By Malvika Mehra
I attended a conference hosted by India Design Forum, 'Empowering through Design’ during the Make in India symposium held in Mumbai. Listening to an eclectic line up of speakers including a politician, a mystic, industrialists, entrepreneurs and designers, I stumbled upon some precious nuggets. On design. Brand building. And life. For whatever they are worth, here are my humble observations from that day.
Amitabh Kant, Secretary, DIPP, India, a big champion of the Make in India initiative, spoke about pride in our Indian roots, our rich civilization and traditions and 'owning our own design’. Not just encouraging more Indian patents but citing past success stories like 'Incredible India’ and Kerala tourism, brands which truly built on this thinking.
The Kerala success story on a very basic level was about simply sticking to the authentic offering of Ayurveda and Appam. About glorifying our traditional houseboats (made without a single nail, did you know that?), about getting back all those talented carpenters we were losing to Dubai, about converting the very same notorious poachers in the forests into rock star tour guides. And look what we created - God’s very own country. An example of great brand success, coming from just being authentic. Going back to the basics, the source, that one thing that makes us who we truly are.
Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev, my favourite mystic spoke about many aspects of design. And of course, life attitudes. From India’s tolerant democratic motherhoodness of letting us Indians design even our own gods (33 million of them, on last count) to us having the lethargy of an occupied nation and hence always expecting 'them (the government) to do it’, whether it is cleaning up India or Making in India. He spoke about basics like design inspiration coming from nature (now that’s what you call Free Basics Mr Zuckerberg). And in my mind, the biggest reassurance for dreamers and 'people and thing gazers’ like me – that the most important and underlying principle of design is, yes, observation. Perception before expression.
GV Sanjay Reddy, Vice Chairman, GVK, India, spoke passionately about the design journey of the GVK, Terminal 2 airport in Mumbai. My theory on client input and design output being intrinsically linked got reiterated during his talk. The T2 at Mumbai was apparently one of the most difficult airport construction projects in the world, with maximum constraints across topography, surrounding residential quarters etc. From what I saw, it was clearly Mr Reddy’s searing passion, unwavering clarity and complete one man accountability overrode those obstacles and today his design dream stands tall as Mumbai’s pride. And shows up ever so often on travellers’ Instagram feeds. It’s true; clients really get the creative work they deserve. His design brief was simple. He wanted an airport, which was Indian at heart, yet global in spirit. That explains the underlying peacock feather design motif (in a subtle off-white versus the clichéd Indian riot of colours) running through the terminal, the cool metal lotus lighting and the digital diya display on the walls welcoming passengers as they arrive. Indian, yet sparing us the typical kitsch. His next brief for the airport at Bangalore 'the garden city’ is simply that he wants an airport in a garden. His quick retort to those that claim that this was exactly the brief for Changi airport, Singapore, is 'Changi has a garden in the airport, it’s not an airport in a garden’. Are we clear everybody?
Next, a very interesting talk in an area, which has perhaps seen the best design evolution: the auto industry. From the humble wheel to the sexiest cars and bikes today. V Sumantran, chairman, Celeris Technologies, India, held forth on design for function and the senses. Besides a racy articulation of what millennials living simultaneously in 2 worlds - virtual and real, with crazy thought speeds do not want ('freaky teens not keen on back seat scene’), he spoke about how the auto industry is using design as a pathway to our emotions via our senses. So we 'feel’ something when we see a red Porsche, smell the plush leather upholstery in a Bentley, hear the roar of a Harley and if they are to be believed, rally car drivers claim to actually 'feel’ the car in the seat of their pants. Design, says Mr Sumantran, wants to own your soul. Just to illustrate the point, he asked if the audience knew what the most popular tattoo after 'Mom’ was? It’s Harley Davidson. I’m not surprised.
The day ended with V Sunil, creative director of the Make in India programme, showcasing brand Indigo. About its success coming from turning the Indian Standard Time cliché on its head by announcing 'on time, every time’ – a first for any Indian airline. About democratising flying, but still keeping it sexy. About the Kochi Biennale and how it made art accessible. About how India’s next big success story can come from combining our design thinking with our technology acumen and manufacturing skills. Simran Lal, CEO, Good Earth, India, spoke about another favourite brand. About razais, lobaan and eating in tamba ware. Another great example of a brand infusing authentic, traditional 'slow living’ and a lot of beauty in our crazy, hectic lives. But using a very modern design language to do it. A word limit unfortunately does not allow me to do justice on a lot of the other design stories: Thukral & Tagra’s 1000 Questions on Design, the making of Bahubali - a truly epic Make in India story, Susan Cain’s 'quiet space’ - an office retreat room to recover from jetlag, etc. but I hope I have managed to nudge some marketers to invest in design thinking. And the power it holds to change a company’s and indeed a country’s fortunes.
Leaving you with a visual that stayed in my head that day: a 3-D printing machine in an art installation created for Rabo Bank, converting visitor screams into personalized souvenir mugs. Imagine holding your scream in your hand. Now that’s the power of design.
The author is ex National Creative Director, Grey. Views expressed are personal.
I attended a conference hosted by India Design Forum, 'Empowering through Design’ during the Make in India symposium held in Mumbai. Listening to an eclectic line up of speakers including a politician, a mystic, industrialists, entrepreneurs and designers, I stumbled upon some precious nuggets. On design. Brand building. And life. For whatever they are worth, here are my humble observations from that day.
Amitabh Kant, Secretary, DIPP, India, a big champion of the Make in India initiative, spoke about pride in our Indian roots, our rich civilization and traditions and 'owning our own design’. Not just encouraging more Indian patents but citing past success stories like 'Incredible India’ and Kerala tourism, brands which truly built on this thinking.
The Kerala success story on a very basic level was about simply sticking to the authentic offering of Ayurveda and Appam. About glorifying our traditional houseboats (made without a single nail, did you know that?), about getting back all those talented carpenters we were losing to Dubai, about converting the very same notorious poachers in the forests into rock star tour guides. And look what we created - God’s very own country. An example of great brand success, coming from just being authentic. Going back to the basics, the source, that one thing that makes us who we truly are.
Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev, my favourite mystic spoke about many aspects of design. And of course, life attitudes. From India’s tolerant democratic motherhoodness of letting us Indians design even our own gods (33 million of them, on last count) to us having the lethargy of an occupied nation and hence always expecting 'them (the government) to do it’, whether it is cleaning up India or Making in India. He spoke about basics like design inspiration coming from nature (now that’s what you call Free Basics Mr Zuckerberg). And in my mind, the biggest reassurance for dreamers and 'people and thing gazers’ like me – that the most important and underlying principle of design is, yes, observation. Perception before expression.
GV Sanjay Reddy, Vice Chairman, GVK, India, spoke passionately about the design journey of the GVK, Terminal 2 airport in Mumbai. My theory on client input and design output being intrinsically linked got reiterated during his talk. The T2 at Mumbai was apparently one of the most difficult airport construction projects in the world, with maximum constraints across topography, surrounding residential quarters etc. From what I saw, it was clearly Mr Reddy’s searing passion, unwavering clarity and complete one man accountability overrode those obstacles and today his design dream stands tall as Mumbai’s pride. And shows up ever so often on travellers’ Instagram feeds. It’s true; clients really get the creative work they deserve. His design brief was simple. He wanted an airport, which was Indian at heart, yet global in spirit. That explains the underlying peacock feather design motif (in a subtle off-white versus the clichéd Indian riot of colours) running through the terminal, the cool metal lotus lighting and the digital diya display on the walls welcoming passengers as they arrive. Indian, yet sparing us the typical kitsch. His next brief for the airport at Bangalore 'the garden city’ is simply that he wants an airport in a garden. His quick retort to those that claim that this was exactly the brief for Changi airport, Singapore, is 'Changi has a garden in the airport, it’s not an airport in a garden’. Are we clear everybody?
Next, a very interesting talk in an area, which has perhaps seen the best design evolution: the auto industry. From the humble wheel to the sexiest cars and bikes today. V Sumantran, chairman, Celeris Technologies, India, held forth on design for function and the senses. Besides a racy articulation of what millennials living simultaneously in 2 worlds - virtual and real, with crazy thought speeds do not want ('freaky teens not keen on back seat scene’), he spoke about how the auto industry is using design as a pathway to our emotions via our senses. So we 'feel’ something when we see a red Porsche, smell the plush leather upholstery in a Bentley, hear the roar of a Harley and if they are to be believed, rally car drivers claim to actually 'feel’ the car in the seat of their pants. Design, says Mr Sumantran, wants to own your soul. Just to illustrate the point, he asked if the audience knew what the most popular tattoo after 'Mom’ was? It’s Harley Davidson. I’m not surprised.
The day ended with V Sunil, creative director of the Make in India programme, showcasing brand Indigo. About its success coming from turning the Indian Standard Time cliché on its head by announcing 'on time, every time’ – a first for any Indian airline. About democratising flying, but still keeping it sexy. About the Kochi Biennale and how it made art accessible. About how India’s next big success story can come from combining our design thinking with our technology acumen and manufacturing skills. Simran Lal, CEO, Good Earth, India, spoke about another favourite brand. About razais, lobaan and eating in tamba ware. Another great example of a brand infusing authentic, traditional 'slow living’ and a lot of beauty in our crazy, hectic lives. But using a very modern design language to do it. A word limit unfortunately does not allow me to do justice on a lot of the other design stories: Thukral & Tagra’s 1000 Questions on Design, the making of Bahubali - a truly epic Make in India story, Susan Cain’s 'quiet space’ - an office retreat room to recover from jetlag, etc. but I hope I have managed to nudge some marketers to invest in design thinking. And the power it holds to change a company’s and indeed a country’s fortunes.
Leaving you with a visual that stayed in my head that day: a 3-D printing machine in an art installation created for Rabo Bank, converting visitor screams into personalized souvenir mugs. Imagine holding your scream in your hand. Now that’s the power of design.
The author is ex National Creative Director, Grey. Views expressed are personal.
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