POOL 61 by Designindia Magazine

www.indipool.com

Mandar Rane pg 24 | Photographed by Prof. Sudesh Balan Foreword by MP Ranjan 03 Design News ico-D 09 Prof. Anirudha Joshi 12 Anoop Bhat 18 Aditi Deo 34 Vinita Passary 40 Jas Charanjiva 48 Aditya Patil 54

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Editor in Chief | sudhir@indidesign.in

September 2015 | # 61

Sudhir at San Francisco POOL 61

Early Adopters www.indipool.com

MP Ranjan was an advisor to POOL; he wrote the foreword to POOL ANNUAL 2, and was on the Jury for India's Best Design Studio. Whenever I put an idea forward on the group, Ranjan was the first to respond. His response would invariably be, “Try to karo…” Let me just focus on one thing that I learnt from MP Ranjan. Designers have to be ‘early adopters’. He was a living example of it.

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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. www.in.groups.yahoo.com/group/designindia International Design Media Network Participant

What this means is to adopt an idea, technology, ideology and even people before they are proven. Adopt and follow them as soon as you get to know them and start using them for your purposes. Ranjan got on to Apple way before it was cool. He brandished Sony Cybershots cameras way before digital photography would threaten Analog photography. He started taking selfies at a time when people were still figuring out how to use iPads. He was on email even before many had heard about it. He started blogging when all of us started writing emails. He did the same with people; he caught on to people and their ideas before everyone else started talking about them. He was perhaps the first one to realize the potential of the DesignIndia Yahoo group to get designers together…way before the term ‘social network’ came in. Early adopters change the world. If you wait for other people to use something before you, you are not the leader that will change anything. Early adopters are the ones that everyone looks up to for providing a direction. In your life become an early adopter. Stop saying ‘no’ to new ideas and new things. That’s how ‘New’ will happen. Sudhir Endorsed by

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foreword

Photograph by Sudhir Sharma

REFLECTIONS ON DESIGN PUBLISHING IN INDIA Prof. M P Ranjan (9-11-1950 – 9-8-2015) was a staunch supporter of POOL magazine. In February 2015 he wrote the following Foreword for POOL Annual Volume 2, his final contribution to a magazine that will miss his incisive insights into a subject that was very dear to his heart. Very little is known about the early days of modern design education and practice in India. The news media and the general business and political media were simply not interested in design, and studiously avoided any commentaries about design and designers after Independence. Design journalism that showed up from time to time was tucked away in the back pages and in remote corners of art and architecture publications. Any form of sustained design

publishing has been a long time coming and still has a long way to go. I had always wondered why this was the case till I read Gui Bonsiepes’ book Interface: An approach to design (1999), where he tables the evolution of design publishing and correlates it to the evolving status of design research and practice in a country. Indian design education, research and practice has been flying under the radar for over www.indipool.com 3

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UI-UX design

CONVENIENT KEYBOARD Typing on touchscreen devices in your mother tongue is now possible thanks to Swarachakra, developed by Prof. Anirudha Joshi and his team at the Interaction Design for Indian Needs Lab (IDID) at Industrial Design Center (IDC), Indian Institute of Technology Bombay

Prof Anirudha Joshi (bottom left corner)

What is Swarachakra? AJ: Swarachakra is an open source keyboard for inputting text in Indian languages on touchscreen devices. It is currently available in 12 languages on Android phones - Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Konkani, Malayalam, Marathi, Odia, Punjabi, Tamil, and Telugu. A free application, it can be downloaded from Google Play store.

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cover story

THE RIGHT TRACK As Associate Professor at the Industrial Design Centre, IIT Bombay, Mandar Rane is mentor and guide to students who pursue projects that will benefit the greatest number. The Mumbai Rail Map project promises to change the commuting experience of a staggering percentage of the city’s population. How did your tryst with academics begin? MR: I joined J. J. School of Applied Arts in 1992. Teachers like Prof. Vidya Joshi and Prof. Saynekar laid the necessary foundations. At J.J., everybody’s focus was to join an advertising agency. The ultimate goal was to become an art director. In 1997 when the batch passed out, we were greeted by recession; there were no jobs in the advertising industry. Belonging to a middle class family, I took up a job at Tata Interactive Systems (TIS) for financial security. Over the next two years, I realized that graphic design was like rendering a service for the skills I possess. I felt like an operator and something felt amiss at the core. To find this missing link, I decided to do a Master’s in Visual communication at Industrial Design Centre (IDC), IIT Bombay. Professors like Kirti Trivedi, Athavankar and Ravi Poovaiah 24 POOL #61

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textile

AUTHENTIC

TRANSLATIONS Vinita Passary is making a concerted effort to revive the traditional ikat art form by transforming the handloom fabric into contemporary wear with the help of regional artisans

How did you develop such an interest in ikat fabrics? VP: I own a multi designer store named Anonym in Hyderabad, which specializes in clothing and textiles from India with global esthetics. My passion for textiles and my work makes me explore the field of handlooms. On one such exploration trip to a neighboring village near Pochampally, I discovered a small weaver’s cluster which was involved in the process of ikat weaving. I was fascinated by the weaving. My undying love for Indian textiles took me there again to know what it takes to make ikat textiles. I met a few master weavers and their families, and listened to them talk about how the new generation has nearly given up on weaving and how the craft is gradually declining due to lack of manpower. A voice inside me said I must involve myself with ikats to create an awareness of this magnificent art form. Having nurtured contemporary sensibility in fashion trends, I felt a huge connection to ikat, which has graphical forms. I had friends in the industry who share the same passion for handmade textiles. Together we decided to create something with the already existing facilities in that sector. Tell us about your venture ‘Translate Handwoven Ikat’. VP: My husband Vikas and I co-founded the brand in the year 2010. He looks after the business end of things 40 POOL #61

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STREET SMART artist

Muralist and street artist Jas Charanjiva likes the idea of transforming drab walls into colorful works of art San Francisco’s street art When visiting San Francisco I saw art in alleyways. Knowing this art was unsolicited was exciting for me…the thought of artists who created work on the street for people to stumble upon, art created for the love of art and not for money. I also very much liked the rebellious nature of it all. I later realized that street art was a good way to get my name out there for when I was ready to start regularly painting on canvases. The initial challenge was how to make money, and when I started getting offers after my first mural, the challenge was how to get people to pay what I think I'm worth. I took jobs that would enable me to make it to the next level. I chose jobs that would give my work visibility and I chose clients I wanted to be associated with. I wasn't making pots of money with these projects but I felt it would build my reputation and my brand. I took only jobs within the urban culture space. A year later brands who wanted to share that space came knocking at my door. The early years Though born in the UK, my early childhood was spent in Toronto. I was six when I was exposed to what we now call classic rock - Bowie, 48 POOL #61

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calligraphy

QUILLIGRAPHY Young calligrapher Aditya Patil focuses on the Devanagari script in an attempt to reconnect with our culture What does calligraphy mean to you? AP: Calligraphy is the art of expressing your feelings through handwriting. It’s an art that gives you bliss and mind pleasure with each and every stroke…all you need to do is connect each stroke with your soul. What inspired you to pursue design? AP: When I was in primary school in Pune I saw a report on a news channel about a calligraphy exhibition – that was the turning point of my life. The strokes and unique art of lettering excited me and remained engraved on my mind. I went on to study engineering (electronics and telecommunications), majoring in designing. In my college days, I used to give a calligraphic touch to the name of every new topic in my notebook; it looked more like a drawing book, and I was sometimes punished for that! Mr. Achyut Palav and Mr. Ram Kasture are my ‘gurus’. Just by looking at their calligraphy, I learnt so many things, and they inspired me throughout my journey. However, my father is my biggest inspiration.