as a function of induced global or local processing. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 38 (2). Simon, B. and Grabow, F. R. and O. (14AD). When Dual Identity Becomes a Liability: Identity and Political Radicalism Among Migrants. sagepub.com. [Online]. Available at: http://pss.sagepub.com/content/early/2013/01/14/0956797612450889.full.pdf [Accessed: 15AD]. welankar, aparna. (2006). for here or to go. 4th ed. india: mehta publishing house. Winder, R. (2010). Bloody Foreigners: The Story of Immigration to Britain By Rober. 2nd ed. london: Little, Brown Book Group. Bliss, R. (2014). communicationg across boundries. communicationg across boundries. [Online]. Available at: http://communicatingacrossboundariesblog.com [Accessed: 2014]. Booth, L. (n.d.). BBC News Player - British Asians on identity. bbc. [Online]. Available at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/player/nol/ newsid_6920000/newsid_6922500/6922525.stm?bw=bb&mp=wm&asb=1&news=1&ms3=22&ms_javascript=true&bbcws=2 [Accessed: 24 June 2014]. Claydon, E. A. (n.d.). British South Asian Cinema and Identity. edgehill. [Online]. Available at: http://blogs.edgehill.ac.uk/sacs/files/2012/07/Document-5-Claydon-E.-A-British-South-Asian-Cinema-and-Identity-I-Nostalgia-
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