Still in the news

Today, the Commonwealth games 2010, comes an end and with it ends all the speculation and criticism that came our (India's) way over the CWG scandal. Lets just hope our dreamy logo (and the rest of the work we've done as well as the amazing effort by our promising young athletes) live on in our memories for a long time. Idiom is still in the news for the work we've done for the games. A few more clippings from a few newspapers are given below.

-Posted By Rahul

Theatre Alive!

In Bangalore, the name 'Ranga Shankara' is synonymous with theatre and the performing arts. The most affordable theatre space in India today, Ranga Shankara is dedicated to showcasing theatrical performances from India and abroad, to producing and commissioning new and innovative theatre forms and productions, and facilitating outreach programmes to build audiences for theatre and to impart theatre skills. So when they asked us to work on their 2010 theatre festival, we were really excited. The festival starts on the 22nd of October and ends on the 1st of November. This year, the theme is 'Folk and Classical Theatre' with the tag line 'Theatre alive!'. 

 

Arundhati Nag, renowned theatre personality and National award winner and also one of the people that heads Ranga Shankara, asked us to create something memorable and unforgettable for this year's theatre festival. So, under Sonia's guidance, and with help from the Ranga Shankara team, the team at Idiom created some unforgettable characters for each form of theatre that will be featured in this year's theatre festival. 

The Press conference announcing the Theatre festival was held on the 7th of October. Everyone loved our beloved characters. We were told that nearly every one wanted to take photographs with them. The following day, we brought the characters back home to Idiom, to shoot a few commercials and the masks had the same effect. Everyone in the office was busy taking photographs with these masks.

We kick off our events on the 12th of September and we're also planning to have a banner painting event in Cubbon park, Bangalore on the 16th. We're looking forward to this Theatre festival as this was one of the most fun projects that we have ever worked on. So, we hope to see you at Ranga Shankara between the 22nd and the 1st. Keep  watching this space for more on the Theatre festival and there will be an article soon on the different Characters that we have created. Lets all make a joint effort and help Ranga Shankara and Idiom bring Theatre Alive!


-Posted By Rahul

CWG logo a hit among Games enthusiasts

Found this on the internet:

New Delhi, Oct 5: As Delhi plays host to the 19th Commonwealth Games, the Games logo is fast becoming a fad for the city and its people as it can be spotted on mugs, T-shirts, caps, bags, key chains and various other merchandise.

The design of the logo, comprising of a chakra spiralling upwards, is a creation of Bangalore-based private firm 'Idiom'.

'The Commonwealth Games needed an Indian identity with a universal appeal. The chakra on the Games logo is all about Indian ethos,' Sonia Manchanda, principal designer of Idiom, told IANS.

The firm began working on the design as early as 2007.

'The logo, chakra, is the symbol of freedom, unity and power. As it spirals upwards, it depicts the growth of India with a billion people coming together for such a mega event,' Manchanda said.

The designers have also incorporated traditional pictogram and sanjhi art.

'We chose Sanjhi because it is an indigenous art form that can be used to tell stories,' said Manchanda.

Delhiites are seen thronging the CWG Organising Committee's outlets to buy the merchandise.

'The colour scheme and design are ethnic with a tint of modernity. I bought a CWG mug and T-shirt. It has a unique appeal,' said Dhriti Gupta, 18, student of Delhi University.

The palette of the logo includes hues of purple, green and pink, giving a vibrant look to the Games.

Source: Sify News

You can view he original article here 

-Posted By Rahul

Self Belief - The Commonwealth Games 2010

The logo of the 19th Commonwealth Games was launched in Jan 2008. It had to understand where India was going and sentiments of the future. We predicted an India in 2010 that would have huge amounts of self belief! The logo depicts an India and an Indian who wants to reach higher, who no longer wants to be restrained but has the confidence to reach his/her full potential.

The games and the design of the games logo has been an opportunity to explore the Indian Idiom of design and to create a legacy. In the future, whenever the games are discussed or the 19th Commonwealth Games are discussed, the logo will be used as the representation and it best represents our times. Where, we each want to do our part to make the nation reach higher and achieve its 'true destiny' (as Rabindranath Tagore puts it). Which is why the chakra and the nation have been the staring point and the individual is the dynamic force or the creation.

Which is why perhaps, the logo gets us at an emotional and a visceral level, even if we don't fully understand the meaning. So, you've seen all the channels playing with this complex and yet simple design, each in their own personal manner. Glorifying it equally, even when they mean to be negative and equally when they mean to be positive.

The Logo and the Look together with all the elements magically represents the youthful spirit of the nation. Celebratory and joyful even when playing hard.

The 'glory moment' or atleast my most, everyone's most unforgettable moment at the opening ceremony was when the Indian team came on. The 60,000 strong crowd stood up, each one of us and cheered the Indian team as one, non stop and they responded by being not serious and determined, but confident and totally 'mast'... dancing, being unruly, having a blast! We can safely say that India is ready to 'Come out and play, confidently'. And the design represents that Indian spirit!

 

-Posted By Sonia

Idiom in the news

Ever since the Commonwealth games have started, Idiom has been in the news for the work that we've done for the games. Our team (in Delhi and in Bangalore) are still working for the Commonwealth Games 2010. The work we've done is extensive and great looking. You can view some of the articles below:

DELHI TIMES - 3rd OCT 2010

HINDUSTAN TIMES - 3rd OCT 2010

THE ECONOMIC TIMES - 3rd OCT 2010

THE ECONOMIC TIMES (HINDI) - 4th OCT 2010

We have added a few more images on Picasa, Flickr and Facebook. Please check the last post for links to these albums.

- Posted By Rahul

Commonwealth games - look and Design

As you all know, the agency responsible for the look and design for the Commonwealth games 2010 is Idiom. We have done extensive work for the games. It has been a great journey and we hope and pray for the games to be a grand success. You can check out some of the work we've done below: (please follow the links)

1. Images of the work we've done

• Picasa Web Albums: http://picasaweb.google.com/theidiominformer
• Flickr:  www.flickr.com/photos/idiomdesign  

    2. Slide share (presentations that take you through the journey that we've been through for the CWG

• http://slidesha.re/cKoSwU
• http://slidesha.re/cIbfcL 

    3. You can also follow us on Twitter: www.twitter.com/Design_Idiom
    
    4. Fan us on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Idiom-Design-and-Consulting/117724221617870?v=app_2373072738#!/pages/Idiom-Design-and-Consulting/117724221617870?v=wall

 Designing the look for the Commonwealth games was quite a rush and we hope we can do something like this again, in the near future.



-Posted by Rahul


 

Design in Emerging Markets and Idiom

 As you know, Design thinking today has become a Global Phenomenon. Organisations, individuals and others are applying Design Thinking in various aspects of life and work. All the emerging markets (countries like India, Brazil, Mexico and China) however, are applying Design thinking much faster than their counter-parts in the west. Design thinking today has become an integral part of many leading organisations across the globe. Recently, Fast Company featured and article on Design Thinking in Emerging Markets. The article was written by Bruce Nussbaum who is a leading figure in the global design industry.

We, at Idiom are proud to announce the fact that Idiom as well as SPREAD (our very own offshoot) has been featured as ambassadors for design and design thinking to India. We hope to spread the message of Design and Design Thinking in India and make it an integral management tool for every industry here. What do you feel about this growing phenomenon?


You can find the original article here 


Posted By Rahul

The EPIC journey

 
January 2010: I got an invitation to be on the program committee of an ethnographic conference, EPIC 2010. Which is a professional community conference, it is not a for-profit conference but instead is organized by the community for the community. My role was to select, coach and help organize the workshop session, along with a partner.

While I didn¹t know how much work this would be (not complaining - loved all the learning that came with the work), my reasons for accepting were A. That I firmly believe that the basis of all design in an ethnically diverse nation like India has to be deep seated, almost intuitive cultural triggers.

And yet, we operate on too many assumptions about our target audience/user/consumer. We generalize and don¹t get under the surface enough. So it¹s a great idea to have a dialogue about newer ways of getting under the skin of the end user. Ethnography is at a nascent stage of development in India but it¹s the only way forward B. A great, global and diverse group: practitioners, clients and academicians on the same platform C. Japan. Yes Japan, where they have taken inspiration from many lands and cultures, complicated schools of thought and culled the essence, reduced it to a spiritual simplicity. D. Kenya Hara. The final clincher. The art director of Muji, the no-brand brand. Design bliss - and if I believed in the idea of role models, he would definitely be one.

[Ethnography is Participative observation or the intimate study of human society. To investigate how people do things and discover what¹s missing in their lives. To then dream up products and services. To use concepts that avoid casual explanations and prefer symbolic interactions. Criminology, economics, social work, psychologyŠhave employed ethnography. Now, design does too].

 Epic theme: The theme of this year's Epic was DO (Japanese). Do captures the sense of individual mastery that is achieved only with the help of a community and its rich heritage. DO implies a body of knowledge and tradition with an ethic and an aesthetic. DO is the "path" we have travelled and also the way ahead of us. EPIC 2010 featured a wide range of ethnographic applications in industry, different "ways" forward.
Ethnographic praxis in industry is global in scope, but adapted to different geographies (Asia, Latin America, Middle East, Europe, North America), different contexts (academia, business, NGOs, government), different industries (technology, healthcare, consumer goods, advertising) and different purposes (product innovation, strategy, interorganizational collaboration, communications, policy making). The conference had 20 PAPER PRESENTATIONS, 12 WORKSHOPS, 17 ARTIFACT PRESENTATIONS, 7 PECHA KUCHA SESSIONS, 7 MASTER TOURS.

Some of the ideas that stayed with me were * hyperskilling, actively coordinating inputs from multiple disciplines in an attempt at effective collaboration. * Video as a powerful tool to bring alive the end user, especially user made videos. * Of seeking collaboration to understand new cultures and people * Of finding ever new ways of getting into the heads of the individual, especially in the age of the internet, where all you interact with is an identity. * Living Avatar Networks, where someone else lives an experience for you * Tools that need to be designed to continuously track user understanding * the role of ethnography in designing public
services *  


In the Pecha Kucha sessions, A young designer shared her journey through ethnography, another team looked at how we can build on traditions, yet another showed images that each tell a story. A designer sketched over the
18 minute walk from his home to his studio. Microsoft Research captured the digital photo studio in India. Then there were skeumorphs (features of tech products that have lost their original function but have been retained
nevertheless) and spandrels (features that have been retained because they have taken on a new function).

Do check out the concepts of cosplay and Meido Café, where the real and the created (anime) collide in new ways.

TOKYO: The Japanese I met were warm and sincere, albeit a little reserved, which is not a bad thing really. The Tokyo Midtown center and it¹s conference facility where Epic 2010 was hosted, was something else really.
Perfect doesn¹t even begin to describe the conference facility, where the light, sound and space made it seem like a one on one conversation ­ all sensory barriers that technology imposes, were nonexistent. And while yes, the materials used for the Mid Town center itself are ordinary, just glass with clean straight lines, the effect is touching. Nature ­ light, water, pebbles, sunshine are the elements that these otherwise overpowering materials framed. And typically, even with buildings that are many floors high, the scale is human, the journey from the road to within is seamless.
Spaces are tight and yet beautiful. It's Blade Runner photoshopped, vacuumed and depeopled! Besides design stores, hotels, shopping and dining facilities, TMC has a Design Hub with JIDPO, JAGDA.

Omote Sando is a vision: a place where both the people and the stores have been photoshopped just yesterday. I felt like the only thing real there!
Cutting edge brands and cutting edge style. Understated statements brand etherealism, if such a term can exist.

People I met and who are now my friends and Idiom friends are Hiroshi from Hakuhodo, Fumiko ­ a lovely and energetic person, Mizuki who showed me Don Quixote, Luis (of insitum) who invited me in the first place and Roberto and his warm and beautiful wife, Elizabeth and little Olivia, John (my workshop¹s partner) and his wife Rebecca. Nimmi, how can anyone not mention her ­ who presented her piece on digital photo stuidios in India like a bharatnatyam dancerŠcompletely unforgettable. Then, of course, The taxi driver, who told me about the sad state of the economy ­ the unions, the pay cuts, the long working hours, the insecurity and wedding expenses.

My last impression was the sharp, simple and beautiful black cone of Mt Fuji, surrounded by a ring of clouds - perfect!




Posted by Sonia




You can check out the EPIC website here

The Commonwealth Express

 

The Commonwealth Express, featuring rare CWG memorabilia, arrived at Bangalore on Thursday 2nd of September, 2010 to give Bangaloreans a glimpse of the history of the games.
Five coaches of the Special Exhibition train on Sports and Information Technology are devoted to the Commonwealth Games. The train was stationed at Cantonment, the second major railway station in Bangalore, till Friday 3rd September 2010.

The special train, comprising of 11 coaches, has been journeying throughout India from June 24 to promote the Games (Oct 3-14) which will be held in New Delhi.
The Commonwealth Express is being run jointly by the Ministry of Railways (through its Railway Sports Promotion Board) and the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology.

Idiom captured glimpses of the train which showcased - History of the Games, Commonwealth Nations and the Mascot of New Delhi Games ‘Shera’; Queen’s Baton Relay and interesting facts about the Games; Details of venues and the Games; Display of sporting events and calendar of sporting events; Portraits and action photographs of Indian sports legends and Railways’ role in nurturing budding Indian sportsmen, star railway sportspersons and display of trophies bagged by Indian Railways.

In case you still didn’t know, Idiom has and is designing the look of the games as well as the logo

-Posted by Mallik

Onam at IDIOM

Onam is the biggest festival in the Indian state of Kerala. It falls during the first month of the Malayalam calendar which is Chingam (August–September) and marks the homecoming of the legendary King Mahabali. The festival lasts for ten days and is linked to many elements of Kerala's culture and tradition. Intricate flower carpets, elaborate banquet lunch, snake boat races, Puli Kali, and the kaikottikkali dance all play a part in the festival. Onam is celebrated by the all the natives of Kerala, irrespective of caste, creed or religion.

This year Onam was on the 23rd of August, since it was a holiday at IDIOM, we decided to celebrate Onam on the 21st. It was a Saturday, and the office was abuzz with excitement. Some of the guys had laid an onapookkalam (floral carpet) as well as cooked for us (we had Onam Sadya with lunch). Everyone celebrating Onam looked great (the men in their lungis and the women in their traditional white saris). Onam was a fun day and we hope to celebrate many more festivals just like we celebrated Onam.

Posted by Rahul

Design Education in China

On Sunday I was with a young man all of 25 who was a sales manager at this fixture factory that Suresh from our office had ordered shop fittings from. Curious about his background I asked him what he did in college. Two years of Industrial Design he said.

So I asked him why he was not practicing industrial design. Not the best career option he said. "Sales have more possibility." So why not an MBA?"  “Oh too tough to get in, ID easier."

"I love designing but with my qualifications I can work in the engineering department where I will be far down the pecking order …. No fun"

China has more than 200 universities and colleges that offer courses in Industrial design alone that produce about 30,000 graduates of varying skill levels through 2, 3 and 4 year programmes. Many of them teach drawing and sketching, CAD, ADOBE- Photoshop and AI with a bit of engineering and MT and very little of design research leave alone Design Intelligence.

This is what I find out on Monday from Sheng Wang at VIM DESIGN, a product design office run by him. He is an industrial designer educated in China running a 25 person studio in Shanghai in Building 800 that’s occupied largely by galleries; the contemporary art museum and a number of design and allied firms even those dealing with consulting on intellectual property.

Not surprisingly or should I say surprisingly Sheng does not speak English at all.....
It is a young office with 5 interns just about 19 years old, 2 engineers in MT which I reckon is material technology and the 15 odd designers working there would not be older than 22 years old on average.

The problem Sheng tells me is that there is no quality in the 190 or so colleges that churn out designers. The other issue is that among the students themselves there is not enough general awareness about design hence the students who stumble into design….. Well….. Stumble into design.

Out of the 200 colleges and universities I ask how many deliver quality education, Sheng and his young designers start counting literally on their fingers and come up with ten, which produce at best 1000 graduates a year. The design schools at Beijing and Shanghai are considered the best. The schools however teach more the skills and less of the thinking.

There was a great deal of curiosity about our methodology and design research. They were surprised to hear that we don’t actually go about interviewing customers but rather rely on observation.

They would love to do research for their projects but have not done so, so far as their clients have not offered to pay for it. When they design products for western markets they depend on information gathered by their clients for consumer insights.

Business design drew a complete blank; packaging is also not done at the studio although that is something that they would like to do in the future.

The model making they enjoy is Fabulous !!
I saw a range of CP fittings being developed for an MNC that were absolutely gorgeous.

Multi national companies like Whirlpool, Ariston, A.O. Smith, Samsung etc that operate in the Chinese market have been good pay masters though they have to deal with middle managers and not the very top managers.

There are also a few Chinese companies that are employers of designers like TCL, Haier, Lenovo etc.
They look to hiring VIM Design because of the broader perspective they bring in although all of them do have in-house design studios.
The largest design offices in the country that employ upward of 100 designers are almost entirely in the public sector or have some kind of government stake in them.

Idiom and VIM Design can look at collaborating on product design projects especially those that need manufacturing and production support in China and this is something we would be looking at in the future.



Posted by Jacob

What is Design Thinking?

What is Design Thinking?

Wikipedia defines it as "a process for practical, creative resolution of problems or issues that looks for an improved future result. It is the essential ability to combine empathy, creativity and rationality to meet user needs and drive business success. Unlike analytical thinking, design thinking is a creative process based around the "building up" of ideas.

As with design, there’s probably no one definition of design thinking everyone will agree on. The word design can refer to nouns such as designers, physical products, and style. The word can be a verb, as in process, create, and make. For example, Charles Burnette in his IDeSiGN curriculum calls it, “…a process of creative and critical thinking that allows information and ideas to be organized, decisions to be made, situations to be improved, and knowledge to be gained.”

Lately many more people are talking and writing about the application of design thinking to intangible problems, design not only as a verb but as a way of — as Herbert Simon wrote — improving situations. I felt a need to review what has been said and define the term for myself before I could put it into use. Ways of thinking are always difficult to define, but I’m reminded of how Lao Tzu said “The tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao” yet he still managed to write a book about it.

I have synthesized for myself what I understand design thinking to be…

• Collaborative, especially with others having different and complimentary experience, to generate better work and form agreement
• Abductive, inventing new options to find new and better solutions to new problems
• Experimental, building prototypes and posing hypotheses, testing them, and iterating this activity to find what works and what doesn’t work to manage risk
• Personal, considering the unique context of each problem and the people involved
• Integrative, perceiving an entire system and its linkages
• Interpretive, devising how to frame the problem and judge the possible solutions

I’m sure one could play with the language and categorization to find more or less characteristics, but I’m happy with just those six.

-Posted by Rahul

Introducing SPREAD

Conception:

 IDIOM is humbly today India’s largest multidisciplinary design firm in the country, In the last few years design professionals at IDIOM Design and Consulting, Bangalore have been using design thinking as a key strategic tool to help in the disproportionate growth of some of the most desired business houses in India. At Idiom we believe that this process could be used to create the same results of inclusive growth for the nation and beyond. Idiom has, in a short span of time, moved from the business of design to the design of business. Creating ideas for India that are taken from mind to market with skill, speed and imagination. Idiom is ‘more’ than a design firm. Design education does not address this need that we see in the market.
SPREAD was hence born as the design outreach program of IDIOM. Since its induction three years ago SPREAD has successfully worked with various institutions and business houses conducting workshops, seminar programs and lectures to make design a weapon to transform and grow our economy and to better plan our lives and environment.  Spread makes design thinking, tools and processes accessible to design and business students, practitioners and even school children.

Need:

As India strives to be the epicenter of the new creative economy. We at SPREAD realize two immediate challenges the nation faces for the desired growth.
India has a severe shortage of Design professionals when compared to countries like the USA or Japan and our education system has been structured to nurture production economy rather than creative economy.
Our aim at SPREAD is to create future thought leaders whose designs would tangibly transform businesses and life. We at SPREAD aim to ignite this thinking process to a wide range of audience from corporate / entrepreneurs / business houses / governance to school children to youth in colleges practicing different streams of specialization Young. We aim to make India’s creative future ready.
What we offer:
 Design education (Design thinking and Design doing):
Design as we see it, has two parts to it-process and skill. The process can be easily taught and applied to a wide variety of problem solving exercise. The process or design thinking as it is better known today is a way of seeing , observing , questioning and foreseeing a problem / demand to get a holistic solution.
Spread also plans to impart soft skill courses for the non designers.

Design research and consulting:

The design and ethnography researchers at SPREAD are constantly caning the market and society for viable insights and ideas that could lead to a sustainable growth opportunity.
Journey so far:
 In acknowledgement to our work in India, team from Idiom was invited to Parsons and Stanford D School in New York in the month of March this year to better understand the true potential of economic growth in India with design as the key driver. The visit resulted in  NODES (A network for design education) was set up as a platform to promote Design and Design thinking, collaboration between SPREAD (Idiom) and Design Knowledge Network (Parsons).   

Next step:

 NODES (Spread/ Idiom and Design knowledge network / Parsons new school of design, NY) will be jointly conducting the first series of workshops from 3rd to 10th of June 2010. Dr. Carlos Teixeira from Parsons will be leading this workshop.


  
Moving forward:

Design is not for the elite; it is for all and can be practiced by all for a truly conscious growth. Hence we must SPREAD Design.
We will be targeting education, consulting services and vocational training for schooling and graduate students, non designers, corporate, social entrepreneurs, governance, small and MSES.
We will also be looking to attract like-minded people, passionate about inclusive and conscious growth as partners and research sponsors on the NODES platform.

Key People:

Carlos Teixeira, Ph.D.

 Carlos Teixeira is an Assistant Professor and Director of Academic Affairs at the School of Design Strategies, at Parsons The New School for Design. He has a PhD in Design from the Institute of Design, Illinois Institute of Technology, USA. His teaching centers on the application of design practices for innovation. He also leads a research lab on Design Knowledge Networks. As a practitioner, he has professional experience as a communication designer and strategic design consultant in the United States and Brazil.

Sonia Manchanda

Sonia is Founder and Principal Designer at Idiom Design and Consulting. She believes that design is and can be a potent tool for creating and recreating the world we live in and design is as much relevant to life, as it is to business. She has led teams and worked on large scale projects that are cultural in nature, created public movements, working with city stakeholders, created the thinking, culture and visual identities for some of India's largest and most recognizable retail brands, besides some truly Indian and successful corporate brands. Spread is an initiative that she launched along with Idiom cofounders, to find innovative ways to spread design as a way of thinking and doing things. She is a product of the premium school of design ,  National institute of Design , Ahmadabad and is in the program committee of EPIC an ethnographic conference to be held at Japan.

Nimesh Pilla

Nimesh Pilla is the Leader Learning at SPREAD Design and a consultant on design strategies to Idiom Design and consulting, Bangalore. He has masters in Design strategies from Politechnico Di Milano , Milan and specializes in design innovation and management linked to new product service systems. He is a visiting faculty to School of Planning and Architecture, New Delhi where he had done his graduation as an architect. He has worked as an architect and design strategist in India and Italy.

India discovers a new TREASURE at Treasure Island

Two weeks after the pilot-launch (March 26, 2010), Treasure Showcase at Treasure Island mall, Indore was opened to the public on Sunday, April 11, 2010. The launch was a grand event.

Treasure Showcase is a new and unique concept in modern retail and introduces about 60 brands into mall retail across apparel, accessories, footwear, cosmetics and home, creating an inclusive modern retail environment and a platform for local/regional manufacturers to take their products, brands and ambitions national. Based on a unique partnership model and a NO RENT initiative, Treasure Showcase aims to create the next generation of brands for a whole new generation of consumers. Idiom had earlier conceptualized and designed the NO RENT initiative in July 2009 and a series of road show events that followed, to launch the idea of Treasure Showcase and invite prospective brand partners.

The prototype store was launched by Mrs. Malaika Arora Khan, the face and brand ambassador of Treasure Showcase in a grand premier launch called FIRST DAY FIRST SHOW. The launch included a high decibel media campaign in all mainline English and Hindi dailies of Indore and supported a very unique and innovative on-ground activation promotion where walk-ins are induced to not only shop then and there but schemes that promote repeat visits and repeat purchases were created. The grand bumper prize will see one lucky shopper walk away with home appliances worth 2 lakhs on June 30, 2010, while other lucky winners will receive gifts ranging from cash vouchers worth Rs. 50,000 to gift coupons and more.

Treasure Showcase Indore is the prototype for what creates ‘RETAILOCRACY’ - an inclusive modern retail environment and a level playing field between what is considered traditional retail and what is construed as modern retail. Expand the market for modern retail, by promoting consumption and innovating retail thus enabling emerging and aspiring manufacturers and brands to enter malls.

Indore will soon be followed by Nanded, Ujjain, Lucknow, Agra, Amaravati, Bangalore, Bareilly, Bhilai, Chennai, Hyderabad, Jabalpur, Kolkata, Mumbai, Mohali, Pune, Raipur, Thiruvanathapuram, Udaipur and Vadodara in the months that follow to set up 20 Treasure Showcases by 2011, across the emerging towns and cities of India – the REAL INDIA.

The initial response to Treasure Showcase has been encouraging and positive. Change is here to stay. Indore can now look forward to a whole new shopping experience at Treasure Showcase and exciting promotions over the coming weeks.

Posted By Sumeet

Folding plug wins Design award

An innovative folding electric plug has beaten a final collection by late fashion guru Alexander McQueen to land a top design award

The folding plug is less than a centimetre thick when folded

McQueen, who committed suicide last month, had his latest spring/summer catwalk range placed on the shortlist for the title of Brit Insurance Design of the Year just days after his death.

It lost out to London student Min-Kyu Choi's reinterpretation of the plug, which folds flat for storage.

His design beat more than 90 international nominees who were shortlisted in seven categories.

The winners of the categories went forward to the final judging stage and Choi was presented with his title by judging panel chairman Antony Gormley at a gala dinner held at the Design Museum in London.

Panellists included designer Tom Dixon, editor of Wired magazine David Rowan and broadcaster Janet Street-Porter.

Gormley said: "Thought-through, responsive and modest, the folding plug shows how intelligent, elegant and inventive design can make a difference to everyone's life."

The winning design was inspired by having to carry around a hefty plug to power the world's thinnest laptop, a MacBook Air.

Choi drew praise when he showcased the plug at the Royal College of Art's graduate show in 2009.

Deyan Sudjic, director of the Design Museum, said: "It's great to see such a practical but elegant demonstration of what design can do to make everyday life so much better. Min-Kyu Choi is a designer just setting out on his career and he clearly has a great future ahead of him."

Posted by Elizabeth