Pool Thirteen

July 2011 | # 13 Indian edition

Supported by

“This means my work is simply inspired by my life, the things I see, the people I meet.”

“I was one of the very few Indian girls in the audience, drawn by my curiosity to meet the Picasso of India in person.”

Amisha Ghadiali 02

Pragati Sharma 16

India’s First International Design Magazine D E S I G N • I N N OVAT I O N • C R E AT I V I T Y

0 Typography Hanif Kureshi

06

Beyond Borders Amisha Ghadiyali

02

Anthony Lopez

Opinion Vaijayanthi Mohan Iyengar 26

Photographed for POOL by Menuolhoulie Kire

Obituary

Cover Story

Campus

Pragati Sharma 16

Anthony Lopez 18

Pearl Academy

Blogger

24

Archana Srinivas

12

Advisors

Interns

Abhijit Bansod Studio ABD, India

Kigge Hevid CEO, Index Awards, Denmark

Adil Darukhanawala Editor, Economic Times, Zigwheels, India

Kishor Singh Business Editor, India

Dr. Inyoung Albert Choi Professor, Hanyang University, Korea

Kohei Nishiyama Founder, Elephant Design, Japan

Anaezi Modu Rebrand, USA

Madhukar Kamath Managing Director and CEO, Mudra Group, India

Prof. Anil Sinha Principal, NID, India

M P Ranjan India

Anna Muoio Social Innovation, US

Prasoon Pandey Corcoise Films, India

Anuj Sharma Designer, India

Rajesh Kejriwal Kyoorius Exchange, India

Aradhana Goel Designer / Strategist, Ideo, USA

Rodney Fitch UK

Cathy Huang President, China Bridge Shanghai

Shilpa Das Head, Publications, NID, India

Craig Branigan Chairperson, Landor, CEO, B to D Group, USA

Dr Soumitra R Pathare Psychiatrist, India

Christopher Charles Benninger Architect, Studio CCBA, India

Shrikant Nivasarkar Founder, Nivasarkar Consultants, India

David Berman David Berman Communications, Canada

Subrata Bhowmik Subrata Bhowmik Design, India

Deepika Jindal Managing Director, Artdinox, India

Sudhir Sharma Designindia, India

Essam Abu Awad MIDAS, Jordan

Suresh Venkat CNBC, India

Hrridaysh Deshpande Innoastra, India

Uday Dandavate Sonicrim, USA

Jos Oberdof NPK Design, Netherland

Umesh Shukla Auryn, LA, USA

Julia Chiu Executive Director, JIDPO, Japan

William Drentell Winterhouse, USA

Kieu Pham Haki Brand, Vietnam

William Herald Wong WHW Design, Malaysia

Editor in Chief Sudhir Sharma sudhir@indidesign.in Copy Editor Ashvina Vakil Editorial Coordinator Sonalee Tomar sonalee@poolmagazine.in Research & Design Coordinator Shriya Nagi Layout & Production Pradeep Arora Subscription & Logistics Seema Sharma subscribe@poolmagazine.in Finance Kuldeep Harit

Interns (from left to right) Can Kırış, Nikhil Mayur, Görkem Özdemir, Açelya Altıntaş

Design is how it’s practiced, and there is much more to Design than what we learn in Design schools. Also it’s something that will never have a finish line. That’s what makes Design a different turf altogether. Most creative education is not complete without an internship module which is more of an industry exposure. We find students getting more and more choosy about where they do internships—obviously preferring to spend their summers with big names and big brands in big cities. This in a way decides their employment potential.

But there are many who see this as an opportunity to discover a new place and new area, with the idea of soaking in the vibrancy of a complex design business environment.

I have always been inspired by this second lot. I see many students from European and Asian countries coming to spend time with us in India with very open minds. I am also increasingly seeing Indian students from Management and other backgrounds wanting to do a stint in the Design business.

Besides working with a team of experts, I always enjoy having these interns on projects that need the insights of a fresh mind. I feel we learn from interns. They bring their own fresh outlook, skills and passion. Their spirit infects the regular team and you find the same team reordering processes to become inclusive. It does add life to passion to bring in fresh blood.

My office is home to Interns from Turkey, Denmark, UK and India this season. We seem to be having a good time with spicy Indian food, movies like ‘Delhi Belly’, meditation and of course, work.

Real Design is after all pure adrenaline.

Sudhir Sharma Editor in Chief sudhir@indidesign.in

Art & Design Pradeep Goswami Assistant Yamanappa Dodamani Publisher INDI Design Pvt Ltd www.indidesign.in Address India Indi Design Pvt Ltd C-1, Unit No 503-504, Saudamini Commercial Complex, Bhusari ColonyRight, Paud Road, Pune 411038 Phones: +91 20 2528 1433 www.poolmagazine.in Vietnam Haki Advertising Ltd, 142 Le Duan Street, Hanoi, Vietnam www.haki.vn

July 2011 | # 13 Indian Edition 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. http://in.groups.yahoo.com/group/designindia International Design Media Network Participant

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Beyond Borders

Putting the ethics into fashion UK-based jewelry designer Amisha Ghadiali is an active proponent of ethical fashion. She is also a creative activist, campaigner, writer, speaker, entrepreneur, consultant, model, artist, and photographer. Life, she believes, is rarely simple enough to be described in one word. Her passion is to help find ‘sustainable ways of living, ways for us all to express ourselves as individuals, to find a type of politics that we can engage with, and for us to love the natural world, not simply take from it’.

She has been Associate Director of the Ethical Fashion Forum, an industry body dedicated to the future of sustainable fashion. Last year she founded ‘Think Act Vote’, a campaign to inspire people to think more positively about the future and understand how the decisions they make every day shape the world.

Amisha tells POOL how she achieves synergy between the defining facets of her life.

Let us start with the year 2005, which was a turning point for you…

AG: I grew up in Derbyshire where I went to school, doing Maths, History and Economics A-levels. After I finished school in 2005, I spent some time traveling in South America, working on a project with children in a shanty town in Peru, among other things. It was on this trip that we were involved in a bus crash in Bolivia. The driver fell asleep when driving though the mountains into the jungle. The bus went down the side of a mountain, hit a tree stump, flipped over and somehow didn’t fall down the thousands of meters into the mountains. They say it is a miracle that we all survived. This was the first time I really remember facing mortality and realizing how precious life is.

I managed to get out of the accident with just a back injury that lasted for a few years. The experience of this accident along with the other experiences from

this adventure motivated me to do what I could with my life to make the world a better place. I felt there was a reason that I had survived and that I needed to do something with that. I realized I could use my energy to create change and joy in the world. This experience ended up being quite a turning point for me by making me understand my natural need and desire to do something creative and original.

What happened after school?

AG: I worked in Politics and International Development. It was what I studied at university, as I was interested in why the world worked the way it did….why some people were born rich, why others poor. Whilst I was at university, I used my holiday time to work on a number of different projects. I was lucky to have a third year out of university where I got to work for a Congressman in DC (now Senator Cardin of Maryland) and an MP in Westminster (John Battle MP, Leeds

West). The experience of working in these places at 21 was mixed for me. I loved it in many ways, but at the same time, I felt there was so much that wasn’t right about the system, the way decisions were made, the priorities. I was planning on a career in International Development when I left university, so I was just trying to learn all I could.

How did you get into designing jewelry?

AG: I always had an eye for fashion and design, and after leaving university I set about rediscovering the child-like joy of the creativity I had put to one side in favor of politics. From these inspiring explorations came the idea of a jewelry label that could combine all my great passions:

PoolMagazine http://poolmagazine.wordpress.com/pool-is-releasing-its-first-book-pool-book-volume-i/ http://fb.me/109VUebAK 2 POOL | 7.11 | #13

a love of color, a love of self expression, a life-long fascination with crystals and their properties, and a desire to do something positive for the world. That’s how my label ‘Amisha Elegance Rebellion’ came to be.

What are the biggest influences for you in terms of design?

AG: In all honesty, as I am not a trained designer, I don’t have a process in the same way that you learn when you study. This means my work is simply inspired by my life, the things I see, the people I meet. Often I use a theory, or story to inspire me, like with the recent five elements collection that I learnt about from Swami Nityamuktananda at an Ashram in Lonavala in India.

I have thought a lot about the energy of the gemstones that I use and how they make you feel when you wear them… so many of the designs work with a combination of stones that produce a certain feel. For example, I use a lot of rainbow moonstone and black tourmaline, which together help stimulate selfconfidence and creativity. In India, people are very aware of the energy of stones, but in the UK, people are not. So I need to first get them excited about the design, but also with the added benefit of the positive influence from the energy of the stones.

What is ‘ethical fashion’ all about?

AG: It brings together quite a few different elements; it about how the

designer has sourced their materials (how has the material been grown/made, how far this has traveled), how it is made (have the workers been paid fairly, are they working in good conditions), how far it has traveled, and what the consumer will do with it once they have it (how long it will last, how they will need to wash/care for it and what they do with it when they no longer want it anymore).

It’s being conscious about how you think about clothes.

There are a whole variety of issues relating to the fashion industry that have created the need for the ethical fashion movement.

These include the exploitation of workers including child labor, issues relating to pesticide use in cotton, the chemicals used to treat textiles, and the amount of textile waste that goes to landfill every year (in the UK this is 1 million tons).

How does one successfully integrate sustainability into fashion?

AG: It’s basically about thinking about the impact that you are having on both the planet and people at all steps of the design process. Making sure that you do all that you can to maximize positive benefit to people and minimize negative impacts on the environment through all stages of design, sourcing and production.

It’s about looking into all these things and seeing what you can do. It’s not possible to integrate everything at the same time, as some of these areas are being developed and it could make your product

too expensive and price you out of the market. So you have to make a plan of what you would like to do, and integrate these things step by step as you are able to, improving on every collection.

Does such integration affect the final product?

AG: If a product is designed well, it will be more beautiful as a result of being designed sustainably. Often more care is taken in producing materials in an ethical way, and care would have been taken in production as well.

How do you educate people about the importance of ethical fashion?

AG: I think that storytelling is the best tool that we have. Every item of clothing or accessory has a story of how the fabric has been created, in who made it, in why and how it was designed. When you start telling people these stories they are very engaged. A lot of fashion sold in the UK, for example, is produced from cheap cotton in factories around the world by workers who are underpaid. That’s not a story that many people want to wear when they think about it. Ethical fashion is about celebrating the crafts, traditions, design and our natural world which is part of every piece of fashion. As well as working to change the industry, and the industry standards, we need to raise awareness about the issues.

Do you believe in ‘controlled consumption’ or ‘conspicuous consumption’?

AG: I don’t know if it is right to limit people’s consumption, but conspicuous consumption is one of our problems. We all have way more then we need. So it’s about finding a way to think about what you buy more. Do I really need this? I have set a limit on 20 pieces of fashion a year which makes me really think about whether I need it when I buy.

What prompted you to start the ‘Think Act Vote’ initiative?

AG: I was frustrated in the run up to the UK election last year, and wanted to do something about it. The election is

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POOL Book VOL-1 • Compilation Book of first 12 issues of Pool Magazine • Hard bound 350 Pages • Design Showcases, Success Stories, Experiences and a lot more on design • It’s a melange of ideas and inspiration

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Headlines meant to be about us choosing a future, but it rarely ends up working quite like that due to the electoral system and the nature of politics. So I thought it would be interesting to go around and ask people to share the future that they choose. It’s a really simple thing that we can all take part in, and has been exciting to create a community around our values. I am now trying to grow this and get people from different countries to share their ‘futures’.

I would love to get Indians to take part.

Are ethical fashion and ‘Think Act Vote’ related?

AG: Yes, I did an ethical fashion part of the project. I started with a t-shirt design competition that was judged by a panel including Katharine Hamnett and Cyndi Rhoades. The t-shirts were printed on Earth Positive t-shirts, made from organic cotton grown in Gujarat. Then I got leading Ethical Fashion designers from the UK to turn the t-shirt into a showpiece using fabric that they would have otherwise thrown away. We then went around events giving people the opportunity to try on a t-shirt or dress and have their photograph taken for a book that, together with people’s answers, will be given to leading politicians here in the UK. How do you view the fashion scene in India?

AG: I have to admit that I don’t know loads about the fashion scene in India, but many of my favorite pieces over the years have been by Indian designers including Anita Dongre and A plus B. These pieces always get compliments when I wear them. I was also excited when I saw Anita Dongre’s ethical line ‘Grassroots’ in Paris last year - really beautiful dresses! The last time I came to India, I also visited all the Ethical Fashion related companies and organizations around Mumbai and Ahmedabad, and was really impressed with what I saw. Especially in Gujarat, they are definitely leading in ethical production. www.amisha.co.uk/boutique/

MSME-NID’s Design Clinic Scheme Sees Good Response ‘Launched in February 2010, the Design Clinic Scheme (DCS) for Design Expertise for MSMEs is a unique design intervention scheme for the country’s large micro, small and medium scale enterprises.

Since inception the MSME Industry-Design Clinics Scheme, implemented by National Institute of Design (NID) as a nodal agency, has conducted 126 Design Sensitization Workshops and Design Awareness Programs through which designers have provided clinical solutions to various clusters, with active participation from MSME units.

Currently 326 design consultants, 130 design firms, 18 design institutes, 95 design students, 132 MSME associations, 369 MSME units and 14 government organizations are registered under the Scheme.

The World Design Impact Prize was established by ICSID to recognize, empower and stimulate socially responsible design initiatives around the world that use design and/or design thinking to make a positive impact on our social, economic, cultural and/or environmental quality of life.

Launched under the National Manufacturing Competitiveness Program (NMCP), the scheme aims to spread design awareness, encourage design interventions and competitiveness, and improve the MSMEs sector which provides employment to over 42 million people, contributing about 45% of the total manufacturing output and nearly 40% of India’s exports.

MiH7 at Khimsar Fort This year’s edition of Music in the Hills is moving to the desert! MiH7 will be held from August 13 to 15 at Khimsar Fort near Jodhpur in Rajasthan. Performing on the occasion will be Mohit Chauhan of ‘Dooba Dooba’

Official voting will commence on 29 July 2011, one month after the opening of the public review process. The jury consists of over 160 Icsid Member organizations, each permitted to cast one vote for their organization. The five short listed projects will be announced on 27-28 October 2011 at the XXVII Icsid General Assembly in Taipei, Taiwan. The winner of the World Design Impact Prize will be announced on 2 February 2012.

The DCS-NID’s regional centers at Kolkata, Guwahati, Ahmedabad, Delhi and Bangalore enjoy the support of organizations like CII, FICCI, FISME, CTTC, MCED, IIE, etc.

For more information on the Design Clinic Scheme, visit www. designclinicsmsme.org ICSID Launches Public Online Gallery for World Design Impact Prize On the occasion of World Industrial Design Day, the International Council of Societies of Industrial Design (ICSID) announced the launch of the online gallery for the inaugural World Design Impact Prize. The interactive gallery at www.worlddesignimpact.org allows visitors to view, share and discuss their favorite project from a total of 22 from five continents, which remain in the running to be recognized as the first World Design Impact Prize winner. These range from student-made product designs introducing dynamic and sustainable solutions, to internationally renowned initiatives striving to improve quality of life.

fame; and Parikrama, the big daddies of Indian rock. Also appearing will be new talent Jasleen Royal, with her one-woman band of acoustic guitar, harp and piano.

Part of the Welcome Heritage Group of Hotels, the 16th century Khimsar Fort will provide a spectacular backdrop for what has become a music festival to reckon with.

For details call Happily Unmarried on: 011-26385136, 9810032988, 9810296994. Or mail: info@ happilyunmarried.com. Or check out the facebook page: http://www. facebook.com/Like.HU content@poolmagazine.in

vatsup1 Y not confiscate the astrayed Wisdom ship and convert into a museum?

Its already drawing many a bunch... www.poolmagazine.in 5

Hanif Kureshi

IMMORTALIZING STREET FONTS 6 POOL | 7.11 | #13

Typography

Hanif Kureshi’s HandpaintedType project is dedicated to preserving the typographic practice of street painters around India in digital format What is the HandpaintedType project?

HK: With the advent of local DTP (Desktop Publishers) shops, our street painters are rapidly going out of business with many of them switching to quicker, cheaper but uglier vinyls. Many painters have given up their practice altogether. The basic idea behind the HandpaintedType project is to archive the works of these street painters

in a digital format by asking them to design their own fonts. The objective is to give the next generation an insight into the world of street painters for it will be very difficult to find such painters in five to ten years!

The project has two phases; the first is based on Latin fonts, and the second phase, which will start at the end of this

year, will focus on regional languages.

The aim is not to ‘save’ these painters; it is just to ensure that they benefit from the digital platform before they stop practice. Also part of the project is a gallery which will feature hand painted signs from all over India. It was officially launched on Typography Day at NID in March this year.

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Tell us a little about yourself.

HK: I was born 28 years ago in a small town called Talaja in Gujarat and raised there. I always wanted to become a street painter and used to work with street painters during my school vacations. My dad asked to me to join the Faculty of Fine Arts at M.S. University in Baroda to become a professional sign painter. During my studies I was introduced graphic design and typography. After graduating, I got into advertising. Today I work with Wieden+Kennedy in New Delhi.

What inspired you start the project?

HK: I always noticed hand painted signs wherever I traveled. After the DTP revolution in the past few years, I noticed that slowly these hand painted signs were being replaced by cheap digital flex. It became harder to find hand painted signs on the street. My work for global clients at Wieden+Kennedy is very different from the world of street painters. I now know both these worlds intimately and felt that I should do something to link them before the painters disappeared from the streets completely. The best way was to connect them with the digital world and that’s why I launched this project which gives local painters a global platform. I also thought it

important to preserve this art form for future generations to understand and hopefully, appreciate.

What interests you most about Indian hand painted typography?

HK: Commercial hand painted signs have existed all over the world since the times of early trade – on packaging and signboards of local shops. Earlier in India, hand painting was the only medium.

These signs were part of the landscape of any city or town, though there was a big difference in each city’s style. There’s something unique about the esthetics of Indian hand painted signs. Things changed really fast after the invention of computers and digital flex printing.

Now everything looks the same. You will find Arial (the font) in Bhavanagar and Muzzafarnagar at the same time!

How are the fonts converted into a digital version?

HK: I ask the painter to paint a cloth banner featuring A to Z and all the symbols from the computer keyboard. I click pictures of the banner and then trace them. Sarang Kulkarni from White Crow in Mumbai is helping to convert these into digital fonts. He works on FontLab Studio.

It’s a time consuming process which may take up to 10 days of hard work.

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How many painters have you contacted so far?

HK: So far I have contacted 12 painters from Delhi, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Junagadh and Dhoraji in Gujarat. In Delhi I contacted the painters, while in other cities I asked my friends to get in touch with them. The whole project is open to the public and everyone is welcome to participate either by asking a painter to paint the fonts or by submitting pictures of any hand painted signs. I spend almost two hours on the project every day after work as this is still the initial phase.

Who will use these fonts?

HK: Because most of the fonts in the Painter series are multi-colored, they will in effect be digital versions of the once popular Chromatic Type. The style was popular among wood block printers who produced fonts in two components,

10 POOL | 7.11 | #13

so each component has its own color.

Instead of different weights, the typefaces will feature versions that include Shadow and Highlights. These fonts will be useful for anyone working in the visual communication field. It could be used by painters and DTP operators as well!

How has the project been funded?

HK: It’s a self-funded project so far. To make it self sustainable I will charge a small fee for the fonts, of which 50% will go to the painters and the rest will be used for the project. Recently I uploaded ‘Painter Umesh’ on our website (www.handpaintedtype.com); this is a free download, but other fonts will be available at a cost. The project will also be launched on Kickstarter soon, and people will be able to contribute to the project there. Anyone interested in funding the project can contact me!

How are you promoting the project?

HK: A small 10-minute documentary on the project is being screened at Centre Pompidou in Paris in the documentary section of one of the biggest exhibitions about India. It opened for the public on 25th May and will remain open till September. A small trailer of the project is part of ‘Commercial Break’ in the opening week of the Venice Biennale. Commercial Break is a conspicuous intervention on the historic city of Venice, featuring over a hundred artists, each engaging with the relationship between advertising and culture. Short digital works by globally recognized and emerging artists from around the world will bring the form and language of advertising to Venice.

http://hanifkureshi.com/

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@AnandBhushan How do you make a dead baby float? Two scoops of ice cream, one scoop of dead baby. @prakulluthra

Blogger

rangdecor blogspot www

com

Multi-faceted Archana Srinivas brings an irresistible joie de vivre to her blogs on Indian décor and life in general..

‘Rang’ or ‘color’ is the predominant theme of Archana Srinivas’ blogs – vibrant, cheerful bursts of color that add an Indian sensibility that is hard to miss. ‘Rang Décor’ is where Archana archives and shares interior design ideas from India, while ‘Rang – The Colors of Life’ is where she shares everyday musings and various interests like photography, food, travel, and art. Together, they both showcase the color that is such an inherent part of her life.

It is unfair to call the Bangalore-based Archana merely a blogger – her creative interests are much more wide ranging – but even just her blogging activity creates a memorable impression. She spent several years in advertising and webdesigning before deciding to take a break to spend time with her daughter. That is when she found that blogging was the perfect way to keep her creative instincts alive.

Archana started ‘Rang Décor’ in January 2007, just a couple of months after her personal blog ‘Rang – The Colors of Life’ took off. “I wanted to showcase to the world, a blend of rich traditional and contemporary interior designs from India,” she says. The blog also features various traditional Indian arts and crafts and work

by Indian artists and painters among other things.

Archana’s ability to capture the esthetic appeal even of little everyday things, coupled with her facility for taking beautifully evocative photographs makes ‘Rang Décor’ a visual delight. Through her blog she discovers little known interior talent, and presents a treasure trove of useful information that any house-proud individual would be glad to stumble upon.

Being a ‘willing-stay-at-home mother and freelance photographer’ Archana is able to find time to regularly update her various blogs. ‘Rang Décor’ has been

@sahilk I thought TOI was always in support of the ruling party. They’re starting a campaign called “It’s My Life” against the drinking age limit.

12 POOL | 7.11 | #13

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featured on various international interior design sites and in magazines, and now enjoys a good network of design lovers from across the world. Blogging, says Archana, has opened up a fantastic window to communicate with the bigger world. It has brought her photography assignments from clients in India and abroad, and she has also taken on new initiatives in the areas of design and creative consulting. While she may not be a trained interior designer, it’s obvious she has an eye for color and form and how to juxtapose the two to the best effect. For her readers, this is a talent they can’t get enough of! www.rangdecor.blogspot.com

@LimeIce There’s got to be a joke somewhere in the sanitary fittings brand called Hindware.vodkaholic looking for any Indian passport holder who has taken a break from one’s career and travelled the world. Know any? #gapyear” www.poolmagazine.in 15

Obituary

Goodbye Hussain Saab India’s most famous and iconic artist, Maqbool Fida Hussain, passed away recently at the age of 95.

Pragati Sharma pays a tribute to one who left an indelible mark on the international canvas…

In the 1930s there was a biographical film on the life of the 17th century Dutch painter, Rembrandt. The agony with which Rembrandt painted deeply inspired a 17-year-old boy called Maqbool, who left his village home in the Indian state of Maharashtra and went north to Indore where he painted at a hysterical pace for two years. He had no audience, no exhibitions, and no teachers, but he continued to paint with the single-minded goal of mastering his techniques. Time, money and quality of life were of no consequence as he drove himself to create and master his own unique style of painting. Maqbool Fida Hussain was the master of his destiny – the destination was set, the path flexible and the rewards unlimited!

At the age of 19, Hussain set out to make his fortune in Mumbai.

Homeless, he slept on the pavements.

He found work as a ‘graphics-wallah’, painting huge, vibrantly-colored

posters advertising Hindi films for a remuneration of six annas per square foot. He then worked for a few years illustrating nursery rhymes on children’s furniture. On the night India became independent, he created his first political painting in which he depicted his hatred for the British by portraying them as street dogs. It’s ironic that England was where he took his last breath.

For the remaining half of the century he was a master of vibrant colors and dynamic movement, instrumental in bringing Indian art to the forefront of the international art scene. His bold, figurative compositions, often featuring horses or women, bore the clear influence of artists such as Chagall and Kandinsky, and combined western modernism with classical Indian folk art traditions. Civilian awards like the Padma Shri and Padma Bhushan, and the Golden Bear at the International Film Festival in Berlin, followed the accolades he won from art connoisseurs.

I met Hussain Saab in 2007 during his solo show at the Peabody Essex Museum in Massachusetts. He had an eccentric, but striking ascetic look. With his free flowing white beard and hair, unshod feet peeping out beneath an impeccably-tailored suit and a paintbrush shaped walking stick, he cut an instantly recognizable figure in India’s art world.

His gentle, soft spoken, watchful manner commanded attention and respect.

I was one of the very few Indian girls in the audience, drawn by my curiosity to meet the Picasso of India in person. His work, his passion and his indomitable spirit have inspired me – and a whole generation of artists – to be true to myself in my art, no matter the rewards.

Hussain Saab we are fida on your ageless and peerless artistry!

(Pragati Sharma is an artist, architect and industrial designer based in the US)

@Palsule Beginning to realize why Twitter doesn’t work for some folks. They’re neither humorists, nor conversationalists. Neither journos, nor PR. 16 POOL | 7.11 | #13

Mural at Bajaj Auto Head Office, Pune

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Cover Story

THE BUSINESS OF DESIGN Anthony Lopez of New Delhi-based Lopez Design believed he would make a better designer than an engineer. His career path seems to indicate he made the right decision!

He talks to POOL about how he became a successful design entrepreneur and why it’s a good time to be in the business.

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Why did you choose to be a graphic designer?

AL: I have been fascinated with the world of photography and graphic design from my childhood days. I was privileged to get this introduction and exposure through my father who taught printing technology at the National Institute of Design; every visit to the institute added a layer of influence. And as I got aware of the different fields of design, it became quite clear to me that there was huge potential and the need in our country for communication design, and this matched my passion and desire.

However, like all parents, mine too pushed me to pursue engineering; luckily for me I did not do well and got to apply to the National Institute of Design after a year of being an apprentice with Parmanand Dalwadi, a well known photographer in Ahmedabad.

What inspired you to start your own practice?

AL: I wish I could say that I had an epiphany and saw the light! But it just happened, like many good things just happen in life. Prior to starting Lopez Design, I had been through a job and two partnerships, which made it clear that if I wanted a design practice on my terms and principles, I needed to shoulder it alone. In retrospect, I like taking up challenges and the risks that go with it.

How did you manage the cash flow/ investment in your own business?

AL: Lopez Design has grown organically.

We were in business from day one, as my previous clients (from my first partnership) immediately gave us work on the basis of the goodwill created earlier.

The studio has always been led by the principle of delivering quality; we never compromised on this. This professionalism led to high regard and respect from the

client, resulting in almost no defaults or delay in payments.

Although we started with no funding, we never had to borrow from outside sources as our confidence and belief led us to reinvest into the firm. Our attitude for treating our people, partners, suppliers and clients on equal terms built a network of trust and dependability, which helped us manage cash flows effectively.

Our emphasis on Finance as a key component of our practice earned us the AAA+ rating by industry standards.

How did you attract your initial employees?

AL: The organic growth meant that we could attract the people suitable to our DNA at our own pace. Besides, good people, good work and reputation attract talent. The first person to join me was Mohan Godwal, a talented designer who

@designrviolence Checking out Bath today. Going to visit the ‘Temple to Aesculopius’ www.poolmagazine.in 19

Cover Story had worked with me earlier, followed by Raj Kishore Gupta, who joined us as an office boy. Today both of them hold senior positions in the company.

What was the turning point in your professional life?

AL: Every day is a turning point. The exposure to new stimuli, the challenge and fun of doing different projects, and the joy of seeing your work out there is exhilarating. This, along with all the very painful moments of being in hopeless situations that are near to being in hell and back, created the turning moments.

We are in a country in constant flux; when you want to get things done a certain way on a daily basis without any excuses, you go through many turning points.

As one who has been in design for more than 20 years, what difference do you find in professional practices then and now?

AL: On the people front, there is definitely more talent and brains getting into design, which is good for the profession. We see more and more young designers figuring out and sticking to what they really like to do, as there are ample opportunities today.

They understand that a sensitivity to the world around us is as much, if not more important, than ability to draw or software competence. The current generation is hugely confident, opinionated and highly energized. The pace of change is furious, and they adapt, and reject, these changes equally fast. They are active and relentless producers, as well as consumers, of the content, which differentiates this generation from the earlier era of passive consumers. This dual role creates more empathetic and stronger creators.

On the client side too, there is a transformation. More and more clients are seeking out design firms and designers, fully aware of the benefits. They are beginning to see design as a strategic tool as compared to the more tactical advertising.

We are able to influence our clients in ways that have brought in tangible value to their businesses. The fact that we can manage this today, in most cases, is a significant step from yesteryears.

@JasjyotSHans I was listening to the cretinous Teletubbies opening song a few days back. And I suddenly remembered, WHAT A RETARDED SHOW! :{ 20 POOL | 7.11 | #13

About the profession of graphic design, I would like to believe that there is a certain degree of professionalism coming into the business and one can see better work. There are people catering to specific industry verticals or focusing on niche services. The growing market is also fueling the need for support systems developing within the profession, like specialized illustrators, typographers, production experts, project managers, etc. These people add a lot of value to what we can offer to the client. That international design firms are setting up shop in India is a big indicator of the opportunities, and seems like a revisit of a similar phase in our advertising industry.

Earlier design was about function and mass production, now it is about experience, indulgence and instant gratification.

Because of this and rapidly changing technology, there is a huge change in how and what we deliver. The time-to-market, from thought to creation to publishing/ sharing, is diminishing at a rapid pace and is instant in the online scenario. The kind

of business ecosystem we have means that design is driven by a systems approach, else it runs the risk of being a one-off intervention or a paint job.

Has any one designer made a big impact on you?

AL: Several have. Milton Glaser, for the tremendous intellect in every solution he provided through his work, and for connecting all of it to the symbols of the past or nature. Kenya Hara, for the simplicity of his philosophy and the way it manifests in his work as perfect calm.

Bruno Munari, for his beautiful book ‘Design as Art’. And many others who are not designers; a few recent names that pop up are Ramchandra Guha, and Gurcharan Das. Which has been your favorite project so far?

AL: Each project is my favorite when we are working on it and once published it is for the world to decide. Recently, we worked on the brand identity revitalization of the Murugappa Group, where we had

to present a 100-year-old business like an agile and nimble entity; that was quite a challenge. Currently, our work in the online arena is exciting, especially the strategy and interaction work for the Germany-India year of collaboration.

What excites you about the future of design in India?

AL: There are innumerable possibilities and huge potential. Unlike developed economies, where everything has been designed to a large extent (such as Rotterdam City), we have ample opportunities to ‘design’ our everyday life. I see the government being the biggest user of design services once they realize the value design can add to their problem-solving efforts.

We are one of the youngest countries; 60% of our population is below 25 and there is the whole bottom-of-the-pyramid story. These are exciting times.

Besides the need and the demand, I see more and more people joining the

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22 POOL | 7.11 | #13

Cover Story design profession and making it a force in itself. Better brains, better talent, better experience. I see the SME sector taking advantage of what design has to offer and leverage it to enhance and differentiate their brand value across all their deliverables.

Design is becoming more and more content driven. And the framework is built on systems. For example, technology is a game changer and a great leveler, which merits the question of what design can do for this medium besides ‘designing’ it.

I see more and more people in our industry with no formal design education, as technology and vertical expertise can be plugged in.

What would be your dream project?

AL: Painting the town cyan - we are waiting for the Delhi government to invite us! Basically, any project that would engage and excite a lot of people and has a large scale impact.

What excites you other than design?

AL: I am an ordinary human being first, at least in spirit. Every thing that excites normal people excites me. I belong to the street. I was born and brought up in Ahmedabad where people spend long hours in the evening on the streets, eating, chatting and roaming. Collecting objects of desire and fascination is something I enjoy. Movies, lots of them and all kinds! On the other end, it is getting difficult for me to be a fan of Lady Gaga and Justin Bieber although I understand the phenomenon.

What advice would you give young design entrepreneurs?

AL: Differentiate yourself with your way of thinking, principles and style of work, in that order. There is an old saying in business - it takes 999 days for any venture to start succeeding - so be patient and do not let the success of one or two projects go to your head.

Besides this, believe in yourself; absorb the world around you like a sponge because you have lots more to learn apart from design. Have a good ride! www.lopezdesign.com/

@thecajunboy Brett Mark Zuckerberg should’ve bought Myspace and gifted it to the Winklevii with the note, “Let’s see what you two pricks can do with this.” www.poolmagazine.in 23

Campus

Pearl Academy Brief Overview Promoted by the House of Pearl Fashions Ltd., in 1993, and founded by its Chairman, Deepak Seth, Pearl Academy of Fashion (PAF) provides education and training in fashion, design, textile, communication, retail and fashion business management.

PAF was established to provide the industry skilled manpower. Spread over three campuses at New Delhi, Jaipur and Chennai, the Academy offers technology oriented programs of 1-2 year duration.

The Academy is Headed by Dr. AKG Nair. PAF is committed to excellence, innovation and customer satisfaction and development through self and shared efforts. The Academy has established extensive international tie-ups with educational organizations of repute across the globe for student/ faculty exchange, training and consultancy services and international conferences, etc.

Size of Campus Total area: Approximately 9 acres; Built up area: Approximately: 4,06,000 sq. ft.

Number of Students 2,100 across the three centers Number of Graduates Approximately 3,200 so far Courses Offered B.A. (Hons.) Programs: Fashion Design; Textile Design; Communication Design; Jewelry Design; Interior Architecture and Design; Fashion Styling and Image Design; Fashion Media Communication; Fashion Business Management; and Fashion Retail Management

Postgraduate Programs: Fashion Design; Textile Design; Garment Manufacturing; Fashion Merchandising; Fashion Marketing; and Fashion Retail Masters Programs : MA Design (Fashion & Textiles); and MA Fashion Marketing Short Courses Entrepreneurship for the Creative Businesses; Advanced Certificate in Textile Design for Products and Accessories; Advanced Certificate in Apparel Merchandising and Marketing; Advanced Certificate in Visual Merchandising; Advanced Certificate in Creative Fashion & Technology in Women’s Wear; Advanced Certificate in Creative Visual Design; and Advanced Certificate in Fashion Lifestyle & PR Faculty The faculty is encouraged to participate in national/ international collaborative industry as well as research project projects, and on different industry forums. PAF, jointly with NTU, conducts the Post-Graduate Certificate in Higher Education Program (PGCHE) for its faculty. So far, 63 faculty members across all centers have participated in and successfully completed the Certificate Program. The Academy intends to have its entire faculty acquire formal training under PGCHE. Collaboration Our principal partners include Nottingham Trent University, UK; Textile Institute Manchester, UK; and LDT Nagold, Germany. PAF is a Corporate Member of the Textile Institute (Manchester), the world’s largest professional body of textile, apparel, fashion and footwear professionals. The Textile Institute has accredited PAF’s post-graduate courses. The Academy also has several other global associates.

DELHI OFFICE:

JAIPUR OFFICE:

CHENNAI OFFICE:

A-21/13, Naraina Industrial Area, Phase II, New Delhi - 110028 Phone: (011) 49807100/101 E-mail: counsellor@pearlacademy.com Web: www.pearlacademy.com

SP-38A, RIICO Industrial Area, Delhi Road, Kukas, Jaipur - 302028 Phone: (01426) 247515/616, 400308, 400309 E-mail: info@jaipur.pearlacademy.com Web: www.pearlacademy.com

82, Sterling Road, Nungambakkam, (Opp. Loyola College), Chennai - 600034 Phone: (044) 42664450, 43447900, 42664445/446/449 E-mail: info@chinnai.pearlacademy.com Web: www.pearlacademy.com

Admission Procedure Prospectus and Application Kits are made available at the Academy’s counters in Delhi, Jaipur and Chennai as well as at select braches of Axis Bank, against payment in cash or by crossed demand draft.

Also available on our website: www.pearlacademy.com.

For BA (Hon.) Programs Candidates seeking admission appear for a General Proficiency Test (GPT) and a Design Aptitude Test (DAT), followed by a Situational Test, Group Discussion and Personal Interview.

For Post Graduate Diploma Programs Candidates seeking admission appear for a General Proficiency Test (GPT) and a Design Aptitude Test (DAT), followed by Situational Test, Group Discussion and Personal Interview. Candidates who have answered AIMAMAT tests prior to May 2011 and scored at least 500 will not have to appear for the GPT; the remaining procedure will remain the same.

www.poolmagazine.in 25

Opinion

TEMPLES AS SOCIAL NETWORKING SITES Vaijayanthi Mohan Iyengar says it’s possible to use medieval Indian temple architecture patterns to enrich the user experience of social networking sites/services. Using the example of the 1,000-year-old Brihadeshwara Temple in Tanjore, she draws an interesting parallel between the social spaces of medieval times and the social spaces today.

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@InkZed Heavy, Distorted, Hummed. Bobbing. One hand timing it right to the beats! No Sun. Need to Start Fresh. www.poolmagazine.in 27

Opinion

Layout plan of Brihadeshwara Temple

‘Hi, will you do frandship with me?’

This may sound tacky, but social networking sites are opening up a plethora of ways for people to find each other, communicate and establish lasting relationships. Social networking spaces allow users to create autobiographies every day, and reconnect with old friends. People are curious about other people and the social networking space gives them a dynamic platform to see what is happening in everyone’s lives.

What is the connection to architecture, you might wonder. Interestingly, the tangible social spaces employed in architecture also had a strong impact in creating enriching and engaging memories. The intended articulation of form and spaces in temple architecture led to the preservation of thoughts and beliefs for generations. An architectural pattern was followed to reinforce certain thoughts. Isn’t that what social networking does?

It is in fact possible to enhance the user experience of social networking sites/ services through redesigning information, architecture and space layout based on the unique design principles and patterns of medieval temple architecture of India.

I recently attended a ceremony to mark 1,000 years of existence of the

Brihadeshwara Temple in Tanjore, an important center of art and architecture in south India. Being a native of the city, the Brihadeshwara Temple was always a part of my daily life. On the day of the ceremony however, I was overwhelmed by the sheer grandeur of the temple, the people in it and the emotions it evoked among them.

The experience inspired me to try to establish the relation between the social spaces of medieval times in a real world with the social spaces today in a virtual world. The effect of form and space and the impact of transitional spaces on human thought behavior have been well established. Human settlements from time immemorial have had dedicated spaces which served specific purposes.

Each of these spaces had the power to preserve and rekindle memories. A temple is one such social space, which as evidenced by inscriptions found on walls, captured and preserved collective memories of a specific time and space and passed it on to further generations.

My intention was to study various elements of design in temple architecture and how the layout and transition in spaces makes a user /devotee invoke certain emotions. I wanted to understand parallels and gaps between ancient social spaces and current social spaces

by analyzing how spaces, people and technologies interact with each other to convey certain thoughts and beliefs.

The temples of medieval India have endured the entropy in societies, religious and political revolutions, millenniums, technological breakthroughs and are still standing as powerful icons of thoughts, beliefs and stories. Not only were the temples iconic in the sociological and religious paradigm, they were also the epicenter of many towns, around which the other macro elements of the town grew. They were massive social spaces where people from all walks of life came together. Apart from being the adobe of God, they also recorded the glorious stories of great kings, the daily lives of flourishing subjects, and events like wars, coronation, and festivals. The purpose of these massive acres of constructed space was to reestablish beliefs and thoughts for generations to come.

The way the spaces articulated from one area to another had an intense impact on the eyes of the beholder. A typical Hindu temple consists of an entrance, often with a porch; one or more attached or detached mandapas or halls; the inner sanctum called the garbagriha, literally ‘womb chamber’; and the tower build directly above the garbagriha.

It’s important to understand the space bifurcation in a temple layout and the

@kaveriGeewhiz #youneedtositdown for some awesome music coming from Stoned Asia; new band on my playlist.

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Section of Brihadeshwara Temple

visual cues it provides to invoke certain thoughts.

Elements of design were employed in this layout to kindle certain memories and summon certain thoughts in the eyes of their beholder. Let me explain a few of the transitional spaces in the temple complex and try to draw some corresponding parallels in current social networking sites.

Let’s start with the gopuram, the lofty gateway usually located in the quadrangle of a temple complex. A gopuram imbibes a strong sense of ‘entry’ in the visitor, and uses design elements of scale to establish to the devotee that he is entering the adobe of the almighty. The gateways are guarded by massive demon-like gods, which represent might and strength.

Another element used in the gopuram is that of storytelling. There are numerous statues, which together present a preface of the stories that lie within the complex.

This gopuram can be extrapolated to the Login feature in a social networking site.

Although not same in scale, both these elements reinforce the ‘entry’ aspect of a social space.

Next in line is the vimana, the most massive and impressive part of the temple. It is the façade of the temple and carries stories of the essence of

the lives of our ancestors, the values and principles that they wanted to carry forward to future generations. This space is one of the best examples of how visual storytelling can preserve thoughts for ages. This is a little similar to the ‘wall’ feature in a social network, where the user communicates casually with the friend circle using comments, pictures, videos, etc.

And finally there is the garbagriha or ‘womb chamber’. The visitor of the temple enters a very personal space here, a zone between him and the divine.

This is the inner chamber, the sanctum sanctorum which hails the main deity.

As the visitor approaches this, the roof height keeps diminishing. This helps the user recollect all prayers or verses he uses to communicate with the gods. This is when private and intimate memories are rekindled about all prior actions; this is the place for penance. These are not memories he would want to exhibit out aloud, though he may wish to share them with some nevertheless. This is equivalent to the home page, a private space for a user, within a social space.

We can thus see that transitional spaces play a vital role in invoking thoughts. An important aspect of design is that it is intended to lead from the temporal world to the eternal.

The common design elements in these two spaces are mainly about people, places and events. For example, massive inscriptions on pillars about a king’s victory in war, and umpteen comments on a Facebook wall congratulating a player for a big match win share a momentary link across time.

A devotee in a temple experiences two layers during transition: activity and display. These are like the layers of cause and effect.

The activity: This layer is where the devotee moves, communicates, interacts, and takes intentional actions. This is called the cause layer, because the devotee interacts with the world, his friends and himself here.

The display: This layer reflects the actions of the user; it is the effect layer. Actions made by a devotee in the cause layer have a significant effect in the effect layer.

The design of transitional spaces in a temple can be compared to the navigation pages in a social network. In both the spaces the user has the specific intention of moving from one space to another. The transitional spaces in a temple create various identities for a devotee - as a group, as a community, as a family, and as an individual.

@kaveriGeewhiz Trash is treasure indeed:).The junk-seller lent me a trippy pair of shades for the day. www.poolmagazine.in 29

Opinion

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The following figure shows how the social identity of a user undergoes a metamorphosis in different spaces within a temple: l

The visitor enters as a group, with his friends, family, or strangers.

l

As visitor moves inside, a smaller group of people in his closer social circle are with him, like friends and family.

l

When the visitor is in the prayer hall, this unit becomes smaller still, consisting of a close friend or family member.

l

Finally in the garbagriha this unit shrinks to its minimal; it’s just the visitor and the divine.

A similar experience can be mapped with the navigation pages of a social networking site. There is a change in the identity of a user on the profile page, on a friend’s page, and within the home page.

Today, social networking sites are a portal for users to get in touch with their past, present or even future. Technology allows a user to preserve data for years. However, though social networking helps build memorable moments, it fails to preserve the life span of these personal moments. Current social networking spaces have a primary difference in life span of thoughts and memories unlike the tangible spaces of previous centuries. Applying the time tested medieval Indian temple architectural principles and patterns can significantly enhance user experience of social networking sites/services through effective usage of transitional spaces.

Using an in-depth approach to designing spaces, giving individual character to the navigation pages, and using design elements like scale, repletion, etc. to enhance contextual memories can help social networking spaces to create a lasting thought process, such as the Brihadeshwara Temple has created over a millennium.

An architecture graduate, Vaijayanthi Mohan Iyengar also has a master’s in information and digital design from National Institute of Design. She currently works in the domain of User Experience Design and Research.

@mekkanikal If laughter is the language of the soul then my soul is very talkative. www.poolmagazine.in 31

RNI-No. MAHENG12606/13/1/2010-TC