Creative Gaga - Jan/Feb_2011 (Preview)

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VOL1/ ISSUE1

Jan/Feb 2011 the enthusiastic creative journal

Urban Graffiti

by Bond

Dilip Chhabria’s Design Fuel

Environmental Engagement of Lopez Design

COVER

Von Zipp er by

Archan Nair

Contents

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‘Blue Ganesha’, urban graffiti by phantom graffiti artist, Bond.

Exhibit

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TrendFeed

Inspiring design with potential to be influential.

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SpendThrift

Thoughtfully designed stuff that you can acquire.

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Instinct Splash

Mixed media artist Archan Nair talks about his work which is very close to his imagination.

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Urban Expression

Phantom graffiti artist Bond talks about his works travelling around the country.

Figures

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Unfolding Spaces

Matharoo Associates design buildings that are meant to be explored.

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32 Creative Review Cover by Grandmother India Design.

48 Fitness Factory Identity by Gopika Chowfla.

Leave No Scars

Paul Sandip shares his random approach to design.

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Desi Design

Grandmother India Design talk about promoting strong Indian design in the country.

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Radical Affairs

Car designer Dilip Chhabria talks about what fuels his work, and his recent foray into art.

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40 Glare by Dilip Chhabria.

Environmental Engagement

Delhi-based Lopez Design talk about their Environmental Graphics projects.

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29 Shrink Slippers by Paul Sandip.

Podium

Design Movement

Gyaan

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24 House of Balls by Matharoo Associaties.

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Blended Dimensions

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Gopika Chowfla talks about her love for classic design.

Bangalore-based design studio PencilSauce explains how to blend elements to create an integrated visual.

Poster Logic

Art Director Manish Karnatak explains the creation of communication for a snacks brand.

Before You Shoot

Ace photographer Anoop Negi shares quick photography tips.

Alphabet Soup

Logo designer Naina shares her process as she designs the identity for a marketing consultancy.

Driven to Design

Graphic designer Tanushree Rana displays emphasis on a range of styles.

ArtTronics

Sculptor and illustrator Charuvi Agarwal displays dexterity in both her chosen media.

CopyRight

Copywriter Mansi Jain brings to light the world of interesting copy-driven communication.

Exhibit EarlyRisers

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Design is a release. It is deeply connected with the spiritual world.

It has been my support system, leading from one transformation to the next, to greater self-realization.

It starts with an inspiration. A conversation. A video. A trip. Life.

All my work is expressions of what I‘m feeling or people close to me feel at some point. Moods, inflections, phases. All I do is translate them into visuals. At times one has a vague feeling of where to start. At others, you just start creating, and let instinct take over. A lot of work happens through my subconscious.

Not having a design style is my style. I keep trying out new techniques. Most of my work is mixed media which gives me room for experimentation. I don’t use 100% digital, I mix it with acrylic, water colours, paints, scraps, pencils, pens. I use digital to compose my work.

My work is about forming a connection. All my work has a lot of emotional quotient. All of them are somewhere related to the meaning of our existence. It is all very deep. Also, I seldom take up more than one project at a time. I find that it messes with my focus.

What’s next? I’ve done work for Pepsi, Yahoo, Blackberry, Zu, Chevrolet, Hugo Boss. I’ve just finished a campaign for Nike, which will hit the stores by Jan 2011. They wanted to create a subculture around cricket in India with the theme ‘Be true to cricket’.

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01 Vivid Reflections.

Abstract mixed media representation of space time illusions.

mezemrising dance form, Kathakali.

02 Meaningful Moments Exist Silently

04 Perfume. Flowing in the scent of a perfume, when it tingles with my imagination.

03 Kathakali. My interpretation of the

05 Purple-scape.

Artwork created for Yahoo!

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The beauty about personal work is that I don’t have to think about a viewer’s point of view. When designing for a client, I try to step into the audience’s shoes. I try to make myself a client and speak to a viewer as the client would. This mostly requires immense thought, even though I try to keep my work very personal. When Yahoo was launching its new identity, we created installations around ‘purple-scape’, which was its new brand colour. I started visualizing myself going purple and living in a purple world. That came out in my art.

Collaborating with the clients help you evolve and get support. Nike has been an amazing experience to work with. They give me a free hand, since they say they are looking for my interpretation.

You can’t do design for money. You have to be original and create from your heart, as opposed to imitation. You are nothing without your own point of view. And you have to be positive, come what may <

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Figures GagaWorthy

UnfoldingSpaces Matharoo Associates believe in clear emphasis on functionality, use of materials in their natural form and exercising restraint while designing. Their buildings are designed to unfold and reveal their secrets and meaning.

The House With Balls The 600 Sq-Yard weekend home for an aquarium shop owner comprises of four separate fish breeding tanks, an observatory which could double up as living space and a private sleeping area, all with provisions for biogas, rainwater collection for fishes and ETHE.

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On opening the houseâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s distinctive shutters, this linear space transforms completely into an infinite one, continuously mingling with and perpendicular to its original direction. The house assumes a squat position and the curving wall to one side allows one to walk up

01 House with Balls

Ahemdabad based Matharoo Associates follow an interdisciplinary practice engulfing architecture, product design, structural design and interior design, and credit their success to a team of dedicated professionals consolidated under one roof.

02 Curtain Door, House with Wall of Light 03 Prathama

the gentle slope on to the terrace running over the length of the house. Rainwater is harvested throughout the year to be used for the fish tanks and space made by this curving wall is used as a tank.

House with Wall of Light The dwelling emulates the various facets of a diamond in several ways through the use of contrasting materials. The rough diamonds are represented by the concrete walls poured in stone casts and the polished ones are represented by the light emanating onyx wall.

One is opaque, the other transparent. One envelops the house and the other ties the house together.

One absorbs, the other radiates. One is neutral, theother colourful. One is rough and the other is smooth. The core family and private areas are placed in a â&#x20AC;&#x153;black boxâ&#x20AC;? characterized by the use of kadapa stone >

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Figures GagaGod

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We’ve become more process-driven over the years. It’s part of being responsible about your work. Being systematic gives your creative process greater clarity. We have briefing formats to extract content. We do thorough research before starting design.

We often collaborate with other artists.

Maximum India, The Kennedy Center, Washington D.C. India is a singular address for the plural - from clothes, cultures to cuisines. One of the most apt personifications of India’s diversity is in language. The Maximum India logo is a coming together of all the languages to showcase oneness in its diversity. Fusing the scripts with a contemporary type style, the logo brings out the traditional and contemporary India.

Creative Review. CR, one of the world’s most respected design magazines wanted their cover to be a celebration of Mumbai’s unique Taxi Art for their Typography special issue. We got together with two of the city’s best practitioners of the craft, and all the elements of a true masala design found their way in.

The resulting pastiche style was something that every Mumbai resident will know, but which likely has no parallel anywhere else in the world > 05 creative_gaga Jan/Feb2011

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04 Creative Review Cover 05 Colour Next 09

06 07 Colour Next 09 - Blush 08 Taxi Art for Creative Review

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Figures IconWatch

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RADICAL

AFFAIRS

creative_gaga Jan/Feb2011

Dilip Chhabria was born in a car enthusiast family and soon made cars his muse, sketching them on paper napkins, walls and text books. Today, one of the worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;smost respected car designers, he has recently moved into art.

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The kind of success Dilip Chhabria enjoys, results out of deep understanding of design and the knack to see curves before they exist. Dilip Chhabria talks about his radical designs and love for all things car. creativegaga.com

Figures StudioScope

DESIGN movement

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Gopika Chowfla Design Studio has given many big brands their identity and communication, including Oberoi Hotels, Spicejet, Nirulas and Oxford. They are known for classic design that resists the spirit of age.

Design is a shared vision. Design is not fine art that will go up in a gallery as one’s personal expression.

Design is a joint venture between the designer and the client. The client has a design need, and the designer is providing a solution. Design is problem solving.

We try not to be trendy. Trends change and then design falters. The kind of projects we do, the design needs longevity, and can’t afford to be trendy. The shelf-life of a brand signature needs to be at least 10 years. While the application of a brand identity can follow trends, the core needs to be constant.

Always work like you’re working with your left hand.

Staying out of your comfort zone will always help.

Incubation of the idea takes time, not the execution. It is so easy to lapse into obvious answers, especially when you’ve been using the visual language for years. The challenge is how do you make the language newly relevant again? If the design solution comes too quickly, I often try to make it as complex as possible and then start deconstructing and simplifying it again to reach another result > 01

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Gopika Chowfla worked for ten years in advertising before she started her studio. Now, thirteen years later, she still finds the process of creating something as exciting as she did when she started out.

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01 The Raintree Hotels Identity.

A chain of eco-hotels.

02 Asia 7 Identity.

A pan-Asian restaurant serving food from seven countries.

03 Oxford Bookstore Ad Campaign.

The theme was â&#x20AC;&#x153;Reading never goes out of styleâ&#x20AC;?.

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Gyaan InFocus

Before You Shoot!

Quick photography tips from master photographer Anoop Negi.

Anoop Negi Anoop Negi left bureaucracy for the rest and took on travelling and photography full time. Between capturing stunning imagery in Americas, Europe, Australia and the likes, he indulges in making wines and liqueurs and concocting tales and cocktails.

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Tools used • Any camera, new or old • Photoshop on a computer • Loads of imagination

The world is a subject, and anyone with a camera or a cameraphone, a photographer. While most are driven by their own styles of shooting and techniques, all fail in the absence of some basic concepts if not quickly imbibed. So let us get going and see what we can do here to cross the rubicon.

#1 Photography is about telling a story. Any image ought to evoke some emotion in the viewer, whether fear, happiness or curiosity. Photo: ‘Racing with Bulls’, ‘A penitent at Trivandrum’ and ‘Theyyam at Onam’ are some examples with associated emotions.

01 Boats by Swapna Mahawadhi 02 Racing with the Bulls - Excitement, Power, exotic action.

03 A penitent at Trivandrum in Kerala - Religion, Shock, Fear.

04 Theyyam at Onam Attachamayam – Anger, Culture and Identity.

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