Young Designers 2011

		Young Designers 2011
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Ajay Boga | jai.boga.da@gmail.com

Speciality store for Studio ABD

Furniture and Interior Design | PGDPD
Guide: Anuya Naik
Sponsor: Studio ABD, Bengaluru

Keywords
Specialty store
Indian heritage
Lifestyle accessories
Storytelling

The brief for my diploma project was to design a specialty store that would display the company’s existing products, in line with their design philosophy. I had to design a brand identity for the store and also extend it into other elements, from products to space.

The products designed at Studio ABD have an Indian touch and a contemporary feel. By studying articles and books, I learnt about Indian storytelling styles and connected them with current design trends. This broadened my knowledge on design aspects and brought in a fresh perspective.

In order to create a space to celebrate the products and stories, it had to be visually clean-lined, contemporary in design, and draw inspiration from sources in Indian mythology and heritage while incorporating local nuances. From modern lifestyle accessories to ‘mattirealistic’ (derived from mitti meaning soil) items, the space had to showcase a mix of products. I developed table-top accessories on the theme of Indian gods. Instead of making a purely functional product, I focused on its character feel. The identity of the store was inspired by the tree of life. The collection included store cards, bags, print and packaging. Keeping the constraints of space in mind, I followed a balanced approach where visual merchandizing played a key role in defining the store feel.

The challenge of designing a specialty store was refreshing. It provided a large scope for design experimentation and bringing various design fields together. The storytelling gave a new dimension to the look in terms of space and feel. The project gave me an opportunity to bring in my abilities as a designer and gain first-hand experience in developing a brand experience.