Tuesday 28 September 2010

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

Monday 20 September 2010

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

Monday 6 September 2010

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

Friday 3 September 2010

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