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Deshna Mehta pg 26 | Photographed by Carol Nair 361° Conference 2014 02 Anpu Varkey 06 Jasleen Bindra 14 Amrit & Mriga 18 Alicia Souza 38 Renu Riswadkar 46 Nupur Madhav 52 Shweta Malhotra 58 Cagri Cankaya 63
Editor in Chief | sudhir@indidesign.in
April 2014 | # 46
Sudhir at the Better Business Summit in Thimphu, Bhutan POOL 46
POOL 46
Deshna Mehta pg 26 |
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Photographed by Carol Nair
361° Conference 2014 02 Anpu Varkey 06 Jasleen Bindra 14 Amrit & Mriga 18 Alicia Souza 38 Renu Riswadkar 46 Nupur Madhav 52 Shweta Malhotra 58 Cagri Cankaya 63
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Designindia was founded in 2002. It was started as a platform for interaction for the design community in India and abroad. Over the years it has grown into a forum spread over many social and professional networking domains, linking design professionals into an active, interactive and thought leading community.
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The Business of Design During the recent Better Business Summit in Bhutan, I was asked this basic question that stumps us all: What is the role of design in a new developing economy? Going by what I have read so far in various reports from across the world, design and the economy are sort of woven together. They grow on each other. Companies and countries that have invested in design are generating more profits, more exports. Investment in design also presupposes some level of success in business, since the investment in design is not exactly little. Poor countries cannot invest, hence get left behind. But it is a fact that no research has so far been able to provide hard facts to prove the exact share of success or economic growth that can be attributed to design. Most rely on case study or story exemplifications. This can easily be seen on the websites of several design companies too. I feel more needs to be done for better investments in design and to employ design to a greater extent. Designers need to work with other professionals to prove their economic worth in hard numbers. As that happens, perhaps smaller upcoming countries will need to organize design summits before they start organizing business summits. Because design does come before business. Sudhir
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A QUESTION OF IDENTITY The 361° Conference 2014, held recently in Mumbai, provided architects from across the world a platform to share insights on architecture and identity
Architects from around the world recently had the opportunity to address the issue of ‘Identity’ and its relevance with and impact on the architecture of a place. The recently held 361° Conference 2014, titled ‘Architecture & Identity’, set the stage for thought-provoking dialogue between the speakers and the delegates. The seventh edition of the 361° Conference was held at the Nehru Centre in Mumbai for the second consecutive year. One of the oldest forums for architecture and design in India, the 361° Conference was established by Indian Architect & Builder (IA&B) magazine in 2005 to initiate a thought-exchange on relevant ideas in architecture and critical concerns of the discipline and create a relevant and serious platform for dialogue on architecture in India. The focus of the conference this year was on people and practices whose work and philosophy takes a stand on architecture and identity within the context of their region. It aimed to introduce 2 POOL #46
delegates to issues like history, politics, economics, religion, principles, methods, sociology, landscape, conservation and environment across a spectrum of scales and contexts. The list of speakers included Dr. B. V .Doshi (India), William J. R. Curtis (France), Aniket Bhagwat (India), Héctor Fernández Elorza (Spain), Dominic Sansoni (Sri Lanka), Kashef Chowdhury (Bangladesh), Channa Daswatte (Sri Lanka), Lars Müller (Switzerland), Minakshi Jain (India), Paulo David (Portugal), Rick Joy (USA), SPASM DESIGN (India), Emre Arolat (Turkey), and Carin Smuts (South Africa). The plethora of knowledge and information served through the three days gave the delegates the opportunity to acquaint themselves with the minds of international architects and to reorient their own philosophies in turn. An icon of post-independence Indian architecture, Padmashri Balkrishna Doshi discussed the ideas of spontaneous place-making and its expanse beyond the physical attributes of any place. Later, architectural critic,
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academic and historian William J. R. Curtis joined him on stage in an interesting debate. Aniket Bhagwat touched upon the multiplicity of Indian identity. “India has too much history and our architecture is often conversations with this history,” he said. Héctor Fernández Elorza spoke of the strength of centred concepts and subtle material interventions in architecture. Dominic Sansoni, an internationally acclaimed travel and architecture photographer, showcased architecture as seen through the eyes of a person untouched by its theoretical complexities. Channa Daswatte, from Sri Lanka, a close associate of Geoffrey Bawa, reflected on ‘memory in architecture’, and ‘design as a part of landscape’ and vice-versa. Kashef Chowdhury of Bangladesh elaborated on spirituality as the core of religious architecture, simplicity as the essence of social spaces, and relevance to the place and function as the key to building spaces that resonate their spirit. Lars Müller of Switzerland, a famous publisher with an interest in
architectural publications, emphasized the importance of ecological building. Minakshi Jain, a stalwart conservationist and academic in historic preservation of Indian architecture, shared some of the highlights of her career such as the Nagaur Fort restoration project. Paulo David of Portugal, Rick Joy of Arizona and SPASM DESIGNS of Mumbai (represented by Sanjeev Panjabi – principal architect) put forth their anthology of projects, and the entire process of building in small intimate studios where most of the work is done by the principals themselves. Emre Arolat of Turkey and Carin Smuts of South Africa gave insights into the socio-economic and political constructs of their nations and a perspective of architecture as a ‘tool to aid’ growth and development, rather than a mere iconic statement. The 361° Conference owes its success and reach to its Title Partners - Daikin Airconditioning India Pvt. Ltd.; Associate Partners - QUEO Bathware and Birla White; and Media Partners – POOL magazine. www.361degrees.net.in
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artist
RIGHT UP HER STREET Anpu Varkey discovers that creating art for street walls is as much fun as painting on canvas! Tell us a little about yourself. AV: I have BFA and MFA degrees from Maharaja Sayajirao University in Vadodara, and a Diploma in Fine Arts from Byam Shaw School of Art in Central St. Martins, London. Though I’m from Bangalore, I’m a drifter; I haven’t stayed in one city for more than three years since college. I’m currently based in Delhi. I have been painting canvases for more than a decade now and I was fortunate to have my first solo show in New York in the summer of 2008. I then moved to Bremen, Germany, where I shared a studio with 15 other artists, some of whom were musicians, designers, club enthusiasts, street artists, jugglers, clowns and the likes. This studio was based above a night club called Zucker, a cultural hub with 6 POOL #46
artist
150 feet, Gandhi mural at the Delhi police headquarters in collaboration with German artist Hendricks Picture credit: Enrico Fabian www.poolmagazine.in  7
artist parties organized only on weekends, but they also accommodated poetry slams and theater on weekdays. Zucker was a nerve center for most youth and they attracted a lot of liberal people since their motto was anti-homophobic, non sexist, antifascist. Prior to my return to Delhi, I organized a solo show of my paintings together with a sound artist in the night club. How did you generate interest in street art? AV: It was in Bremen that I first met serious street writers and stencil enthusiasts under whose influence I started making small scale stencils; I continued with a series of cat stencils when I moved to Delhi in 2011. In March 2012, I co-organized the Extension Khirkee Festival in Delhi with a couple of friends. This was an
organically molded festival; through word of mouth more friends joined and 15 artists/designers/architects participated eventually. At this festival I made my first large scale mural - it was around 40 ft by 24 ft - along with an Italian artist, Mattia Lullini. The paintings I did prior to this festival were also large but not more than 9 ft, so painting on a larger surface atop a 24-foot ladder was quite demanding and exhilarating. I have been engaged in street art for the past two and a half years now. What type of art forms have you worked on? AV: Oil painting on canvases has my passion for a long time, and I sustain a deep allure for portraiture. I work with live models, all of whom are friends I’ve encountered during my life in different cities; I paint them over repeated sessions which could
Street art in Pune; Picture credit: Harshvardhan Kadam 8  POOL #46
The cat with the woolen yarn at Shahpur Jat, New Delhi Picture credit: Pranav Mahajan
last many months. On the streets I make large murals using exterior emulsion and spray paints. I make stencils as well, mainly of my cat. Recently I have been working on a graphic novel, using Indian ink and calligraphy nibs, also centering around my cat. I have worked on theater sets and made murals on interior walls of offices and restaurants as well. How do you sell your work? AV: Selling my work has been a difficult task ever since the art market crash in 2008. It has been tedious even trying to acquire shows in galleries, as no one seemed forthcoming to the kind of work I was doing. I try and organize exhibitions on my own and I was fortuitous to have exhibited at Khoj in October 2013, a series of portraits, titled ‘Residual’. Though nothing sold, it seemed pertinent to me that I brought
out works that spanned five years; else one loses sight of what it means to be an artist now. This is where I feel that street art is burgeoning due to its limitless visibility, strengthened by the openness of the people who live with it and around it. Social media is probably the best tool to market yourself now, and the Extension Khirkee Festival was bombarded with people who came because of the hysteria we created through facebook; this also goes for the recently concluded St.Art Delhi Festival. What do you want to express through your art? AV: With the canvases, I have a deep rooted interest in creating a visual imbalance using strange color coordinates; it spawns a chimerical aura, www.poolmagazine.in 9
artist with unreal hues of greens and reds that command the portraits.
Portrait - Asim Picture credit: Akshat Nauriyal
Street art is still neoteric and I have worked on incongruent themes, from painting a wired hand, to a cat playing with woolen yarn and a dragon fish beside the sea in Kochi. I contextualize the work in accordance to its surroundings, rather than already having a preconceived plan for execution. The color palette is muted to black, white and shades of grey. The wall and its surroundings are the main catalysts. The street is an unbiased space and working out just one leitmotif is disenchanting at this stage for me, I have yet to find a circumference. Do you think street art can be an effective agent of change in our country? AV: I don’t think art can change anything, it merely represents the time we’re living in; it’s just an observer of change. What actually changes is the ambience of a street. By nurturing a visual dialogue which is almost absent in India, street art provides a discernable outlet in a rapidly changing cityscape.
Self portrait
Which has been your favorite work so far? AV: The St.Art Delhi Festival brought a wave of artists from India and abroad between January and February this year - I was teamed up to work with a German artist, Hendrik ‘ECB’ Beikirch, on the Gandhi mural at the Delhi police headquarters. The 150 ft mural took five days to execute, with a working schedule www.poolmagazine.in 11
artist
Dragon fish at Kochi Picture credit: Swanoop John
from 7:30 am to 6:00 pm. Working alongside Hendrik, whose experience in street art spans nearly two decades, was invigorating. At the police headquarters we were always in paint stained clothes, completely immune to security and treated with a kind of novelty, which is kind of ironic when you think of what graffiti means to the police in the West. What are your main influences - art and otherwise? AV: I’m inspired by clouds, barren landscape, heights, and time travel. I preserve an interest in Portuguese literature, though of late it’s mainly horror and gothic fiction, works by Poe, Lovecraft and Ballard. Professionally, what’s your goal? AV: To not be locked down with just one goal, forever re-inventing as I go along. I want to keep drifting and learning, and organize more street art projects. Brain Curry, New Delhi Picture credit: Siddarth Mathawan
Any advice to budding artists? AV: Never lose sight of your aspirations. Stay curious. anpuvarkey@gmail.com www.poolmagazine.in 13
AUTO expo 2014
ELECTRIFYING DISPLAY Jasleen Bindra throws light on the eye-catching DYPDC Pavilion she designed for the recently held Auto Expo ’14 Educational institutes are forever youthful, intellectually stimulating spaces which embody curiosity and a passion for breaching the edge of human thought. A true center of excellence can never become dated. However this aspect of the identity of an institute is usually lost in the way the institute connects with its audience.
transport electric vehicle called EM4, which was showcased at the event. Also required was an interaction zone and space to present the students’ academic work.
The DYPDC Pavilion at the recently held Auto Expo ’14 delivered an experience that challenges the very construct that institutes have stereotyped themselves into. “Intelligent does not mean boring, on the contrary it is supposed to be more engaging,” says Apurva Sharma, a young designer who was a part of the team that designed the pavilion.
Academic work is ideally viewed at eye level. Anything above/ below this height takes away from the design intent, especially in models. It was therefore decided to develop a panoramic display niche, which featured automobile models against conceptual sketches. To bring about segregation, the interaction space was raised. This ensured that visitors looking at the vehicle did not stray into a serious discussion.
The pavilion was the DYPDC Center for Automotive Research & Studies’ first outing at the motor show. The students of the institute have designed a public 14 POOL #46
The foremost challenge was space/ volume management. The organizers had allocated a mere 15 sq.m. to the institute, of which the vehicle alone would need 30% by footprint. The Show architects had restricted the pavilion height to 2.5m; EM4 itself was over 1.5 m high! Many studies were done to ascertain a placement that would allow the visitor to view the vehicle from all angles, while leaving adequate space for other activities.
The space constraint dictated that the back walls become the functional
auto expo 2014
epicenter. Various possibilities for the back wall articulation were explored. Each function was plotted on the wall surface in dedicated niches at appropriate heights. The niches were joined by a combination of arcs at respective levels. These arcs when smoothened gave birth to interesting curves, intersections of which housed seating, model display, catalogue dispensers, brand communication, storage, etc. The form was further simplified by standardizing radii in the curve and by repeating curves at various levels; 6 mm flexible ply was employed to build the curves. High gloss
laminate connected to the sheen of the automotive sheet metal. Modules of 400 mm ensured the material wastage was negligible. The curves were separated by sharp LED light slivers. Adjustable fixtures lit the vehicle from a distance. Spotlights in the short canopy over the seating lit the interaction zone. Information dispensing was coded into the design by means of red circles of various sizes. The tonality of information was deliberately kept quirky and conversational. Formal logo displays and signage were avoided. While corner www.poolmagazine.in  15
auto expo 2014
signage(s) communicated the institute presence from a distance, within the pavilion the logo morphed itself along the curves. The pavilion reinterpreted the four imperatives embodied into the vision of the institution: desirable for people, feasible through technology, viable for business, and appropriate for society and technology. The design set
the context for an exchange of ideas on learning, sustainability and technology in our society. (Jasleen Bindra is Creative Head of Pune based Figments.Inc - Experience Design Studio, and visiting faculty at Symbiosis Institute of Design and Pearl Academy www.figments.in of Fashion)
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fashion
PART ART, PART FASHION Amrit Kumar and Mriga Kapadiya’s label NorBlackNorWhite was born out of a desire to re-interpret ancient and fast disappearing practices of textile design
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fashion What inspired you to be fashion designers? NBNW: Growing up in Toronto we were always exposed to beautiful Indian textiles through our mother’s wardrobes and were captivated by them. At the same time we were exposed to a certain Western street style esthetic and would often mesh the two with our personal style. What does fashion mean to you? NBNW: To us, fashion is more than the final garment. It’s the process that goes into making it, the people involved, the techniques, the many hands that touch it. We love comfortable clothing but have no patience for boring. And NorBlack NorWhite is all about embracing the former and eliminating the latter.
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fashion
How did NorBlack NorWhite happen? NBNW: We started it as more than a fashion label. We wanted to document the process of creation, explore the cultural landscape of the country through textile, create art, collaborate and tell stories. NBNW was conceived as being part art, part anthropology and part fashion. The name was born from the duality of the two of us who founded the label, a balance between extremes, blurred boundaries between old and new, East and West, not being this or that, but everything in between. It’s a play on the mass love for black and white designs, and about digging deeper to ask questions. Most importantly, it’s an expression of our love for Michael Jackson! Who is a NorBlackNorWhite customer? NBNW: NBNW is for those who appreciate ancient techniques presented in a contemporary style, simple silhouettes, and vibrant colors. It speaks to people who respect each garment hanging in their closet and pay attention to the fine details of their favorite art works. An NBNW customer is a tastemaker, ahead of the curve and unafraid to flourish in color. 20 POOL #46
fashion
What attitude do your designs convey? NBNW: Our latest collection is an amalgamation of our favorite silhouettes over the years - vibrant, unapologetic and meant to adorn a woman who recognizes the power of her inner queen. At the same time, we have also launched our very first men’s collection. Featuring hand-woven ikat weaves, linen cotton and denim, this collection presents a street uniform for the modern, urban gentleman. Why did you shift to India? NBNW: We moved to Mumbai in 2009, eager to explore and create. We didn’t have a clear purpose when we first shifted but we knew we wanted to learn, travel, document and make. There was a natural curiosity about our roots, a
disbelief in the NRI perspectives and representations in North America, so we came to investigate what is really happening on Indian soil and what it can mean to be ‘Made in India’. What draws you to Indian textiles? NBNW: We’re fascinated by the intricacy of creation - the idea of a loom taking 20 days to prep in order to just begin weaving is mind blowing to us, and the mathematics and science involved in these crafts is breathtaking. From the very beginning we’ve been obsessed with bandhani (tie-dye) partly because of an amazing artisan family in Kutch that we’ve built a rapport with over the years. They aren’t afraid to experiment, they are bursting with www.poolmagazine.in 21
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creativity, and we love developing fresh bandhani textiles with them. The beauty of the tie-dye process and that moment of wonder when the ties are opened are stunning! Any memorable moments that had an impact on your work? It was after we visited an Indian non-profit organization dedicated to preserving Kutchi indigenous textile, and subsequently gained the respect of its founder and our mentor, that we developed a greater understanding of what it is that we set out to do. How can fashion designers globalize local fashion? By telling a story, respecting the power of the indigenous and ancient, yet making it relevant to the future and the world at large. hello@norblacknorwhite.com www.poolmagazine.in  23
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cover story
AMAZING GRACE Like Pablo Picasso, communication designer Deshna Mehta believes that ‘the meaning of life is to find your gift; the purpose of life is to give it away’. Through Anugraha, the Mumbaibased design studio she co-founded with two others, she is able to use her gift to create meaningful solutions for others’ needs.
What’s the best part about being a designer? DM: There is very little or no monotony. Being a designer involves interaction with different people and subjects on a day to day basis. This exposure in itself has a lot to offer and is a great learning experience. The potential of making an impact on a desired audience through a mode of expression that is receivable and understandable to them is motivation enough to focus and work well. The process for me involves acquainting and aligning myself to new thoughts, ideating, imagining, conceptualizing, innovating and finally expressing. Everything is experimental and more often than not, unpredictable. The 26 POOL #46
only certain thing is uncertainty. Sometimes the over-consciousness of pushing myself out of comfort zones is so much that I wonder if I have become comfortable about being uncomfortable. This toying around of reflections within, the back and forth of insights and eureka moments that surface, the more you know, the more you realize how little you know, the sensitivities that emerge, the macroscopic zooming in contrast to the enlargement of the universe, the observer and the observation - these thoughts form undercurrents of the tangible design practice which makes it challenging, humbling and gratifying.
cover story
A peak into the information graphics created for Inventory, a book that documents seven years of collaborative research and work from BlackBerry (UK) and the Helen Hamlyn Centre for Design at the Royal College of Art. Printed by Pureprint, London.
Was creativity a part of your childhood? DM: Drawing with crayons for long hours was not uncommon in my childhood. Taking up art as a subject in school and subsequently appearing for the intermediate examination allowed me to spend more time doing what I really enjoyed. The conscious and subconscious influences of my family, a lot of whom are involved in the field of art and architecture, coupled with great support and freedom from their end allowed me to take up applied art at university level and then pursue higher studies. I have memories of drooling over the work of a 14-year-old artist named Alexandra Nechita (in a book given to me by my dad) with a rather surreal and chaotic style. I remember how I would silently pray that someday I would make as much art as her and that someone would turn it into a book. Tell us a bit about your journey as a designer. DM: Studying applied art at Sir J. J. Institute of Applied Art in Mumbai was a dream come
true. Spending long hours doing hands-on work inculcated a lot of patience in me. The mentoring by professors played a huge role in shaping my thoughts - in particular Prof. Vinay Sayanekar who was my elective (typography) tutor as well as my class professor. He instilled the seeds of research in me by going out of his way and spending time with me in the library and exposing me to inspiring works of various design eras and artists (Paul Klee in particular). I believe you need to do a few things to be sure that you don’t want to do them. This was true of working in the field of advertising for me. A short stint at JWT (Mumbai) before moving to London was a great learning experience. However, at the end of it, I was sure of what I didn’t want to do. The MA in Graphic Design at London College of Communication (LCC) in the UK came with new geographic environments and new mental spaces. Ideation, research, reading, objectification amidst the subjectivity www.poolmagazine.in 27
‘Drawing-makes-you-see-things-clearer’
‘Indian Monsoon - Lime Green’
coupled with a lot of photography characterized my time at LCC. Long walks at different times of the day and night by the Thames helped me introspect and internalize everything that the course and the city had to offer. My seeing and grasping involved making mental parallels and contrasts to my earlier upbringing. This culminated in my dissertation in which I compared the cultural landscapes on the Thames in London and the Ganges in Varanasi.
to very different ‘ways of seeing’. His sensitivities and sensibilities inspired me greatly. The necessity to ‘feel’ for whatever is being worked upon and then subsequently evoke ‘feeling’ in the work produced was my biggest take-away from his design philosophy. Even after I moved back to Mumbai, he continues to mentor me in my thoughts for all that he fed into my system while I was in London. I can never thank him enough.
While at LCC, I found a great mentor in Michael Wolff, co-founder of Wolff Ollins. Times with him in London exposed me
With the unending support of my family and grace of my spiritual Guru, I was able to fulfill my dream of studying at Royal College
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cover story
Compilation of ‘A Conscious Contradiction’ exhibited at Enter 12, Watermans, London
of Art (RCA) in London. I enrolled for an MA in Visual Communication and RCA became a temple of sorts for me. The stimulating environment and energies of the space had so much to offer. RCA made me question my practice, myself, my belief systems. It helped me unlearn a lot of things. Collaborations, interdisciplinary projects, and a lot of reflecting filled my days at RCA. Drawing, making art installations, curating and filming, which I had never done before, became an integral part of my practice. Being exposed to a studio full of classmates of over 20 nationalities with different skill sets made every moment spent at RCA a brilliant learning experience. Towards the end of my studies at RCA, I found a great teacher and mentor in Neville Brody, also the HOD of the School of Communications at RCA, who constantly encouraged me to experiment and fail.
Why did you move back to India? DM: I spent four years in London to study and work and then moved back to India at the end of 2012. I am very grateful for my time in London and the amazing institutions and mentors from whom I was fortunate enough to learn. However it only seemed appropriate to move back and set up my design practice in India as all my research and inspiration was from India and Indian thought. The distancing by being away was very beneficial to study methods, approaches and get some good exposure which I did in London, but to come back and set up studio here was the next most logical step for me to be able to put to practice all that I had learnt while I was away. When did you decide to set up ‘Anugraha’? DM: Anugraha was set up in December 2012. After moving back from London, a big project came my way from a client I had previously www.poolmagazine.in 29
(Dissertation) Comparing the cultural landscapes of Thames in London and Ganges in Varanasi
worked with. It was a commission to design a book on the Kumbh Mela which was to begin in January 2013. I felt the need to have a registered company to take this on. Prior to this, I had ideas in my head about starting a design and publishing initiative, but when this project was offered, these thoughts took the form of Anugraha. Co-founded by Leena Mehta, Deven Shah and myself, Anugraha aspires to adopt an inclusive approach aimed at developing a mass appeal. My creative strengths, Deven’s print production and finishing expertise, and Leena’s efficient management, client servicing skills and passion for creativity helps us complement each other effectively to produce work that we find meaningful, which ultimately and hopefully satisfies our clients. The name ‘Anugraha’ was given and gifted to us by our spiritual Guru. It means ‘grace’. It thrives on the thought that we are channels for the anugraha (grace) to flow and manifest in the form of physical, tangible renditions. At Anugraha, we design, publish, curate, make art, research, write and photograph. We work on anything apart from luxury brands and things that promote 30 POOL #46
consumerism in general. Therefore our clientele mainly falls in the cultural, social, medical and educational zones. Anugraha is a design and publishing platform that encourages collaborative practices, deriving from and contributing to elusive aspects of cultures, philosophies and ideas in general. By experimenting with and incorporating patterns and paradigms to express the intangible, it aims to weave a dynamic fabric of awareness, leaving insiders and onlookers with a sense of connect. The intention is to communicate, to be useful and to inspire. What inspires you at Anugraha? DM: Amongst the many ideas that inspire and drive us, this thought from Mahatma Gandhi’s autobiography, The Story of My Experiments with Truth, resonates with us in particular: ‘The recluse in the fable kept a cat to keep away the rats, and then a cow to feed the cat with milk, and a man to keep the cow, and so on. My ambitions also grew like the family of the recluse.’ We, at Anugraha are mindful of this, and with this consciousness hope not to tread this path. Being fortunate enough to be exposed to a very purpose-driven outlook, we aspire to
cover story
Madhoor Calendar 2013 inspired by Humans of New York
imbibe and propagate ‘freedom from want’. This inspiration emanated from these lines in Thinking Design by Prof. Singanapalli Balram: ‘Social value is the new capital, not the sales charts of brand owners.’ This is recapitulated in the UNDP report of 1994 which states that one of the fronts that the battle of peace must be fought on is the ‘economic and social front where victory means ‘freedom from want’. Tell us about your Kumbh Mela book project. DM: On my return to India, I found a patron in an ex-client, Madhoor Builders, who were familiar with my dissertation on the comparison between the cultural landscapes of the Thames in London and the Ganges in Varanasi. This led to the commissioning of the ‘Kumbh Book’ project. Being in It and Being of It is Anugraha’s first publishing endeavor. It is a contemporary visual handbook capturing the essence of the Kumbh Mela through narratives and anecdotes. The largest human gathering on earth, Kumbh Mela is recurrently apprehended negatively in India by a large part of the populace. As part of the young, educated and privileged section of Indian society, our own perception of the Kumbh Mela until recently was that of pandemonium leading
to several stampedes, a hoax gathering of so called ‘religious or spiritual’ saints, only to be read about in newspapers and magazines. The predominantly political agendas which regulate and dominate its very existence leave an unpleasant taste with the majority. There may be a few grains of truth in all that people have been conditioned to think, but the mountains of purity, spirituality and the very essence of this faith-gathering cannot be repudiated and dismissed. Although there exists a large volume of visual as well as literary text documenting and describing the Kumbh Mela, most of it is either scholarly and inaccessible or personal, at times biased. The intentional or unintentional omission of context and relevance leads to an exoticism which distances the audience from the essence of the content. This leaves a vast number of interested people without a means to an informed yet engaging overview on this culturally, historically and spiritually landmark event. Although difficult to describe within the constraints of language, an ‘Indian’ perspective is essential for and imperative to such an undertaking. We decided that this wasn’t going to be a coffee table book. It’s not a book just to flip but it is a book to read. We hoped to capture www.poolmagazine.in 31
‘Being in It and Being of It’, work in progress - (top) Content segregation and mock prints | (botttom) Display font testing, with Carol Nair at Anugraha
the essence of the Kumbh Mela, to bridge the rift between the people with faith and those without. We wanted to provide an Indian platform of Indian understanding amongst the very many kinds of Indians. Two months of living amongst a people that brimmed with faith in the most basic conditions was an experience that changed me from within. It shook me and affirmed and enhanced my faith in the unseen. I owe every bit of all my strengths today to all these amazing experiences that life and the people in it have had to offer. How did the idea of a film come about? DM: The idea of a documentary was floated soon after to the client who agreed. Skilled photographers, writers, film-makers and designers proficient in today’s technology came together to collaborate with Anugraha on the Kumbh Mela book and film. This heterogeneous group resonated with a
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cover story
Kumbh Book (work in progress)
zeal and enthusiasm to explore, understand and creatively express the essence of this massive spiritual gathering. We spent a little over six weeks at the Mahakumbh which was held in January and February 2013 at Allahabad, gathering data through first hand interviews, documentation and our actual experience. What role does research play in your work? DM: Research is an integral part of my work. A lot of reading and writing precedes ideation or conceptualization. The visual output or design comes a lot later. I would say 50% of my work time is spent in research and conceiving ideas. I absolutely enjoy this part of my practice and find it to be very stimulating. There are a few exceptions when I begin work hands-on almost immediately and allow the making to make what it must
and meander its way into a solution. However these instances are rare. A lot of my projects fall in the zone of publishing design where more often than not, I am equally involved with the content of what I am producing. Therefore the role is that of an editor and a designer. The process involves internalization and then an expression post-assimilation. Any elimination in these steps, sometimes due to time constraints, has a visible impact which I definitely sense even if the client doesn’t. I value and strongly believe that research has a subconscious part to play even at times when it is not apparent most tangibly in the outcomes. The part of my practice which leans more towards art is pre-informed in particular by a huge amount of reading, researching and referencing. The tangible renditions, ideas of expression for these emerge through and during this research. The research often culminates in dedicated blogs for the area being explored. So far all of it has taken the form of spatial, performative and organic installations. Did you have to choose between doing something financially stable as opposed to doing something more creative that you really loved? DM: The stuff that I refrain from working on now was very much a part of my design practice earlier. I have designed for luxury brands in the past, made several coffee table books with a one-way take relationship without any give back to my inspiration. This consciousness and self imposed decision to work with a certain clientele has emanated from a lot of reflection and questioning of purpose/ usefulness of what I have decided to pursue for a career derived from a passion. I have been fortunate enough to have a very supportive family all through my education and even after - be it morally or financially. www.poolmagazine.in  33
a brochure for a huge goshala (cow shelter) near Nasik; and branding and designing collaterals for initiatives which have been incepted by social entrepreneurs at Tata Institute of Social Sciences. How can Indian design solutions be made globally relevant? DM: I believe that understanding context has a huge rule to play. Why must Indian design solutions be made globally relevant when they are for India? Indian sensitivities, belief systems and cultural connotations are taken into consideration while designing. These are quite unique and different for people from different Design for Diwali cards for Drushti Eye and Retina Centre places and cultures. A lot and Rajvi Nursing Home. of solutions in my opinion need to be local and I have to say that there hasn’t been a situation contextual for a start. The danger of generic ones is such that in the rat race of inclusivity, this far where I’ve had to fend for anyone they very often tend to overlook a large part other than myself. Anugraha is a little over of the Indian (local) audience. However, a lot a year old and so far we’ve worked with and of designed communication is an exception for clients whose purposes align with ours. to this. There is a universality that transcends Monetarily, we don’t mint money but the cultural identities and notions. This is the zone satisfaction is immense. What we take back of ubiquitous feelings generally received as an home is enough to sustain for now. experience: pain, pleasure, emotions, things What projects are you currently unseen and intangible. When the intention is to working on? evoke ‘feeling’ or address universal problems DM: Over the last few months, some of the that are faced, the approach is different. projects we’ve done include book, brochure and catalogue design, branding and reThe one thing that I am conscious of and branding, and Diwali cards and desk refrain from doing is ‘exoticizing’ Indian calendars. Our ongoing projects (apart from culture. This phenomenon is largely the Kumbh book) include a compilation prevalent in a lot of designed communication of illustrated stories for children for the or ephemera that we see around. I don’t find educational wing of a spiritual organization; that this serves a purpose beyond esthetic 34 POOL #46
cover story engagement. Most importantly, there is no give-back to the culture from where the inspiration is derived. There is a parasitic relationship between us as designers and what inspires us. Mutualism on the other hand would be more beneficial.
extraordinaries’ will be sought after. Heroworshipping of artists and designers will hopefully fade. Hands-on processes such as mind-mapping and hand drawings will have a valuable a place in the digital mayhem.
Where do you see the Indian design industry going in the next five years?
DM: With Anugraha, we hope to take on work which is meaningful, in the sense that it provides solutions as opposed to creating needs. The aspiration is to develop a givetake relationship at a process level with everything that forms inspiration for us to create. The ultimate goal, if that is achievable in this human birth, is to imbibe and propagate ‘freedom from want’.
DM: Everything becoming open source, therefore a lot of things that only designers can ‘produce’ today will be easily do-able by non-designers due to technology and access and the ever-growing DIY phenomenon. However, what will remain unique would be the eye, the mind and the heart of a designer and all the influences or non-influences that shape his or her belief systems. Therefore as designers today, the first step would be to identify and be conscious of the flux in one’s beliefs and to nourish these in a manner that will be beneficial to its receivers. I don’t know if I can predict design trends, but I think there will be a whole revolution of conscious designers who will understand and be able to appreciate what ‘design by default’ is. They will hopefully then act as facilitators and abide rather than instruct and realize that a carefully considered design judgment may involve a conscious decision of not designing. Also, the sensitivity towards detail and invisibility of design will blossom; the awareness that good design is least visible and lets things be visible. The silence within the chaos would be sought after like never before. Designs or design solutions in the form of templates would be expected as outcomes of design thinking and designing (rather than one-offs). As templates are synonymous with systems and more sustainable for the amount of applications they offer, these would be expected as deliverables in the fastpaced world of technological advancements. Generative designs allowing for the unexpected will have a place. The ‘anonymous
What are your plans for the future?
On the personal front, I hope to pursue a PhD to explore if current graphic design practices in India can be made more relevant to the masses in the country. The first step would be to write a process-focused history of graphic design in the country from the time it existed in its unnamed state followed by its re-definition to what is more apt for an Indian context. This history would speak of processes which are intangible and unseen, which govern the quotidian functioning of an Indian audience by the semantic values they instill in them. A consciousness of these as practitioners would help generate design solutions more pertinent to the masses on the receiving end, thus making the profession more meaningful to an audience for whom it is absolutely alien and not relevant at this point. What is your advice to the new generation of designers? DM: I am not sure if I have enough experience to advise anyone on anything. However, I’d like to say that more often than not, I’ve found myself toying around the idea of ‘what’ I should be doing and ‘how’ I must achieve whatever I’d like to do. For the longest time, I did not ask myself this all important question ‘why’ I do what I do. And when I did ask this question, a lot of things changed www.poolmagazine.in 35
Design Drives Innovation.
A philosophy that nurtures a culture of innovation. For over six decades, Forbes Marshall has been building steam engineering and control instrumentation solutions that work for process industry. Today, we are leaders in process efficiency and energy conservation through technology tie ups and focused investments in manufacturing and research. Constant innovation in our product range is what helps us stay at the fore. We have
consistently brought to the market innovations in technology and design. Several of our designs have won awards, the most recent being the Steamon Vortex Flowmeter which has won the iDesign award for the Best Design in Capital Goods. To know more about what drives innovators at Forbes Marshall, write in to us at response@forbesmarshall.com .
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cover story construction where he saw a sculptor making an idol of God. Suddenly he noticed a similar idol lying nearby. Surprised, he asked the sculptor, “Do you need two statues of the same idol?” “No,” said the sculptor without looking up, “We need only one, but the first one got damaged at the last stage.” The gentleman examined the idol and found no apparent damage. “Where is the damage?” he asked. “There is a scratch on the nose of the idol,” said the sculptor, still busy with his work. “Where are you going to install the idol?”
30th Anniversary catalogue and prospectus of the HISTORY OF DESIGN POSTGRADUATE PROGRAMME at the Victoria & Albert Museum & Royal College of Art in collaboration with Fig.9 collective. Printed by Calverts, London.
in my practice. Thus, I firmly believe that questioning the purpose and usefulness of what one does is essential and if one is able to answer this question, then the work produced stems from an affirmative and passiondriven space. As a result of this, the outcomes produced are unique, well considered and do not involve aping and living up to standards set by others. I am of the opinion that making the decision of what not to do is very crucial and beneficial. When you don’t agree with something, don’t propagate it. The ability to draw and design is a special gift. My Dad shared a beautiful story with me a few weeks ago that I find very inspiring: A German once visited a temple under
The sculptor replied that it would be installed on a 20-ft high pillar. “If the idol is that far, who is going to know that there is a scratch on the nose?” the gentleman asked.
The sculptor stopped work, looked up at the gentleman, smiled and said, “I will know it.” I’ve found that when I have worked passionately and put in my best to strive towards perfection, the outcomes have always been appreciated. A conscious detachment from the outcome and all that it elicits as articulated in the Bhagavad Gita and is roped into the Eames Report is what I seek to achieve: ‘You have the right to work but for the work’s sake only; you have no right to the fruits of work. Desire for the fruits of work must never be your motive in working.’ anugraha.deshna@gmail.com www.poolmagazine.in 37
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illustrator
Happy to Draw! Alicia Souza calls herself a happiness-illustrator and works at creating smiles through her fun products
struggles to pursue that love of drawing landed me where I am today!
Did you always know drawing was how you’d earn a living? AS: When I was little, everything that I wanted to be was as far from the creative field as possible. But in school I was always drawing, doing the bulletin boards, backdrops and school magazine and when my art teacher noticed, she told me that if I didn’t pursue art, I would be wasting my life. Being the scariest thing I’d hear at that age of confusion and doubt, I pursued graphic design and then in my final year realized I liked drawing even more. A lot of odd jobs and 38 POOL #46
Before we go on, tell us a bit about yourself. AS: I have a Bachelor’s degree in Communication Design from RMIT University, Melbourne. Originally from Abu Dhabi, UAE, I currently live in Bangalore, which is where my ‘Happimess Studio’ is based. Apart from commercial work, I create illustrations for a range of products such as notebooks, mugs, magnets, and greeting cards, which I sell online. When I’m not stuck in Bangalore traffic, I enjoy writing, cooking, obsessing over dogs, talking about food, doing household chores, and making schedules. What do you like to illustrate? AS: Everything, everyone and everywhere! There aren’t too many things or people who don’t have stories or something funny to say. My two dogs are my biggest inspirations!
illustrator
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Is there a fixed process involved? AS: I usually tend to see something funny/ think of something funny and write down the thought in my diary as a note. I’m not much of an outdoor sketcher. So when I get the chance, I sit at my desk and draw out the notes, ideas and observations. Sometimes things sounded funnier when I saw them and look rather silly on paper. That happens too. Which do you prefer, the sketchbook or computer? AS: I can’t pick one or the other as most of the time they happen as a process. I definitely prefer drawing on paper. The sound of the pen on paper and the irreversibility just makes it more enjoyable for me. I actually am not too fond of coloring, oddly enough, and find the computer a bit easier to layer colors. When it comes to client work, it makes 40 POOL #46
it easier to make a few changes on the computer than it would on paper. Do you have your work critiqued before you put it ‘out there’? AS: When I initially started showcasing my work online, I used to want to ask someone if my drawing was good to go, but there was always a lack of people or time, so I ended up trusting my instinct. Of course there are times now when I really need opinions; for example, when I draw something religious and need to know if I’ve gotten any details wrong. But I feel like the only way to be critiqued is to actually put it out there! What type of commercial projects have you done? AS: I’ve done editorial illustrations, magazine illustrations, children’s books, product illustration and design, corporate
illustrator
illustrations, posters, backdrops and one drawing for a fellow who wanted to ask his all-time love on a date. Do you have a consistent and recognizable style? AS: Having a style has its pros and cons. I’ve explored many styles when I wasn’t illustrating for a living but one happened to stick when I started working as an illustrator. When it comes to work, I like working with the cartoony-style I have because I am confident of how the project will flow and the time it would require, and more often than not, clients come to me because of it. As a hobby (yes, illustrating is a job and a hobby!) I try to explore different techniques because that’s always fun! What is the biggest hurdle in your style of work? AS: Probably not being able to do certain kinds of commercial work that involves www.poolmagazine.in 41
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feelings of sadness, worry, seriousness, etc. as my style seems to lighten the mood! What do you love most about your work? AS: I love that it’s not work and that it’s a part of me as a person. Without drawing, I would be an unrecognizable me. Also, that it’s my form of yoga, therapy and my good deed for the day if I get a smile from someone. What are your future plans? AS: To work on collaborating with other brands, and products. To draw for a cause. To paint. alicia.souza@gmail.com www.poolmagazine.in 43
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Shivani Dhar pg 32
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Tanaji Avghade pg 32 | Photographed by Gourab Ganguli
Anubha Kakroo 02 Uzma Showkat 04 The Craft Development Institute 10 Devika Krishnan 14 Abeer Gupta 22 Akshay Kaul 44 Tinni Arora 52 Jenny Pinto 58
Jasleen Bindra pg 32
| Photographed by Neetika Devgan
Suresh Venkat 04 MIXIN, Srinagar 12 'Ek Type' foundry 18 Anant Nanvare 26 Manish Gulati 44 Anais Basu 50 Manreet Deol 58
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Rit Mishra 04 Stefan Stark 10 Madhura Kulkarni 14 Love@FirstSight 18 Mithun Darji 26 Ram Raheja 42 Dhruv Kapur 52 Deepak & Aparna 58 Cagri Cankaya 63
socio-craft
CREATING CREATURES Graphic designer Renu Riswadkar teamed up with Neha Bhandare and Gauri Mirashi to set up Creature Village, a Pune-based design shop that ‘designs, makes and sells curious things’. She tells POOL how they help women to earn a living and learn multiple vocational skills.
(L-R) Renu, Neha and Gauri
Please tell us something about yourself and the co-founders of Creature Village. RR: For me, when it came to picking a vocation, design was a no-brainer very early on. While studying Architecture, I was finally able to articulate what I enjoy designing the most – I went to the Birmingham Institute of Art & Design for a MA-Visual Communication, and a couple of years later, I eventually settled into the exciting, underpaid life of a graphic designer. Neha has a MBA from Welingker Institute of Management; she works as a Purchase & Sales Manager in the Manufacturing Industry. Gauri is working on an MA- Urban Policy & Governance from the TATA Institute of Social Sciences. How did ‘Creature Village’ come about? RR: Gauri had learnt how to stitch and had been making adorable cloth animals (like our Brood of Owls) for a while. I jumped in to give it an esthetic direction, build a brand and to reach out to a larger audience. Our third partner, Neha, came in to give it some sort of financial structure. We use scrap, waste and recyclable material wherever possible to make a range of unique products which are available online
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socio-craft
Brood of Owls
‘Snug’ the Sleeve www.poolmagazine.in 47
socio-craft
‘Golu’ the Bunny and various other products
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‘Doodles’ the Journal
and in select shops. We also make custom products, in partnership with individuals/organizations, and are open to a variety of design projects. We work with some wonderful women who are using this opportunity to earn a living and learn multiple vocational skills. Tell us more about the self-help groups that Creature Village works with. RR: We met a number of women’s groups before we clicked with the one we partner with – they specialize in tailoring. While initially we were giving them templates and instructions for each product, we soon started getting a lot of feedback and initiative from them. In ‘Sling the Jhola’, one of the women decided on her own to use a different cloth for the sides of the bag, and its straps. While this was not the original design, it was very welcome, as it lets us
create a bag using smaller pieces of fabric. What products does Creature Village offer? RR: The most fun part of our work is thinking up new products, because we have to make sure they are largely made from waste cloth. So far we have a range of very cost-effective stuffed animals, iPad sleeves, jholas and wallets as well as removable cloth covers for sketching journals. What type of material do you prefer to use? RR: Very early on, Gauri’s focus was to up-cycle waste fabric. It became the basis on which our entire design language evolved. Today we source our fabric from the scraps tailors discard, or the ends of the taaga that shopkeepers www.poolmagazine.in 49
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Wallets
Jholas
have near-gotten-rid-of. Because we have limited ourselves to material in this form, we often have to improvise with products, like using patchwork when we need to create a larger surface. Our techniques are very simple – they have to be easy enough for everyone in a self-help group to master. We often go through a number of ways a particular product can be made before settling on one that seems most doable for all the women in the self-help group. What inspires your designs? RR: A lot of our initial products were inevitably things we needed/used. Gauri routinely uses cloth wallets which turned into ‘Tuck the Wallet’. Neha needed a sleeve for her iPad – hence ‘Snug the Sleeve’. I am pretty obsessed with customizing my sketchbooks – hence ‘Doodles the Journal’, and so on! Now that we have been in business for almost a year, we have started identifying products we want to create 50 POOL #46
season-wise. We take Creature Village to a number of flea markets and are beginning to think up things that fit into the mood there. Describe the process you go though to turn your ideas into products. RR: We often brainstorm and throw a number of ideas at each other over days, weeks, and months before we pick a handful to work on for a given sixmonth period. At this point, once we know what we are making, Gauri steps in to work out how it will be made. Then comes the bit where Neha and I procure the sort of fabric that seems to be a right fit for it. We then drop off all the bits and bobs, along with a finished sample, with the head of the self-help group. Once she has figured it out, she is pretty much in charge of driving the production with her team. It takes us anywhere between four to six months to create a collection. Since we all have ‘day-jobs’, this is a larger time span than we would like. Hopefully we can do one collection every quarter soon!
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Who is a typical Creature Village customer? RR: We believe there is always scope for something that is beautiful and brings pleasure. The typical customer would be someone who values the handmade and the level of personal attention we give to our products. Someone who loves that each owl, each journal, and each monster looks different. We have had women between the ages of 25-30 fawning over ‘Golu the Bunny’ and new moms buying ‘Croo the Monster’ for their kids. What does the future hold for Creature Village? RR: Like all start-ups, we are dreaming big! We envision lots of more products, more expertise, better craftsmanship, and solid long-term partnerships with our self-help groups. hello@creaturevillage.in www.poolmagazine.in 51
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lifestyle design
ACCENT ON COLOR Interior designer Nupur Madhav of Shankh believes in fusing a modern straight line style with a traditional approach in the process of creating a better living environment for people How did Shankh come about? NM: I have a Diploma in Interior Design from The Board of Technical Education, New Delhi. My career unfolded very gradually - it was more of a process of self-discovery. Eventually, it was my love for pure materials coupled with an appreciation for vivid colors that are a visual treat to our senses that enabled me to conceive Shankh over 17 years ago. At Shankh, our thoughts create happy spaces and a cozy ambience. What inspires your work? NM: My love of all beautiful things, and my travels, motivate me to create happy habitable spaces. My design philosophy speaks of timeless elegance and happiness. Clean lines play an important role in my esthetics. 52  POOL #46
lifestyle design
Connecting the Dots
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lifestyle design
What was your greatest success and biggest setback? NM: I think my greatest success is a dramatic increase in the number of clients. Without any clear advertising or publicity, I am only recognized for my work. At Shankh, we have crafted the interiors and furniture pieces for various residences in cities like Delhi, Jaipur, Patna, and Ahmedabad, and globally in the Netherlands. We have also undertaken various commercial, office and industrial projects. Currently, we are working in NCR and Trivandrum. 54  POOL #46
What is your favorite project? NM: My latest project, which is my own residential apartment! I have managed to instill the essence of my family, my thoughts and personality through form, color and materials. I also wanted to blend traditional and modern design with a dash of color to make the space vibrant and energetic. How important is research for your work? NM: Through Shankh we like to create spaces for clients that are appropriate to
lifestyle design
(Left - Right) 1. Corner Charms | 2. Delight
their personalities. I personally look forward to studying them, and reflect their personas in the spaces/furniture that we create. The idea is to create an ambience that they can relax in and relate to. I believe in the purity of materials, and therefore I try and use them in their pure, basic and raw forms. I am also partial to elements like wood, stone and fabrics in silk and cotton. Does Indian craft influence the space that your create? NM: Yes, in all its essence. My work is more of a fusion of traditional Indian culture and modern minimalistic confluence. www.poolmagazine.in  55
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Responsive Recesses
This can be reinterpreted in either form, color or sometimes, even textures. What do you enjoy most about your work? NM: My satisfaction, and inspiration, lies in the smile of a client! The most enjoyable element in my work is the play of form and colors. What are some of the emerging trends India will see in the field of interior and furniture design? NM: India has a very rich culture of crafts. Globally, Indians are now being seen as being design sensitive and have a better scope of fusing the past heritage with present and futuristic styles. Any advice for budding designers? NM: Channelize your energies into creativity with patience and perseverance. nupurmadhav@gmail.com www.poolmagazine.in  57
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graphic design
HOW COOL IS THAT! Shweta Malhotra, Delhi-based independent graphic designer, is looking for ways to marry design and fashion
What compels you to design? SM: I’ve always been inclined towards art and design ever since I was young. So when it came to deciding what I wanted to do it was a natural choice. Design, for me, is a way of seeing things and a way of communicating. It’s much bigger than just graphic design. It’s what keeps me excited about my work, seeing how things are made, seeing what other designers and artists are doing and seeing how I can find newer ways of working with design as a medium. The adage ‘Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life’, totally applies to me and I’m lucky to be one of those people. Design to me is a passion and not a job. Tell us a little about your stint in advertising. SM: I did a five-year diploma course in Applied Art from Sophia Polytechnic in Mumbai. In college I was more inclined to photography and ideas and also majored in photography in my final year. My final year campaign, for which I won a gold medal and many other awards, led me to an advertising agency; it was a very idea heavy campaign. I started out at McCann Erickson as a visualizer. I worked there for about a year and a half on various advertising campaigns for Tata Indicom, Pears, Stayfree, Café Mocha and a lot of other clients. After that I moved on to Contract Advertising as an art director. Here I got to work for clients like Shoppers Stop, HSBC, and Cadbury’s amongst others. I also worked on the ‘Vote for the New National Animal’ campaign for Sanctuary magazine, which later went on to win a lot of awards internationally. Projects for Shoppers Stop also gave me the 58 POOL #46
graphic design
The Taj Calendar 2011 Creative Direction Ashutosh Karkhanis Concept, Art Direction and Design - Shweta Malhotra Photography - Prasad Naik Styling - Little Shilpa
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Soma Project - Branding
chance to work on some fashion shoots, which was fun. Apart from advertising, I began to work on a few design projects with DesignSutra, Contract’s dedicated design unit.
work experience for me. As a studio they were known for their experimental work and for not doing things conventionally. Kurnal Rawat (the creative head) was great to work with. I got to do a lot of experimental work there. I worked on clients like Asian Paints, Zenzi Bar and Restaurant, Bhavishyavani Future Soundz, Maximum India festival at the Kennedy Center, and a lot of inhouse projects. I also got to learn and understand a lot more about typography from colleagues who were designers and typographers. Work was just more satisfying and there was more creative freedom.
I then got an opportunity to work at Ogilvy and so I moved. There I got exposed to a lot of film and radio work, ideas and scripts. While I was at Ogilvy I applied to Fabrica, Benetton’s visual arts research center in Italy. I spent two weeks in Treviso, which kind of opened up my mind to Visual Arts and Design further.
Two years after working at Grandmother I moved to Rediffusion Y&R Design where I worked with Ashutosh Karkhanis. The most interesting project there was the Taj Calendar 2011 where I we got to work with 12 fashion designers When the design unit dissolved, I left Rediffusion and began working as an independent graphic designer. Working independently has been great but has its pros and cons. I miss interacting with people but you have a lot of creative freedom, so that evens things out.
How did you get into graphic design? SM: Once I was back I knew I wanted to be in design and work on my craft and I was convinced that an advertising agency wasn’t the best place to do it. So I joined Grandmother India as a graphic designer. I would say that was pretty much the best
What are some of your favorite projects? SM: There have been quite a few. Foremost among them is the Taj Calendar 2011, the creative concept for which was ‘Icons’. The idea was to pay tribute to the iconic nature of many Taj hotels. The project involved
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graphic design commissioning fashion designers to create costumes based on each hotel. It was a great experience working on the project with designers such as Rohit Bal, Tarun Tahiliani, Sabyasachi, Anamika Khanna, and Malini Ramani, among others. Another favorite is Asian Paints Colournext 2009. It’s always a pleasure working with Asian Paints as they are open to experimental design especially when it comes to Colournext, which till date is fabulous to look at every year. I was lucky to have worked on CN 09 while I was at Grandmother. It’s always a good experience working with clients that are on the same wave length as you esthetically. A lot of effort went into the ‘Vote for the New National Animal’ project and it turned out to be very fruitful as the campaign won a lot of awards internationally. What or who has been the biggest influence on your work? SM: Of all the many influences, I would say working at Grandmother India with Kurnal Rawat was quite a changing point for me. It was the first design studio I worked at and I learned a lot while I was there. Grandmother was known to be an experimental studio at the time, so when clients wanted something out of the box it’s where they came. At Grandmother there was a new media team way before any other company in Mumbai, so there was lot of energy and exposure to different things besides the conventional. Working there kind of opened my mind to newer things and gave me a much wider perspective to design. Clients were young and open to more creative work, so opportunities were great with most projects.
Asian Paints ’09 logo | Creative Direction – Kurnal Rawat | Design - Shweta Malhotra
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graphic design
(Above) CD Cover
Do you enjoy working on digital projects? SM: Web and digital design has become a very important part of branding. A website is like what a brochure used to be to a brand. When you work on a branding and identity project the website comes second only to the logo. Every client today needs a website. So it’s pretty much a package now; I look at it as a brochure but on a different medium which is digital and not print. I don’t see it very differently but you do need to know a whole lot before you can design a website. You need to understand the digital medium well. It’s the most accessible tool for any brand today. What areas of work or personal development are you hoping to explore further? SM: I hope to take graphic design forward into other areas such as fashion, 62 POOL #46
(Left) ‘Something Cool Every Day’ a graphic design experiment started recently, which is a collection graphic art, photos, typography or illustration, mostly experimental, based on daily experiences a daily digital sketch book of sorts
apparel, accessories, and graphic art. I’ve always been interested in fashion so I’m always trying to marry design and fashion in different ways. In fact, I recently did a series of illustrations for the Lakme Fashion Week, which seemed to be quite well received. This year I also started a design experiment called Something Cool Every Day. It’s a blog where I create and post some sort of graphic art (typography, illustration, images, mix media) every day. It’s like my daily digital sketchbook. How do you keep your ideas fresh? SM: I travel, read, meet new people, and absorb as much as I can around me. design@shwetamalhotra.in
designer on the road
O V E J A R A S in find his stint Cagri Cankaya ! ly, but relaxing Sarajevo lone .com rontheroad
www.designe
I arrived in Sarajevo, Bosnia and waiting for me was Mirza from Via Media, the agency where I was to work. I was shocked because it was the first time anyone had written my name on the placard totally right in Turkish! I was shocked again when he started to talk with me in Turkish! On the way to the agency I asked how he spoke Turkish so well. He told me an interesting story: When he was very young Mirza came to Turkey with his family during the war in Bosnia. He attended high school in Turkey. The first year he couldn’t pass his lessons since he didn’t know the language. He also had to take care of his family and so he was studying and working in a Turkish bazaar and selling cheese at the same time. After the first year his Turkish became good and he passed the lessons one by one. After the war he came back to Bosnia. He still has a lot of Turkish friends and loves Turkey. He is such a kind and polite guy. A very good example of how Balkan people usually are. When we arrived at the agency, we drank Turkish coffee with the others. It’s quite popular here. People here don’t drink much tea but they have a good coffee culture. The food and the general culture were quite similar to that in Turkey and I felt quite at home. Via Media, one of the biggest and most well known local advertising agencies, is housed in a four-storey villa, with different departments on each floor. The agency had booked me into a nice hostel where I was given my own room. The owners were super friendly, and acted like I was
their son or something! At the agency I worked on the company’s Christmas gift project. I came up with the idea of making playing cards with a Via Media theme. The idea was simple: designing custom playing cards and sending them as a set to possible clients or rival agencies. Every card would show one of Via Media’s projects. Characters such as the king, joker and queen would be people from the office. I also worked on was a cover image and poster for a short animation movie made by the owner of the agency. I appeared on six TV shows including a live broadcast talk show, gave two magazine interviews, two presentations in different design schools, and gave countless online interviews. While I was running from one interview to another I felt like a rock star but I also felt quite lonely. I went out with a group of university students once, and the owners of the hostel took me to a barbecue party outside Sarajevo one Sunday. I knew no one else in the city and was too lazy to try to meet new people. After three years of traveling, I wanted to relax. One weekend, my friend Sanja planned a trip to Mostar. We went to all the important locations in Sarajevo first, and then moved to the village of Pocitelj, two hours away from Sarajevo. It was like time travel – nothing seemed to have changed from the times of the Ottoman Empire. I was fascinated by the beauty of this village in the middle of nowhere. Only 15 families live there and the village survives on art. Artists from all over the world come here and the village provides accommodation and food but they have to leave their artworks behind so the village can sell them to survive. I met the guy who is coordinating this system. He was very interested in my story and I will probably start writing my book here soon. I can also take other artists with me if anyone is keen on a break from their usual life! But first I need to make my way to Tirana in Albania because another agency is waiting for me there. I never thought that the most difficult thing in Sarajevo would be getting out - there is no direct way to get to Tirana from there. The only way is to take a bus from Sarajevo to Novipazar in Serbia, then another bus to Pristina in Kosovo, and then yet another bus to Tirana. Fortunately I was able to hook up with a guy who was traveling by car to Montenegro, from where I could take a bus to Tirana. www.poolmagazine.in 63
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