What goes into making a book cover design? The secrets of book publishing include what goes into making a book, the future of physical books in the digital world, and a few tips if you wish to get into editorial design or publication. 

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thegyaanproject.com

This episode is for Interior Designers, Architects, and allied work streams. We’ll try and understand Design trends or innovations in the furniture landscape, how Hettich incorporates eco-friendly practices and materials, and of course, how do they support designers in implementing their visions within the systems framework.

Andre Eckholt joins us on Audiogyan. He is the managing director of a German lifestyle brand, Hettich.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thegyaanproject.com

Tune into this 7th episode of a 10-part series, "Designer’s Digest” with Ruchita Madhok. Audiogyan creates this series in partnership with @godrejdesignlab

Designer's Digest series is about Design as a profession, its daily grind, the secrets to climbing the design career ladder, and what edge we’ll need to thrive in the captivating design world.

Ruchita has been a guest on episode 159, named “Designing a Visual Guide”. The poetry of everyday life inspires her. Through the mediums of cyanotype printmaking and drawing, she explores the conversations between nature, the cosmos, and the inner self. An award-winning communication designer, Ruchita brings a passion for print, photography, and illustration to her work as she plays with words and images to create works of art, books, and zines. Ruchita is the Founder and Director of Kahani Designworks and built Storycity, Imaginative books, maps, and guides for curious people.

We talk about what it means to be a graphic designer, in India, as a woman, and how you grow as a designer, many things to unpack.

Questions

1. Who is a graphic designer? What's the job? You engage yourself in Poetry, Literature, and many other things beyond design. How critical it is for any creative endeavor?


2. How do you see growth in this discipline? What does an entry-level designer do in Graphic Design? A person with 30-40 years of experience like Paula Scher or Milton Glaser - Will they be still hands-on like a performing artist? How do you see the graphic design career ladder?


3. I understand that Design has many aspects, including communication, solving problems, and more… Particularly in graphic design, it’s communication, right? What is making you move (or have moved you) from Graphic Design and infographics to ‘art’ and more niche sort of storytelling? Why have you started exploring cyanotype printmaking and more?


4. Kahani Studioworks and StoryCity believe in collaboration? Do you hire? What do you seek in people with whom you hire or collaborate?


5. How does your trio identity as an Indian woman, a designer, and now an artist influence your artistic style and perspective?


6. Do you see a distinct thread running through your work that speaks about your Identity or Indian-ness? How do you harness it to give it a personality or avoid it stereotyping your work? What would you share as a tip/advice for young designers?


7. Do you think your design work / or art needs to impact society? Should it influence fellow and young designers? You have been taking a lot of workshops and are interested in education. Tell me a little bit about it?


8. Ethical practices and sustainable design choices are now becoming mainstream buzzwords. Where are you on that and what are your principles in this dynamic world of Graphic Design?


9. In today's digital age, where people have been looking to increase the number of followers on social media, what advice would you give to Indian Designers (especially women)? What do they chase? What can make their work stand out or be impactful in this noisy world? How long can it take to find one’s voice?


10. The design field is vast and multifaceted. How would you encourage Indian women designers to explore their unique strengths and passions to find their niche within the industry?

References

1. https://www.instagram.com/ruchitamadhok/?hl=en-gb


2. https://www.ruchitamadhok.com/


3. https://www.linkedin.com/in/ruchitamadhok/?original_referer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2F&originalSubdomain=in


4. https://www.behance.net/ruchita


5. https://www.kahanidesignworks.com/


6. https://homegrown.co.in/homegrown-creators/ruchita-madhoks-botanical-cyanotypes-are-vibrant-interpretations-of-the-poetry-of-light


7. https://audiogyan.com/2020/01/22/ruchita-madhok/


8. https://www.storycity.in/

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thegyaanproject.com

Crafts is an integral part of experiential creativity and the conduit for imagination of forms.

Today I have Devika Krishnan with us on Audiogyan; She is a founder of Studio sattva and Arthouse. Devika graduate in ceramics from NID and did MBA from ISB —- and since then has been working relentlessly in varied areas of design and empowerment. She continues to work for Dastkar Ranthambhore where she trains new groups of artisans. One of the topics which we will be discussing in this episode is her path-breaking project called Commitment to Kashmir that is enabling young and eager Kashmiris to set up their crafts businesses – with suitable market linkages – to sustain themselves and those they employ. 

Questions

1. Real India is 60%+ villages. Can you give us a sense of the broad landscape of arts and craft in our country?


2. After working for more than 2 decades in this space, especially at Ranthambore, what are the insights you can share w.r.t crafts?


3. Why is Kashmir so fertile when it comes to Crafts?


4. What is commitment to Kashmir? How does it work? On which criteria these artisan are handpicked?


5. What are the top 3 or 5 challenges which Kashmiri Artisians are facing?


6. What all changes happened due to 370 in Kashmir?


7. It is so juxtaposition that, Mumbai is financial capital of India and also house to biggest slum in Asia. Similarly, Kashmir being area of dispute and terror for nearly 7 decades and yet most beautiful when it comes to design and art. How do you reconcile this thought?


8. Can you tell us which are the really unique indigenous products produced from Kashmir and why?

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thegyaanproject.com

Prof. Neelkanth Chhaya - Architect, academician, and thinker, Neelkanth Chhaya has researched and worked extensively in the domain of appropriate architecture for India. He has documented places of historic significance and authored numerous critical papers. He retired in 2013 as the Dean of the Faculty of Architecture, at CEPT, Ahmedabad after a 24-year teaching sojourn at the School.

Before we begin, a quick shout out to Ruturaj Parikh from Matter in Goa for introducing me to these brilliant minds from the world of architecture and education. I also wanna say hi to Ayaz Basrai whom i interviewed in episode number 104 and he recommended documenting Prof. Neelkanth.

Questions

1. What according to you is standardization? Where all do you see it happening? Do you see it happening in Architecture? Do you see it happening in design at large?


2. It is said, standardization and process bring scale - How true it is in design? How important is scale for a developing country like us? Are we trapped in a cycle now?


3. Does standardization kills diversity, ingenuity? What according to you is the biggest tradeoff of bringing standardization in design as a discipline?


4. You have been an educator for more than 40 years. Education system is designed to meet demands of the market. Market demands profit. Profit can be achieved only through scale. Can one scale without standardization?


5. Do you envision further standardization 50 years from now?

http://www.ceptarchives.org/Peoples/neelkanth-chhaya

https://architexturez.net/doc/az-cf-123851

https://www.acedge.in/courses/in-conversation-b-v-doshi-and-neelkanth-chhaya

https://www.architecturetalk.org/home/87chhaya

https://thinkmatter.in/tag/neelkanth-chhaya/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XaSl_rFYsUc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DFE0nVG2gKs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T_p-C4k7Ip0

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thegyaanproject.com

Today I have, a Writer, traveller, and photographer; Shivaji Das with us on Audiogyan. He has authored few books like, ‘Off the Beaten Track: Collecting Stories of Unheard Lives,’ ‘Journeys with the caterpillar: Travelling through the islands of Flores and Sumba, Indonesia,’ and most recently, "The other Shangri-la".

Shivaji’s writings and work with migrants have been published in journals such as TIME, The Economist, BBC and more... He was born and brought up in the north-eastern province of Assam and now stays in Singapore. Today we are here to discuss about travel writing as a practice or as a profession. Lets find out.

Questions

1. What is different about travel writing? The way we have articles, opinions, factual documentation etc...What sort of sub sections do you have in travel writing? Are there any broad rules for them. For eg: Fiction can not have factual information etc...?


2. I have heard this phrase called ego travel. What does it mean to you? In one of your articles you mentioned, you know when to be honest about the various fears and phobias you are attempting to overcome. Can you please elaborate on that with any example?


3. Do you write about people or places? What is your definition of a place / destination? Is it the people or the geographical location or the cultural found within? Tell us more about "The other Shangri-la". Do you have any favorite experiences/destinations that was most gratifying?


4. The advancement in modes of travel has made it easier to travel to the unreachable places. What have we gained and what have we lost in this transition?


5. With new media coming, how and where does writing fit in this visual world of Youtube and IGTV? What's next with you? and what would be your 2 cents for those who wish to get into travel writing?

Reference

• https://www.amazon.in/OTHER-SHANGRI-Journeys-Sino-Tibetan-frontier/dp/8194201861/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1H709Q2BFCNXC&dchild=1&keywords=the+other+shangri-la&qid=1606239689&sprefix=the+other+she%2Caps%2C271&sr=8-1


• https://www.shivajidas.com


• https://asia.nikkei.com/Life-Arts/Arts/Seeking-magic-in-China-s-other-Shangri-La


• https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3107642/chinas-lost-queendom-beauty-contests-and-love-triangles-endure


• https://www.outlookindia.com/outlooktraveller/explore/story/47039/offbeat-cruise-singapore-to-hong-kong


• https://theprint.in/pageturner/excerpt/indian-chinese-couple-went-on-a-road-trip-to-chengdu/487420/


• https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/lifestyle/weekend-interview/shivaji-das


• https://twitter.com/shivajiauthor?lang=en


• https://www.linkedin.com/in/shivaji-das-073611/?originalSubdomain=sg


• https://www.amazon.com/Shivaji-Das/e/B00EMT7GYS%3Fref=dbs_a_mng_rwt_scns_share

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thegyaanproject.com

Daniel Kahneman in his book, "Thinking fast and slow", mentions that people are innately irrational when it comes to making decisions. Same goes with how they consume everyday products. In the book "Design of everyday things" Don Norman speaks about how people blame themselves if they are not able to pull the drawer rather than blaming the designer. Well, there definitely seems to be a pattern. Lets explore few of them and more importantly a designers role in this setup.

Being a Digital product designer myself, I have few insights. But to know more, today I have Navneet Nair with us on Audiogyan. Navneet is Head of Design at PhonPe. For the last two decades, he has been a hands-on practitioner of design and user focussed creative arts. Navneet has worked in both individual contributor roles and in leadership positions at startups and established companies like Yahoo & Google.

Questions

1. How big or small role does design play in today's Indian startup ecosystem?


2. You have spoken about the irrational user. Tell us more about it. How have you translated those learnings in your projects, at Google, yahoo or even now in PhonePe?


3. You speak about value centered design. Can you tell us in detail what do you mean? Are there any best practices which you have implemented at Phonepe? How effective it has been?


4. If you had to teach designers, either economics or being a full stack designer - what would you choose and why?


5. Know the rules to bend the rules - What has been your experience while dealing with budding designers who come from user centered school of thought? How can they develop value centered design approach?

Reference Links

• http://www.navneetnair.com


• https://thehardcopy.co/navneet-nair-director-of-product-design-phone-pe-makes-a-recommendation/


• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yb_rOlMi4Po&feature=emb_title


• https://navneetdesigns.medium.com

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thegyaanproject.com

EPISODE DESCRIPTION

Architectural scholar Dr. A. Srivathsan (PhD IIT, Ex CEPT University) sits with Kedar to unpack Hindu temple design. Why wood was holier than stone. Why temples excluded people by social power, not architecture. Why ornament completes a temple. His honest take on Ram Mandir. And how young architects are perforating sacred walls to reimagine temples as social spaces. For anyone curious about Indian architecture, sacred design and where temples are headed next.

ABOUT THE GUEST

Dr. A. Srivathsan is an architectural scholar with more than twenty five years of experience in teaching, architectural and developmental research, and professional practice. Before joining his role as the Executive Director of CAU, Srivathsan served as the Academic Director of CEPT University for five years. He holds a PhD from the Indian Institute of Technology along with a Master's degree in Urban Design, School of Planning and Architecture, New Delhi. He has personally designed temples and co-edited a book on contemporary temple architecture.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thegyaanproject.com

This is the 200th episode of Audiogyan. Today I have Sudhir Patwardhan with us on Audiogyan. I celebrated 100th episode with India's design Hero, B.V. Doshi, and I am equally thrilled and excited to celebrate this 200th episode with another legend - Sudhir Patwardhan - one of India’s finest painters. Thank you Sudhir sir for giving your time and it's a real honor to have you on Audiogyan.

Questions

1. Most legendary musicians talk about having emptied the mind to reach a higher state of consciousness while performing (Bismillah Khan or Kumar Gandharva). Is this the same process while painting? A painter seems to be filled with thoughts, contradictions, and conflicts in the world.


2. Your early works (70's) were just the subject. Later on, you started bringing in context along with the subject. Why? What made you make this shift? Eventually, your paintings become busier. Why?


3. You've said, “It is about what is possible to communicate and what is not. The artist starts by saying something, then he wipes and starts anew.” - Is this the reason why Mumbai has always inspired you? Even Mumbai gets washed with every wave hitting the island and starts fresh? Why Mumbai?


4. This maximum city is transmuting rapidly all the time. How did you pick subjects to paint? Be it "corporate towers threatening to take over the long-defunct mills" or be it "riots". How did/do you handle the anxiety of expressing these equally burning issues and yet making it an iconic piece of art? (Is that how your multiple scenes within the same canvas emerge?)


5. In my understanding, be it Vijay Tendulkar, or Satyajit Ray or you (For eg: "Paying the bill" painting - people next door, a common man, are subjects of your interest. What do you think makes your work so relatable? How come the common man (most of the time) is non-cognizant about it? R.K. Laxman could be an exception, maybe :)


6. Human forms in your painting are doing mundane activities. Yet they are imbued with a sense of innate dignity as they go about performing their chores. What is transpiring in your expression?


7. Your work ‘Citing the city’ at Sakshi Gallery in 2007 created a dialogue with society - How do you see these dialogues reaching the masses when the galleries are visited by the elite?


8. You have been drawing Mumbai tirelessly. Crowded and chaotic scenes seem to be clearly depicted in your work. If you have to start all over again, which city would you pick?

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thegyaanproject.com

This episode is brought to you by MUBI, a curated streaming service showing exceptional films from around the globe.

Every day, MUBI premieres a new film. Whether it's a timeless classic, a cult favorite, or an acclaimed masterpiece — a movie you’ve been dying to see or one you’ve never heard of before — there is always something new to discover.

Try MUBI free for 30 days at MUBI dot com, slash Audiogyan, that’s MUBI.com/audiogyan for a whole month of great cinema for free.

The concept of brand was once very simple. The word “brand” came from an Ancient Norse word “Brandr” meaning ”to burn”. In 950 A.D., brand meant a burning piece of wood. And in 1300’s, it meant a “torch” which was still meaning a burning piece of a wood used as a tool. In 1500’s, it meant a marked burned on cattle when farmers used to distinguish their cattle from cattle from other ranches.

In early 1800s, mass production, products like wine started to flourish and sellers started to use the word brand to imply leaving a mark into the crates. Products with better quality and high value naturally became known as a high-end products. In 1870, it finally became possible to register a trademark, and Coca Cola facilitated this to advertise their slogan “Coca Cola Revives and Sustains”.

Why am I talking about brands? Today I have Karno Guhathakurta with us on Audiogyan. He is a Creative director as Please-See agency which has designed numerous brands. They have done brand building for Foodhall, LazyPay, Mami and many more.

We'll try and get some insights behind brand building and discuss MAMI logo in the later half of the episode..

Thanks Korno for giving your time and it'e a real pleasure to have you on Audiogyan. Welcome.

Questions

1. What according to you is branding (brand building) and what is a brand? What do these things comprise of, theoretically and practically in real life?


2. What is easy to brand, a product or a service? How long does it take to brand a product or a service?


3. Is Logo a brand? Can brands be made without advertising? (Can take examples to explain) Can a well-designed logo with a great product become a brand without marketing or Advertising? Any examples if you can share?


4. If every branding, marketing, and advertising person must have seen Simon Sinek's golden circle, why do they still continue the opposite way?


5. You and your team have done brand building for Foodhall, LazyPay, Mami, and many more. I am particularly interested in MAMI. Can you tell us the process in detail? from graphic to type selection to organic evolution of the logo?


6. How and why did you arrive at what is in the public domain today? What were few options and how did it got finalized?


7. Did Jio come a disrupt the form? (non-metaphorically. :) ) Do you think of sub-brands and taking over of bigger brands while designing logos?


8. With a world where long tail are becoming brands themselves, what is your reading of how brands will evolve in the next 5 to 10 years?

Hope you enjoyed the show. MUBI India announced it's arrival at MAMI last year. Now to tell you a bit more about MUBI - it’s a film streaming service, showcasing the best of Indian cinema on their MUBI INDIA channel and classic international hits on MUBI WORLD with a new film every day on each channel.

This week I recommend watching Abhay Kumar's Placebo, Kamal K.M's I.D., Ashim Ahluwalia's Miss Lovely

You can watch this and more great cinema free for a whole month at MUBI.com/audiogyan

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thegyaanproject.com

Today I have Tarun Deep Girdher on Audiogyan. Tarun is a Activity chairperson at NID. He is passionate about and also teaches Type Design, Typography, Printing Technology, Illustration, Visual Narratives, and Environmental Perception. Tarun's professional projects include socially relevant communication projects, he has deep concerns about inclusive design, disability, gender sensitization, etc. He has designed more than two dozen publications. Apart from such a huge body of work, Tarun has also designed over thirty logos including Right to Information, and None of The Above (NOTA) for the Government of India - and that is the topic of our discussion today. Designing for the government.

1. What is a logo? How has your definition of a logo changed over time and after designing more than 30 logos for the government? Any milestone logos which changed your perception of what a logo is?


2. I saw the RTI logo and its guideline document. Can you tell us the process of arriving at the final logo? From brief to final approval? Using Bell Gothic, other language script renditions, the Pantone Blue which you recommended, usage, and overall brand guidelines.


3. Similarly, can you briefly tell us about the NOTA logo


4. What is the biggest reason you kept both the logos super simple - Easy to recall, easy to reproduce or thinking of the person lowest in the educational pyramid?


5. A logo is the simplest way to associate with a brand. Traditionally speaking, it is always simple. What is special while designing for the government? What new dimensions get added?


6. How sensitive is the government about design? From function to aesthetics? Not just the current government but over all?


7. I am heavily influenced by the western school of thought - Do your user research, try out MVPs etc... But the actual act of designing most of the time happens solo and then we need teams to execute it. Generally, speaking, design by a community is not recommended. Do you agree and what were the 2 big challenges that you faced while designing for the world's biggest democracy - where everybody had an opinion?


8. How can students and professionals contribute their skills to government institutions and projects to improve standards of design?


9. What is one tip/suggestion you would like to give all students and designers who critic on new identities, logo or designs, without understanding the context or constraints?

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thegyaanproject.com

Recently in Puliyabaazi podcast from IVM, I heard a nice answer to a classic question, "what is the difference between language an dialect?" The answer was, "A language is a dialect with a gun in hand". All though the conversation had political and historical bend, i was super fascinated it. To discuss what is translation and how is it done and other smaller nuances of language, I have none other than Jayashree Hari Joshi with us on Audiogyan.

Jayashree studied German at the JNU in New Delhi and also taught German after receiving her MA. She has been working at the Goethe Institute since 1996, was a program officer for twenty years, and since 2016 has been the Head of the institute's library in Mumbai. In addition to the Indian languages Marathi, Hindi and Sanskrit, she is fluent in English and German. She has translated German poems and plays into Hindi, Marathi and English. She also writes poetry in Marathi, which is regularly published. She has translated plays, poems, short stories novels and children's and youth literature from English and German into Hindi and Marathi. With such a huge body of work, I am just try and ask her few questions with my limited capacity and leave it to her to enlighten us.

Questions

1. What does translation mean to you? How has it changed over time? Is translation a skill or an art?


2. The legendary Hindi critic Namwar Singh has commented on Hindi language and it's a journey in the 20th century. Is there an equivalent theory about the grammar and aesthetics of Marathi poetry?


3. Ashok Shahane said all languages were born out of verses and songs. This is not the case with Marathi. What is your response to that?


4. Is there any recognizable pattern w.r.t language that you have observed in the last 20 years when it comes to literature? Who and what defines "Praman Bhasha"?


5. How do you retain the original author's sense and spirit, the spirit that resides in the original author's creative reasons for using a precise word or a phrase? What is your definition of ambiguity and how do you resolve that?


6. Who are the translator you admire and why?

• Jayashree Joshi's Profile - https://www.goethe.de/ins/in/en/kul/sup/soc/sst/u10.html


• Ganesh Vispute - https://www.akshardhara.com/en/2539__ganesh-vispute


• Mugdha Karnik - https://www.amazon.in/Books-Mugdha-Karnik/s?rh=n%3A976389031%2Cp_27%3AMugdha+Karnik


• Prafull Shiledar - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prafull_Shiledar


• Ranjit Hoskote - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ranjit_Hoskote


• Vishnu Khare - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vishnu_Khare


• Shanta Gokhale - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shanta_Gokhale


• Kavya ghruha - https://www.facebook.com/KavyaGrih/

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thegyaanproject.com

Martin Scorsese once said, "Cinema is a matter of what's in the frame and what's out." I guess, MUBI also has a similar viewpoint. They are particular of which movie is on the platform and which is out.

Svetlana Naudiyal joins us Audiogyan. She is a Director of content at MUBI India. Svetlana has a rich background in cinema, content, and curation. She has worked previously in different capacities for NFDC, MAMI, Drishyam Films to name a few.

We will try and understand how curation happens at MUBI and few aspects about curation of cinema.

1. I will start with the most meta-question - What is curation according to you in the cinema context?


2. Who are these people, who watch the cinema showcased on MUBI? Can you share any personas/demographics of this audience? How do you map films for them?


3. At MUBI, how does curation work? If it has to be parametrized, what are possible tangible parameters, and what are intangible? How do you guess the bigger unknown of the audience finding the connection with the film?


4. What is your definition of experimental cinema? How abstract can it go and still be called as cinema? From Kamal Swaroop's Om Dar Ba Dar to Amit Dutta's The museum of imagination to Andy Warhol's eating the burger.


5. After working for MAMI, NFDC, and many such places, how has your definition of cinema evolved? Today, how do you look at censorship and outer limits of freedom of expression in the context of cinema?


6. I have been a consumer of both formats of content. Slow films like "Uttoron" on MUBI and "Departed" on other OTT platforms. MUBI being classic seems a bit slow at times. How do you convince yourself that there are people out there who are likely and will definitely watch slow films by Godard & Mani Kaul?


7. What is the long term future of independent and parallel cinema?


8. A classic cliche question, which movie one should watch this weekend and get a flavor of MUBI's content curation?

Audiogyan listeners get a full month free of amazing films through mubi.com/audiogyan

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thegyaanproject.com

Tune into this 6th episode of a 10-part series, "Designer’s Digest” with Dhruv Jani.

This series is created by Audiogyan in partnership with @godrejdesignlab

Designer's Digest series is about Design as a profession, its daily grind, the secrets to climbing the design career ladder, and what edge we’ll need to thrive in the captivating world of design.

Dhruv Jani joins us on Audiogyan as we talk about the role of the creator in the world of Game Design. Dhruv Jani is an artist at, and the founder of the independent game studio: Oleomingus. He studies postcolonial writing and interactive fiction and explores the use of video game spaces as possible sites of protest and reparation. 

Questions

1. What does a game designer do? What does it mean to be a game designer? How can one become a game designer? What skills are required? Which other professions are required while designing a game?


2. Can you give a quick snapshot of how games came into existence and how they evolve into today’s video games and mobile games? A short history of sorts?


3. What are the broad categories/genres of games and which ones do you deal with? What’s special about your genre?


4. Your games often start with a narrative. What comes first when you think of a game? An event, a discovery of the past or a speculation of the future? An event? Where and how does any of your game start for Oleomingus?


5. What has politics to do with games? Is it because you have to pick a side? Is the game a Western concept for India? India has been a land of compassion, inclusivity, and forgiveness.


6. You call games to be Interactive fiction. Narrative interface design. What can and can not be told using games? Where does the medium flourish and where does it break?


7. Games have certainly evolved and come a long way. Now, I guess it’s the biggest industry on this planet. The games I recently got to know were Werewolves and Mafia and somehow the theme seems to be based on trust. What’s going on? How do you see it impacting the new generation and society at large?


8. Games are highly addictive, why? Which ingredient makes it addictive? Who is supposed to design it? Can you explain with an example of how the process happens?


9. Given the power of games, what’s the biggest responsibility of game designers?


10. Where are we heading as game players and game makers in this world of meta-verse and AI?

Reference Reading

1. https://audiogyan.com/2022/05/25/game-design/


2. https://www.sportskeeda.com/esports/news-the-right-consume-histories-dhruv-jani-studio-oleomingus-talks-creativity-meaning


3. https://indiaifa.org/grants-projects/dhruv-jani.html


4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nash_equilibrium


5. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prisoner's_dilemma


6. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mafia_(party_game)


7. https://oleomingus.com/about-1


8. https://www.stirworld.com/think-opinions-gamescapes-indian-video-game-developer-studio-oleomingus-reconfigures-history


9. https://www.theguardian.com/games/2020/sep/22/video-games-india-politics-dhruv-jani-sushant-chakraborty-studio-oleomingus#comments


10. https://indiaartfair.in/game-grammar-dhruv-jani


11. https://garage.vice.com/en_us/article/3kxpgw/this-first-person-game-is-a-surreal-meta-fictional-experience-in-colonialism


12. https://www.sleek-mag.com/article/studio-oleomingus-surreal-video-games-marginalised-stories-india-history/


13. https://venturebeat.com/pc-gaming/the-indiebeat-how-studio-oleomingus-is-crafting-its-indian-post-modern-fairy-tale/


14. https://killscreen.com/studio-oleomingus/


15. https://scholar.google.com/citations?view_op=list_works&hl=en&hl=en&user=AMZG-C4AAAAJ&sortby=pubdate


16. https://www.ted.com/talks/dhruv_jani_the_interactive_fictions_of_generous_history

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thegyaanproject.com

Trust, privacy, security, and many such words have got a different meaning in the coming decades as we moved from chawls to high-rises. Well, to discuss more about chawls and urban culture and their design, Today I have Rupali Gupte with us on Audiogyan. Rupali is an architect and a co-founder of Bard Studio in Mumbai. Her works include research on Indian urbanism with focus on architecture, urban culture, urban economy, property, housing, urban form, entrepreneurial and tactical practices. Rupali is one of the founding members of the urban research network, CRIT (crit.in) and the School of Environment and Architecture (sea.edu.in).

Questions

1. There seems to be 2 fascinating speculations about how did "Chawl" word originated. Can we start by that?


2. How would you explain Porosity of rooms in chawls?


3. Is chawl a public space or a private space? What is the reason behind it? Did it evolve because of the architecture or space evolved because of people? Or should i put it "Is chawl a concept or is it an architectural setup?"


4. Does Mumbai’s chawl system lend any character to the city? I have this personal strong judgement about why Mumbai has been so tolerant and patient. Either people are oblivious to what’s happening around or then they have built patience by standing in front of common chawl toilets. What is your take?


5. Can elites stay in chawl or it is designed for middle class?


6. Can you share your insights about what does "privacy and security" mean in chawl context?


7. If we envision Mumbai in 2050, what do you think; how chawls will be perceived if they remain in our memories...

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thegyaanproject.com

As a tradition that began over 2500 years ago, India remains one of the world's largest exporters of handmade carpets. In fact, I recently read somewhere about why Mahatma Gandhi decided to use Charkha as a symbol of independence. Because the Britishers invaded India for our textile capabilities, quality and over all output. Gandhiji wanted to symbolize the freedom movement through one of the attributes of textiles - Charkha - But thats a story for some other time.

For ages, until 1978, exports have often been exploited by middlemen and - artisans were undervalued, most weavers stayed at the bottom of the pyramid with very meager income levels.

Nand Kishore Chaudhary recognized this inequality in the weaving market and created the company, Jaipur Rugs which offered employment opportunities in remote areas of India. Starting with only two looms, he was able to connect people and now has built a network of over 40,000 artisans spread over five Indian states, 80 percent of whom are women.

His daughter, Kavita Chaudhary steers the design and brand philosophy at Jaipur Rugs. Before joining the family business, she refined her aptitude for design by working with design houses in Chicago and New York.

Today we are here to understand the broad landscape of textile design in India at the backdrop of Jaipur Rugs, real design sensibilities of India, and a short but beautiful case study called Manchaha.

Questions

• NK: You say, "Business is next to love. It is the creator and preserver of civilization." Can you please start by telling us, how and where do you find the relation between business and love. Both, spiritually and practically?


• NK: Innocence, resilience & empathy is the foundation of your journey. How do you reconcile the hard capitalist mentality of business and empowering rural India and Indian women especially?


• KC: Can you share a macro picture of textiles in India w.r.t world standards?


• KC: How has your definition of design evolved when you look at India and outside world?


• NK: How would you define the creativity of artisans in India? What does Art mean to you? How has your definition of creativity changed over time?


• NK: Given the inequality, can you share briefly the process of how you architected this bottom of the pyramid?


• KC: Indian's are famous for their intricate work, which, because of the colonial rule and industrialization was lost. How come it still exists? You said it takes about 4 to 6 months for one weaver to make a hand made rug. Can you tell me more about this?


• KC: Can you talk a little about "aas-pass"? This is where they derive inspiration from.


• KC: Can you tell us the story behind Manchaha project? How and why did it emerge? What is the biggest learning from Manchaha project w.r.t ego battles of designers?


• NK: What is the long term future of Jaipur Rugs and overall artisans in India? Not just with Atmanirbhar Bharat but as a whole.

https://www.jaipurrugs.com

https://www.nkchaudhary.com

https://aif.org/manchaha-part-1-what-is-artisan-originals/

https://www.forbesindia.com/article/special/jaipur-rugs-weaves-new-market-with-first-mumbai-store/52723/1

https://www.dezeen.com/awards/2019/shortlists/aas-pass/

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thegyaanproject.com

Geetanjali Kulkarni is an actor, who has been performing for theatre, films, and the web. She has been always ahead of her time. Her quest to do something unconventional always paved a different way for her and the people around her. Geetanjali's dedication is contagious and has given certain meaning to the most uncertain profession called Acting... Today we are here to discuss one of my favorite topics, education, but through theatre and acting or should I say performing arts. This Audiogyan will be in Marathi.

Questions

1. You have worked in different types of plays and with different types of directors, Paresh Mokashi to Mohit Takalkar, Sunil Shanbag to Atul Kumar. How do you adapt to different styles of theatre?


2. Performances at NSD to Performances at Prithvi to Performances in England. How did you prepare of these? What according to you is so special about Theatre even today after doing Netflix series, films, and more?


3. You have studied at NSD, you have mentored at DSM plus there is the brilliant work in Jawahar. What does theatre education mean in this day and age?


4. In your newer projects, Goshtarang and Quest, based on your experience, which method of learning do you propose, Abhyas of fun?


5. If you were made Minister of Theatre - what are the three things you will implement in education and training for theatre

If you enjoyed listening to this one, please do check out episode # 13 with Geetanjali's husband, Atul Kulkarni. Excuse for my naive questions then and also the production quality. I was too new to podcasting plus interviewing such a legend was full of pressure. Stay tuned for upcoming episodes. - https://audiogyan.com/2017/04/19/atul-kulkarni/

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thegyaanproject.com

Today I have Pinaki De with us on Audiogyan. He is a well-known and multiple award-winning graphic illustrator-designer who regularly works for leading publishing companies like Penguin Random House, HarperCollins, and more... He has designed book covers for over 500 books to date. A Charles Wallace Trust fellow has Ph.D. in comics theory. Pinaki juggles his creative work with academics, as he has a day job as an Associate Professor of English in Kolkatta. You can find more about his work and bio on the links given in the show notes.

1. Can you give start by telling us a brief history of book cover design? Did the first-ever book had cover? Was the first cover made for identification or protection?


2. What all are functions of book cover today?


3. Do you need to read the book to design the cover?


4. How do the writer and the book cover designer collaborate in arriving at the cover design? Can you give an example of any famous book cover you designed to explain the process?


5. What is the long term future of book cover design? With thumbnails for famous movie posters created by artificial intelligence in Netflix, how would you envision, iBooks, Kindle changing the trajectory of book cover design?


6. How true is, "never judge a book by its cover". especially when you have designed more than 500 book covers.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thegyaanproject.com

Debjyoti Saha joins us on Audiogyan. For those who follow him on Instagram knows his style of work and the recently gone viral series, Korona. But I am not going to introduce him by that. Debjyoti is an animator, illustrator and draws comics. His work is heavily influenced by his interactions with cities he has lived in, and it’s clear that his observations of such detail, reflects in his animated and illustrated stories. What got me interested in knowing his thoughts and work (which he himself calls) which is not very heavy on production, but has a deep-rooted thought. 

Questions

1. What is your definition of storytelling? How has to change over time? From still images to moving images? Can you share your learnings, pros, and cons with both these ways of expression?


2. Your work seems to be quite diverse in terms of styling. Is it a conscious choice/effort or you are still exploring?


3. Do you think abstract animations and storytelling can be relatable? How? Why make such things?


4. Can you please explain your process a bit more in detail - How do you pick a topic, build a story, and then how does it manifest into a short film/movie?


5. "Animated" as a keyword can be loosely translated as "Exaggerated". Do you think, you building a counter-narrative to the mainstream media can backfire?


6. Do you think there are leftists bhakts? I mean do you think uneducated leftist bhakts simply praise your work or do you have any other insights?

https://www.instagram.com/debjyoti.saha/?hl=en

https://www.joinpaperplanes.com/design-and-living/eye-candy-fishmongers-with-debjyoti-saha/

https://www.hindustantimes.com/art-and-culture/korona-debjyoti-saha-paints-a-different-picture-of-the-coronavirus-pandemic-in-india/story-r8a0XVMk3V9bhxz7SWX4pO.html

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thegyaanproject.com

Ashley Lobo joins us on Audiogyan to share his philosophical thoughts and connect the dots of the western world to India's spirituality through dance. Mark Twain once said, “Work like you don't need the money. Dance like no one is watching. And love like you've never been hurt.” Seems like Mark Twain knew one of the secrets of Bhagwad Gita. Do things without any expectations. To explore these philosophical thoughts and connect the dots of the western world to India's spirituality through dance, I have Ashley Lobo with us Audiogyan. He needs no introduction for people in the field of performing arts. But for those who don't know, Ashley is considered to be a spearhead of international dance in India. His career in performing arts comprises of over 35 years of performing, choreographing, and teaching - in India and overseas.

Questions

1. Is dance creation, invention, or discovery? Why dance is considered so divine art form? Did Dance start as a solo activity or a group?


2. You engage with Jazz, Classical Ballet, Contemporary, Urban, and Funk. What is your overall process of reconciling age-old traditions of yoga with contemporary dance movements? Can you also talk about the Prana Paint technique?


3. "Prana Paint" for me is an indicator of a person going deep enough to understand spirituality and philosophy. Can you talk about Dance as a means of self-help? All throughout since this art form existed to the current times of social fragmentation, stress, and most important, anxiety.


4. In one of your articles published in 2017 during your Agni production through Navdhara India Dance Theatre (NIDT), you mentioned "Passion can create or destroy. In creating we destroy. And in destroying we create." - Can you elaborate on that, please? I am interested in knowing what got destroyed as we kept evolving dance as an art form / as a practice.


5. What is the long term future of dance form? From the world view of Online, Social distancing norms to group dances, couples dancing to know each other or a solo performer the only person in Auditorium. What are your thoughts and views?

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thegyaanproject.com

This episode is brought to you by MUBI (https://mubi.com/india) , a curated streaming service showing exceptional films from around the globe. Get a whole month free! - at MUBI (https://mubi.com/audiogyan) . MUBI (https://mubi.com/india) showcases a wide range of iconic Satyajit Ray films! Ray, is also our topic of discussion today, but not as a filmmaker but as a Graphic Designer.

I have Pinaki De back with us on Audiogyan. I have given a detailed intro about him and his huge body of work in the previous episode - so here is a quick one. Pinaki is an award-winning graphic designer, illustrator, book cover designer, comic artist, and teaches English literature in Kolkatta.

Thank you Pinaki for giving your time and welcome back to Audiogyan.

In the previous episode we spoke about Book Cover design, this episode is about your passion to explore Satyajit Ray's work of a graphic designer. The director’s revolutionary films often overshadow his work as an illustrator and graphic designer, his graphical sensibilities as rich and diverse as his filmography. Let's jump right in right away...

A brief intro about Ray's breadth and depth of work w.r.t Graphic Design. How he designed type from cassette to film hoardings.

Satyajit Da's contribution to the Indian landscape of graphic design. Which patterns/styles became famous after he did it?

Can you talk about "Agantuk" or also called as "The stranger" poster (which is also available o MUBI). I guess it was inspired by straight lines of the Bauhaus movement.

Tell us a bit about, where was Ray's inspiration from? Kolkatta is social and has been chaotic for a long time, where and how did minimalism seep in, that, it started reflecting in his work?

Can you tell me, which were the top 3 characteristics of his work? For eg: usage of white space, usage of lines and grids, color palette, attention to detail, etc...

Did his usage of graphics/illustrations change after the wave of cheap printing techniques and papers started flowing the market?

Satyajit had made 3 fonts also as a type designer. A bit more about that?

What would you tell students of Graphic Design or illustration to learn from Satyajit Ray? What aspect should be ignored from his work?

Now to tell you a bit more about MUBI - it’s a film streaming service, showcasing the best of Indian cinema on their MUBI INDIA channel and classic international hits on MUBI WORLD with a new film every day on each channel. You can catch some of Satyajit Ray's insightful work on MUBI including iconic films like AGANTUK, GANASHATRU, and GHARE BAIRE. Get access to the best of hand-picked films absolutely free for 30 days at http://mubi.com/Audiogyan

AGANTUK - Satyajit Ray’s last film, Agantuk is a philosophical work that ponders about the evolution of civilization, human nature, and how in the present world value of material wealth far exceeds that of humanity, trust, and love. One of Utpal Dutt's finest performances

GANASHATRU - A scathing commentary on the social system and religious orthodoxies, this film highlights the ever-persistent conflict between rationality and religion, which is fueled by the greed of the powerful and naivete of blind faith.

GHARE BAIRE – Deftly juxtaposes and explores the early 20th-century nationalist movement and the emancipation of women—a recurrent theme of Satyajit Ray’s work.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thegyaanproject.com

Questions

What is your definition of education? How has it changed over the last 30-40 years?

Referring back to the introduction, I spoke about edifice. Do you see any relation between the etymology of the words, Education and Architecture?

What is the link between being civil and being educated?

In the current pedagogical system, what is your argument? How much theory versus how much practical?

What is the long term future of education in India?

I recently had a small revelation, that why have I interviewed so many architects despite being a UI designer. I could also connect a few dots about why am I so interested in architecture and education. "Architect" comes from the Latin word architectus which comes from the Greek word, architéktōn. Architéktōn is composed of two parts: archi: to be the first, and tecton, the builder. That is, the first who builds. I always found the "builder" word to be very fascinating.

On the other hand, Edifice means a building, but it doesn't mean just any building. To merit being called an edifice, a building must be important. A mini temple can be an edifice or an educational building that can transform you can be called Edifice.

Basically, zen, spirituality, education, architecture, place of worship are all interconnected somewhere in my mind at least, and that's why I have none other than Prem Chandavarkar with us on Audiogyan today.

Prem is the managing partner of CnT Architects: an award-winning and widely published architectural practice based in Bangalore, India. He needs no introduction to the people in the world of architecture & education. With the experience of over 40 years, he is an academic advisor and guest faculty at several colleges of architecture. He has been documenting a lot of his thoughts and ideas online through blogs and videos. I met Prem at Frame Conclave last year and was in awe with his lecture on "Human within the architect". I am going to post as many links as I can find in the show notes. This has already being a very long intro so without further ado, I welcome Prem. Thanks, Prem for giving your time, and frankly I am really short of words to thank you for being on the show.

I also thank Ruturaj Parikh from Matter for connecting me and collaborating with Audiogyan.

https://medium.com/@premckar

https://premckar.wordpress.com
(https://premckar.wordpress.com/)

http://www.cnt.co.in/web_20150413/home_index.html

https://www.stirworld.com/author-Prem-Chandavarkar

https://bengal.institute/team/prem-chandavarkar/

http://www.builtconstructions.in/OnlineMagazine/BuiltConstructions/Pages/Prem-Chandavarkar-0416.aspx

https://www.architecturetalk.org/home/73-jyaga-sa9ls-6wtny-6wgg5-4mgza-kdpel-3rn64-nrbkb-2lpnb

https://architecturelive.in/the-central-vista-redevelopment-prem-chandavarkar-bimal-patel/

https://architecturelive.in/essay-what-is-heritage-prem-chandavarkar/

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thegyaanproject.com

This episode is brought to you by MUBI. Get the best of Indian and International cinema free for 30 days! Watch now. (https://mubi.com/audiogyan)

A curated streaming service showing exceptional films from around the globe. Every day, MUBI premieres a new film., from timeless classics to cult favorites to acclaimed masterpieces. Every film is handpicked just like, how our today’s guest handpicks great posters. But before we jump to our today’s conversation, Audiogyan has got something for our listeners. Normally, MUBI has a 7-day free trial but for you, listeners, you get a 30-day free trial. All you need to do is, go to http://mubi.com/audiogyan, and sign up for a whole month of great cinema for free.

Today I have Jahan Singh Bakshi with us on Audiogyan. Jahan has worked on digital and creative marketing strategies for films including Masaan, Lipstick Under My Burkha, and Newton. He currently divides his time between script development, film subtitling, collecting, curating, and writing about movie posters. Did I say Movie posters? Yes! Today we are here to discuss Posterphilia as an Audiogyan case study with Jahan. 

Questions

What is Posterphilia? Why did you start it?

Can you share in detail the process of curation? What are your criteria? I found few articles like, Kishore Kumar in posters, raining posters - What are your plans w.r.t categorizing these? Any thoughts there?

Have you spotted any micro and macro trend in these Indian film posters? Illustrations versus photos? Be it digital or hand-painted.

Have you formed any opinions and judgments based on the posters you found - For eg: Movies before the 1970s had better-looking posters than today's - aesthetically or any such parameters? Anything like that?

Speaking about posters, one can never go without talking about Ray. The posters which I see on your Instagram, a lot of them are well-designed posters that can compete with Ray's graphical sensibilities. What do you think?

You have written a nice article about what makes a great poster. You have also collected a lot of Holywood posters. What can we learn from them and what can they learn from Bollywood art?

Can you give names of really great poster designers across the globe?

I would like to also ask you about your more recent exploration of Bollywood posters in Japan and other parts of the world. Can you share that bit? Any idea how did they travel that far? Any insights on what made those people redo the entire graphic than just translation of titles in their scripts and contexts.

I understand that the next question itself is an Audiogyan, but if you can briefly tell about plagiarism in posters - How evident is this trend. Today and maybe in the 1960s to 80s where we also copied a lot of music.

I don't have the latest data but, in 2018, India made about 1813 films, China 1082, Japan 613, US 576, France a few hundred, and the least was the UK. 202. Overall we are talking about around 6K films. This is just one year. Cinema has been going for 120 years now. What is the overall plan with this Posterphilia?

Further reading

https://www.instagram.com/posterphilia/

https://mubi.com/notebook/posts/movie-poster-of-the-week-jahan-singh-bakshi-s-top-ten-favorite-bollywood-posters

https://www.filmcompanion.in/posterphilia/

http://www.tasveergharindia.net/essay/amitabh-bachchan-posters.html

https://www.filmonpaper.com (https://www.filmonpaper.com/)

https://www.statista.com/statistics/252727/leading-film-markets-worldwide-by-number-of-films-produced/

https://theposterboys.tumblr.com (https://theposterboys.tumblr.com/)

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thegyaanproject.com

One billion people. 15% of the world's population. World's largest minority. They are under-served. We were disheartened. We had to do something because no one deserves to be alone. This is what is written on the about us section of inclov.in
(http://inclov.in/)

Today I have Kalyani Khona with us on Audiogyan. Kalyani works at the intersection of behavior x design x technology to build products. Currently, she is helping with product strategy for an early age startup in the fintech space. But we are here to discuss a case study of her own startup. Inclov. Kalyani is the co-founder of Inclov, the world's first matchmaking app for people with disability and health disorders to find love. The app matches people on the basis of cure availability, medical condition, level of independence, and lifestyle choices. I was curious to know any aspects of this project including UI and here she is with us here today. There are also a few talks on Tedx and Ink, which I am adding in the show notes below.

Product

The basic question to set the context - What is Inclov and why? Also if you can share any number of users, stats of disabled people in India, and more...

In Audiogyan's 130th episode, I met Upasana Makati. She is the founder of White Print, India’s First English Lifestyle Magazine in Braille for the visually impaired. In our conversation, we spoke about why Lifestyle. To which she said, "why can't these people have fun while reading. Their reading texts are generally always education. Why can't they read a joke or a poem." Similarly, I want to ask you, why matchmaking and not support in any other way?

We see a lot of people saying, differently-abled shouldn't be labeled like that. They are an integral part of our society as any person. So did you face challenges (internal & external) while making a special app of special people?

What is your definition of equality?

Can you share a few incidents which were enriching to know about these sets of people? What steps you took in the app to bring impact or provide solutions to them.

Any most gratifying story which needs to be shared. Especially one where a non-disabled found love in who is disabled.

Design

How do these people discover such an app? What steps did you take to achieve that?

Were there any conscious decisions of making it accessible while designing it?

The app matches people on the basis of cure availability, medical condition, level of independence, and lifestyle choices. In your talk, you mentioned about manually tagging. Tell us more about it?

Who helped you in designing & developing it? A quick shout out maybe. 🙂

Can you also talk about Social spaces?

https://www.inclov.com/index.htmlhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/kalyanikhona/?originalSubdomain=in

https://tedxgateway.com/portfolio/kalyani-khona/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zgd99dumxEY

https://yourstory.com/2015/12/kalyani-khona

https://audiogyan.com/2019/07/03/upasana-makati/

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thegyaanproject.com

Tune into this 5th episode of a 10 Part series, "Designer’s Digest” with Saif Faisal, A new breed of bold Contemporary designer and founder of SFDW

This series is created by Audiogyan in partnership with @godrejdesignlab

Designer's Digest series is about Design as a profession, it’s daily grind, the secrets to climbing the design career ladder, and what edge we’ll need to thrive in the captivating world of design.

Massimo Vignelli’s once said, “If you can design one thing, you can design everything.” Even in our part of the world, somewhere in 15 hundred.. Mirza Khan Abdul Rahim once said, “Ek sadho, sab sadhe”..

Saif completed his training as an Architect from RV School of Architecture in 2010-11, alongside designing and participating in Formula SAE-Racing with the Mechanical engineering students at the college, where he acquired diverse experience in design, manufacturing, and technical know-how. After college, he went on to learn woodworking. These diverse formative explorations gave him a polymathic learning experience.

His work draws heavily from his understanding of Anthropology, Processes, and Technology, which is very integral to his creative explorations. The deep appreciation he cultivated of ‘Essentialism’ from racing is revisited in his Design and Architecture.

Saif is involved in guest lectures and talks at design and architecture schools. Apart from being an avid motorcyclist and a lover of cafe racers, he is into boxing and pursues his culinary interests rather seriously.

Questions

1. You’ve done architecture, lifestyle products, furniture, jewelry, accessories and more. How do you define your work? You also have diverse interests, from motorcycling to boxing and cooking. How do these pursuits influence your creative process?


2. Who according to you is a designer? You talk about “Essentialism” - What is the essential quality to become a designer?


3. What is the difference between Essentialism and Minimalism according to you? Is Essentialism more inclusive than minimalism? Lets take Loup of example.


4. You draw inspiration from sociology, philosophy, and anthropology. How do these disciplines inform your understanding of the human experience, and how does that translate into products you create? Any example of a product you made?


5. If I can take the liberty to say, Art is expression while design is functional, responding to a problem. Where and how do you see art and design lines blurring, given your work deals with higher levels of aesthetics.


6. Why do you call wood to be a humble material? What did you learn in wood work? What made you consider learning that? How can it help any designer interested in making physical products?


7. Do you see geometric forms as a universal language? Do you see that in Indian history or culture? How have you borrowed this universal language and contextualised for India? May be you can explain with the lamps that you have made?


8. Where are you on Massimo Vignelli’s quote, “If you can design one thing, you can design everything.” How comfortable the journey has been to switch domains? What advice would you give anybody who has such wide range of interests? or does one need to master something before traversing?


9. You often talk about Indian design education need to level up. Our work needs to appeal to a global audience. What do you mean exactly? Where are the gaps? What can be done about it?


10. We have often seen us using Jugaad as one of the primary methods of innovation. What is you take on that?


11. What do you wish from the new “Make in India” generation? How can they push the boundaries of design?

Reference Reading

1. https://www.saif-faisal.com/


2. https://www.instagram.com/saiffaisal.designworkshop/


3. https://www.platform-mag.com/design/saif-faisal.html


4. https://www.linkedin.com/in/saif-faisal-51247315/?originalSubdomain=in

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thegyaanproject.com

Isha Pimpalkhare is a mixed media designer/artist, who situates her practice at the convergence of art and design, with a focus on creating emotive and engaging tactile environments. She did her Masters in Textiles from the Royal College of Art(RCA), London, and Bachelors in Textile Design at the National Institute of Design(NID), Ahmedabad.

Questions

Who is a mixed media creative? What qualifies as a mixed media output? What is the output of such types of designers? Any famous people who made it accessible/famous?

If one is following you on Instagram, (I am), what are you exploring with these flowers and different shapes with textures of various materials?

What is devore technique of printing? Can you tell us more about it?

Where is the demand for your type of work in India? Where all can it be applied?

Personal question: What makes you cross these boundaries? Move from one medium to other to express?

https://www.instagram.com/ishapimpalkhare/?hl=en

https://ishapimpalkhare.com (https://ishapimpalkhare.com/)

https://ishapimpalkhare.com/textile-art-pieces

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thegyaanproject.com

I love this book called "What is art and 100 other very important questions." by Ernst Billgren. One of the questions his book is, "Who decides whether art is good or not?" and then he has a nice format for the answer. "Short Answer: Glenn D. Lowry. " And then a long answer. "Quality is a moniker for what the people you respect, appreciate. Even if you do not agree with them, there are those who you perceive as authorities in the field on account of their expertise, their position, or the respect they enjoy among their peers. Subsequently, what is considered geniality changes as those people are substituted? The Pre-Rafaelites were considered the best things that had happened in the art world, but well into the twentieth century nobody defended them any longer and their work was automatically devalued as passé. The paintings themselves did not change over time. Quality is a relative term in a similar way as Time (which feels absolute in the present moment)."

Why am I talking about who decides whether art is good or not? - Today I have Ram Rahman with us on Audiogyan who needs no introduction. But just for formality, Ram is a photographer, curator, designer, activist, and a noted contemporary artist based in Delhi.

With such a large body of work, it is impossible to document even a fraction of his thoughts, ideologies, and philosophies. However, I have decided to have a conversation around what is curation.

Welcome Ram to Audiogyan it's a real honor to have you on the show.

What is curation? with Ram Rahman.

How old is a concept of curation? What made us do that?

Why do we have galleries? What qualifies to be in a gallery? What qualifies to be worth the collection? On what metrics does a curator work?

History is told by the rulers. How do you differentiate truth versus mythic truth? Especially in India where there are so many Ramayanas? Also, it is so difficult to exclude any part of history, especially with India’s pluralistic and diverse culture. What are your thoughts on this?

What is your definition of unique or being iconic to a particular time? How has that definition of, one-of-a-kind changed in the last 30-40 years? How stable is this concept of uniqueness in this changing world?

Recently, there has been a growing interest in the time period when your father’s practice was at its peak. You have spoken, written, and exhibited extensively on the works of architects, designers, and cultural producers of this time. Why this time important to understand?

Do you think we as humans are worried we will forget? What is the long term future of museums, galleries, or for that matter, the paintings you've done and photos you have taken? Overall art in India?

Before we sign off, I want to thank Ruturaj Parikh from Matter. This Audiogyan episode is in association with Matter. Matter is an independent publishing house, a group of practicing architects who also deeply care about archiving content in the architecture space. Matter in based on Goa. Link and more details are in the show notes.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ram_Rahman

https://www.saffronart.com/artists/ram-rahman

https://www.sac.ac.in/faculty/ram-rahman/

https://post.at.moma.org/content_items/1083-post-presents-the-artist-as-activist?_ga=2.259783114.1551250128.1594120121-133378558.1594120121

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thegyaanproject.com

Today I have Pratap Chalke with us on Audiogyan. He is a Mumbai-based painter and an illustrator and well-known artist of the current time. His work is available on Floatingcanvas, artandfound, and kultureshop. With a degree in Applied Art from the B. S. Bandekar College of Fine Art, Sawantwadi, he considers drawing as his core skill around which he brings his illustrations to life. He loves to try out different styles and techniques and explore the possibilities therein. Today we are here to understand the value of drawing if you wish to become an illustrator. This audiogyan will be entirely in Marathi. 

Can a good painter/artist be a good illustrator?

What is common and what is different between illustration and painting?

With mixed media, tools, and advance filters, what makes illustration great?

You have played a lot with acrylic and opaque mediums. How different is an illustration and is it achievable in digital illustrations?

What does a curved stroke mean to you? One of my favorite works is Dhaatu Series. Can you share the experience of learning while making it?

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thegyaanproject.com

In this episode of The Gyaan Project (Ep 182), artist and type designer Hanif Kureshi, co-founder of St+art India, reflects on the rise of street art in India. From graffiti’s rebellious roots to murals that transformed Lodhi Colony and Sassoon Dock, Hanif shares how public art builds identity and community. A must-listen for designers, artists, and urban thinkers.

https://www.thegyaanproject.com/p/27-start-movement-with-hanif-kureshi-38e

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जैसे भैरव.. यह सुबह का राग़ हैं। पवित्र स्थानों पर सुबह की पवित्रता अगर आपके मन को सुकून पहुचा सकी तो भैरव क्या कहना चाहता है शायद ही आप समझ पाओगे। सारंग राग गाने से पहले दोपहर करीब २ बजे कीं तपती धूॅंप में किसी गांव ख़ेडे में गोबर से सिंची हुई आंगन में कभी बैठे हो? अगर हाॅं.. तो ही शायद सारंग की रूह तक पहुचना संभव हैं। भीमपलास का अर्थ हैं पलाश वृक्ष के विशाल पत्ते। बसंत की दोपहर के साडेतीन- चार के दर्मियान कभी इस वृक्ष के सायें में खडे रहे हो? तब ही यह विशाल वृक्ष और उसी तरह विशाल भीमपलास क्या कह रहा है समझ पाओगे। and many more such reference are given by the legendary Pt. Kumar Gandharva. The reason why i am saying this is becuase, our today's guest has made an app which serves specific music tracks base don their prahar; timining. BTW, the above piece was originally in Marathi and translated by Rashmi Patwardhan in Hindi.
Well, what does this mean in a nutshell is, every Raag has a specific time and you need more than just a clock to experience the emotion and mood that Raag evokes.
Today I have Aditya Dipankar with us on Audiogyan. He is a Designer and also trained in Hindustani classical music. Aditya has a huge body of work in design from infographics for rural Indians to creating designs for successful brands like Nutanix and Freecharge.
Today we are here to discuss a case study of his project, Ragya.com (http://ragya.com/) . Ragya is a streaming service focusing just on Indian classical music: specifically ‘ragas’ designed to be played at specific times of the day. And that's why I started with Kumar Gandharva's quote.
What is Ragya?
Why & how did Ragya happen?
What was the MVP like, to test it this is worth the effort? Since this a niche subject especially in the online context.
Can you share insights about the algorithm? How does it work? What went behind the scenes?
Enabling the discovery of music through time of the day and serving the relevant Raag is one axis. Do you have any more axis to handle personalization?
How can an artist come onboard? Is there any curation process? How do you keep feeding content?
How do you handle copyright and licenses? How have you been dealing with artists?
What point in time and how did you realize that this has a commercial angle to it? Do you think, subscription model is sustainable in this case?
Can you share any numbers/observations / VOC w.r.t your subscribers
What is the long term future of this project/app/tool/website?

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Naveen, design is not a mere means to an end, but a means of inquiry and exploration of the nuances of human behaviour and experience. Naveen holds a Ph.D. in Interaction Design from IT-University of Copenhagen, Denmark, an M.Des in Industrial Design from IIT-Bombay, and a B.Arch from Vishveshwarya Technological University, India. Currently Naveen teaches at Shrishti School of Arts in Bangalore. His research is within the field of Human Computer Interaction (HCI) and User Experience Design.. Today we will try and understand his views on design and designing, in particular. 
You frimly beleive that design is an ongoing process. What is your definition of design? How has it changed over the course? Any milestones which made you realise that design is an ongoing process?
What sort of process is "designing"? A linear? Cyclical? Forming a tree, either top down or bottom up approach?
When do you stop designing?
How do you set goals and milestones when you are considering it to be an ongoing process?
The economist and political writer Thomas Sowell once wrote, There are no solutions, only trade-offs. How do you define trade-off? What are few parameters based on which you are willing to live with those few trade-offs in your solutions?
Is this idea of "designing" scalable in this consumeristic market or should i say commoditised world?
What are your thoughts about education in design? Is design a profession or is it a practice?
What are few areas of research and development required in design in the Indian context? How can one go about exploring it?
Designing with, not for (http://designbeku.in/)
Ooloi Labs (http://ooloilabs.in/)
Vikalpdesign (https://www.vikalpdesign.com/)
Lakshmi Murthy, Industrial Design Centre , IIT Bombay (http://www.idc.iitb.ac.in/students/phd/Lakshmi_murthy.html)
D'Source (http://www.dsource.in/)

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Today I have Rajesh Kejriwal with us on Audiogyan. Rajesh is the Founder CEO of Kyoorius Group and a global director at Saffron, a brand consultancy founded by Wally Olins and Jacob Benbunan. Rajesh is a regular speaker at industry forums, panels and jury sessions at various festivals and awards. He started a platform to fuel a design movement in India, Kyoorius Designyatra, hosted and curated by him. It is now India’s largest design conference and has been rated as the best curated annual conference in the world since 2013. Today we are here to document Design Yatra as a case study and what has gone behind the scenes in the last 12+ years.
I am sure you must have answered this thousand times, but just to set context for Audiogyan listeners, how was DesignYatra conceived and what made you conceive it? How did the name "DesignYatra" come about?
What according to you is the importance of these design events and gatherings apart from empowering creatives to showcase their work and making attendees feel inspired?
How do you decide on each year's theme? From "Design Empowers Businesses." in 2007 to "On the contrary" in 2019. and what the these for this year?
What is the over all process of curating the speakers? What are few metrics on which a particular speaker is selected?
I attended my first DesignYatra last year and it was really wonderful. Full of inspiration to do great work. However 70% of the speakers were non-Indian which made the work less relatable and more utopian for Indian developing country. What is going on when you wish to showcase this kind of work
Design is a such a broad discipline. From Interior to textile to illustrations to industrial products. What sort of brief is given to speakers to make their work relatable to such wide ranging audience?
Can you share few big challenges to organise this sort of an event when design has not reached that tangible projected outcomes which is possible in may be few other domains?
You also don't have concurrent talks going around. Which is very unlike regular conferences. This seems to be a conscious call? Can you share your thought behind it?
I was personally in awe when you spoke about how DesignYatra is handling the carbon footprint of such a massive 2 day long event. Can you tell us it in detail? What is the process and how do you reconcile it?
Have you got any plans of making Designyatra more accessible to the design community? A wonderful talk last year by Ayaaz has less than 1K views, which is sad according to me.
Lastly i would like to conclude by asking what's the story with changing venues and then finally in Goa? :) What are your future plans with DesignYatra and whom can we expect this year?

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Today I have Ashwin Ramchandran with us on Audiogyan. Ashwin is a chef and runs a small kitchen in south Mumbai called Milliways. He specialises in Asian food. He has over 10 years of experience in the hospitality industry and has worked in ITC Hotels for moe than 5 years. He is based out of Mumbai.
What makes a perfect recipe? Ingredients, timing or love?
Out of the four elements earth, water, fire and air, according to few studies, Aristotle added the ether, the fifth element. There are numerous articles which says, “If Aristotle had cooked, he would have more to say to the world.” Food, cooking and eating has been discussed a lot in the philosophy. What according to you could be the reason for it? 
How important is training to become a chef? It’s debatable whether cooking as an art form is older than art itself. Both are means of survival and evolution. In art, we have fine arts, commercial arts and many such disciplines.
Can you draw a parallel in the chef world? Chef for a fine dine where everything is measured versus a home cook (maharaj), versus a cook who makes food for langar? How do these dynamics work? How do these individual look at ingredients?
At an abstract level, what is the co-relation between pairing ingredients or dishes or types of food. Appetisers, main course and Chasers.
How/why do cultures select what to eat? And what is happening with globalisation?

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thegyaanproject.com

Welcome back to Audiogyan. I am chatting with Ashish Acharya and Abhay Singh who are co-founders of March Tee. March Tee produces truly simple and high-quality t-shirts for men and women. In the first part we spoke about their design philosophy. In this second part, we will be discussing making of March tee products and how did they build such a well rounded experience which establishes a great brand. 
What is the story behind March - The word? Why, when and how did it happen? Why T-Shirt and not some other product? What is so Indian about it? 
What was the thought behind keeping such a limited and sharp catalogue? Is it venturing new domain of limited knowledge or testing with users or something to do with keeping focus?
What are your thoughts about standardisation? With limited catalogue, you will venture into the uniqlo model of standardisation. While India is diverse and multi-colour? How do you look at these 2 dimensions.
How do you decide to improve product or bring in new line of products? Is it user research and feedback or you individually spotting trends? What is the percentage of showing difference in evolution of product. Do people really care about attention to detail or brands like you bring that culture? What has been your practice in doing so? Any example?
We all designers are inspired by Steve Jobs at some point in time. He made sure even the chargers and USB ports are well designed. In your case, I see similar traits; Can you tell us the story which went behind your packaging and the pencil which says “Do good Work”?
To me and I am very sure for all the following you have, March Tee is not just a T-Shirt but a complete experience. From buying and getting a confirmation mail to getting the product delivered to wearing it and wearing it again after washing. If you have to summarise in 3 or 4 points, what would you say? 
Where is this all heading?

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Louis Kahn once said, "A great building must begin with the immeasurable, must go through measurable means when it is being designed, and in the end must be unmeasured." And what great opportunity to understand architecture in the area of education where i believe these thoughts converge. Today I have Bijoy Ramachandran with us on Audiogyan. Bijoy Ramachandran & Sunitha Kondur are co-fouders of Hundredhands. It is a multidisciplinary design studio based in Bangalore. Their work draws on a keen sense of the urban context by probing questions of scale, character, spatial and visual impact, and remaking of the public domain. Hundredhands has designed a lot of public and educational institutions. Nalanda University in Bihar, Bangalore International center, Neev Acadamemy, St. Andrews School & CMR University in Bangalore.. to name a few. We will try and understand thoughts while designing or architecting educational institutions with Bijoy today.
Which out of the 5 sense is the most critical while designing an education institute? Why? What according to you should be the key characteristics of an educational institute?
In India and most parts of the Indian subcontinent we always had a Guru Shishya Parampara type teaching. So limited students under a tree may be? Was there any particular architecture which became a milestone for this institutionalised education system?
What is the thought behind making the teacher or a professor stand on platform? Is it just about visibility or something more at work psychologically?
When you design institutional projects, what are the critical issues / elements you have to consider / prioritise? What are the 'PRINCIPLES'?
In one of your talks you speak about change or time as an important aspect of constructing an architecture. Can you point any nuanced patterns seen in educational institutions which handle batches and batches of students every year; essentially architecture ageing with time but giving brith to new people in the society
What can be a big difference while designing a school versus designing a college. Looking at age of children and teenagers? How do you consider the diverse user-groups when you design an institution? - From the youngest to the oldest and from learning to play? Do people especially students or small children use the space differently than you envision?
How much of the environment affects learning? How do you create that one? Can we take Neev acadamey for example?
Apart from architecture, which other expertise do you need in order to design a good institutional building?
How do you visualise educational institutes 20 years from now?

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Tune into this 4th episode of a 10 Part series, "Designer’s Digest” with @chitrav89 (Chitra Vishwanath) - Principal Architect and Managing Director of BIOME Environment Solutions (@biomearchitecture)

This series is created by Audiogyan in partnership with @godrejdesignlab

Designer's Digest series is about Design as a profession, it’s daily grind, the secrets to climbing the design career ladder, and what edge we’ll need to thrive in the captivating world of design.

 

Chitra Vishwanath is an Indian architect based in Bengaluru who works on themes related to ecology and architecture. She has been running her own architectural firm since 1991, working with other architects on many projects of all sizes. She is currently the Principal Architect and Managing Director of BIOME Environment Solutions. She firmly believes that the true essence of a remarkable firm lies in the gradual fading of its founder's individual prominence. The establishment of a firm is influenced not only by the founder's drive but also by various contextual factors. Chitra cannot be solely identified as Chitra Vishwanath without acknowledging the integral role of Biome. Similarly, Biome's existence in its current capacity is inseparable from the contributions of her colleagues. BIOME has been involved in more than 700 projects encompassing the construction of buildings of all sizes and water harvesting and sanitation structures with specific relevance to the ecology of the sites. With earth as a basic material input in construction, BIOME has designed and built many structures. We’ll be talking about ecological architecture in today’s episode.

Questions

1. We often use “architect” as a word who guides, designs, and oversees. Etymologically as well, it’s derived from arkhi-, chief + tekton, builder - chief builder. Who according to you is an architect?


2. What constitutes an ecological architecture? Could you talk about the 4 aspects of architecture from your TEDx talk, resourceful spaces, designing construction systems, water and waste management? Maybe by taking an example of one of the many schools you have built.


3. What is Maximise to minimize? Good design is no design at all, right? How do you strive to create a positive impact while building structures? What are the key principles and values you live by?


4. What should be / can be the index/metric of good ecological architecture? Why?


5. What according to you is the biggest role of architects in India, given the current time?


6. Over the last 31 years, you have grown to 31 member strong team. Seems a conscious choice to stay lean. Why?


7. You have a lot of Junior architects on the team. What are their primary job responsibilities?


8. For Biome, every project is a test bed for developing a collaborative multidisciplinary approach grounded in informed decisions. How does Biome onboard, execute, and deliver any project? Where and how are Junior architects involved? What do you expect from them?


9. What according to you is a good measure of an ecologically sensitive outlook in a student or junior architect entering this field of architecture?


10. What kind of architects do we need for India’s future? What tips/suggestions would you like to give young architects?

Reference Reading

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chitra_Vishwanath


2. https://www.instagram.com/chitrav89/?hl=en


3. https://www.biome-solutions.com/about-us/


4. https://www.linkedin.com/in/chitra-vishwanath-8513593/?originalSubdomain=in


5. https://www.archdaily.com/tag/chitra-vishwanath


6. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QMiekG0IJfM


7. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=41tlOqU-6PM


8. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zlf3TyKdcAg


9. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EviAtiqoLTE


10. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PlwbK-ybQX0


11. https://dev.earth-auroville.com/chitra-vishwanath-architects/


12. https://www.e-coexist.com/mailchimp/building-small-chitra-vishwanath.html


13. https://www.re-thinkingthefuture.com/know-your-architects/a686-chitra-vishwanath-creating-an-ecofriendly-way-of-living/


14. https://medium.com/@ar.aesha/ar-chitra-vishwanath-and-her-design-philosophy-282b64a99f83


15. https://www.re-thinkingthefuture.com/case-studies/a5644-the-paper-workshop-by-chitra-vishwanath-architectural-semantics-with-vernacularism/


16. https://www.facebook.com/chitra.vishwanath.3/


17. https://www.instagram.com/biomearchitecture/


18. https://www.biome-solutions.com/


19. https://audiogyan.com/2022/01/10/design-of-wells/

 

 

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Today we have a multilingual Kannada rapper SIRI with us on Audiogyan. She is re-enforcing the beauty of being part of a country, that is home to vareity of, different dailects and tunes. SIRI's music has already earned her a significant fan following down south of India. Having impressive flow in rap with English and Kannada, she has also experimented with Hindi and Telugu. SIRI writes, directs, produces and edits her music videos. She is from Bangalore. Today we are here to try and understand anatomy of "rap" as an artform and some insights into the world of Indian Rap community.
Thank you SIRI for giving your time and it's a real pleasure to have you on Audiogyan.
Before we being, i wish to tell the 2 things to my listeners.
This episode is on the backdrop of SIRI and Sez On The Beat’s new track "My Jam" with Artist Originals, JioSaavn’s independent label for South Asian artists.
Second, excuse me for my limited knowdlege on Rap and any naive questions in the flow. My exposure to Rap has been Baba Sehgal, Apache Indian and most recetntly Gully Boy. So bare with it.
Can you start by telling us about contruction of a rap song? Meter, Lyrics, tune, 4 beat, 6 or 8 beat cycle? theme, series, individual track etc...? How are these written, composed and produced?
What is Proto rap? are there any other sub genre and more forms within rap?
Can you share any insights about why there is so much influecne of hiphop on rap. What could be the reasons? Hiphop is about beats and rythm. Was poetry missing in the same vibe which lead to origin of Rap?
How long or short, can be a rap song? What is this format linked to? For eg: Jazz was the song of the oppressed and etc...
Is this form of music / poetry / lyrics seems to be impromptu? How does it qualify to be a form of literature if it's so volatile and made on-the-spot?
Do you have any mukhda kind of a thing in original rap? Something which keeps repeating in intervals? What is the reason for it? If you can share some examples. For a lay man like me, "My Jam" is the maximum exposure. :)
Whats the scene of Rap in South India? Any patterns / observations? With growing supression in India and rest of the world do you think Rap is on it's rising cycle?

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thegyaanproject.com

When you're not happy with something, fix it. Sounds familiar? Well that’s the line which is written on their website. Today I have Ashish Acharya and Abhay Singh with us on Audiogyan. They are the 2 out of the 4 co-founders of March Tee. Yes March Tee; which is now one of my favourites brand. In fact all I have is March Tee in my wardrobe and mind you this is not a promotion. March Tee produces truly simple and high-quality t-shirts for men and women. They are based in Pune. 
Design Philosophy of March Tee with Ashish Acharya & Abhay Singh
Can you start by telling everyone about your background from March Studio days?
March tee is simple. What’s your definition of simple? As a group of 4 and as you 2 individuals.
How important is story telling for March tee? How critical do you think story telling is from a brand / marketing perspective and also from a product building standpoint?
Studio March have always been making good digital products. How has your definition about good, better and great changed over time? How have you been reflecting about it? On what parameters these definitions kept changing?
In poetry is it said that “bad poetry is recognised instantly while good can take years or even centuries”. What is your definition of a good product? I am not hinting anywhere to Dieter Rams. 🙂 (In fact it would be interesting to ask you a more philosophical question; what does timeless mean to you?)
What according to you is the relation between scale and quality? Is it possible that well-crafted products which need attention to detail can be scaled? If yes, how and if no, why?

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thegyaanproject.com

Raja Ravi Varma born on 29 April 1848 and passed away on 2 October 1906. He was a celebrated Indian painter and an artist. Ravi Varma is considered among the greatest painters in the history of Indian art for a number of aesthetic and broader social reasons. We will try and document a mini biography of him more as a persona and not about his work in particular. 
For that I am honoured to have Manu Pillai with us on Audiogyan. Manu is an Indian author and historian who has 3 award winning books in his name. The Ivory Throne: Chronicles of the House of Travancore. Rebel Sultans: The Deccan from Khilji to Shivaji, and most recently The Courtesan, the Mahatma & the Italian Brahmin: Tales from Indian History. 
Who were Raja Ravi Varma's Gurus / Mentors / Teachers?
Can you also tell us about his family, upbringing, siblings, wife, parents?
Who were his contemporaries in the art world? Indian and around the world?
Every art emerges out of pain, sorrow, grief or rebel. Were there any triggers in his life to make such path breaking work?
What made him different or stand out from the rest? Was it the art, subjects or pure marketing?
What made him explore portraits as oppose to other forms for art like abstract, landscape and others? How did the Dutch portraitist Theodor Jenson connection happened?
How did he become famous and known as a national figure without social media?
Which was the main painting or time of his life which made him famous?
Can you share a brief background about his oleographs? His connection with various printing press in India? Was Printing press part of the strategy to be famous and distribute his work to rest of the world?
What is the one thing which one should imbibe and one should reject looking at Raja Ravi Varma as a human, since his artistic side is always inspiring. This is mainly for today’s artists and painters.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thegyaanproject.com

Abhinit Tiwari is a designer and a programmer who has been building digital products for past 14 years. He is currently Heading the design team at Gojek. He founded Leftshift technologies where in he built products for BookMyShow, Airtel, Citrus, NH7 and many more. Leftshift was then acquired in 2016 by GO-JEK Indonesia. For those are not aware of Gojek is, it is Southeast Asia’s leading on-demand, multi-service tech platform providing access to a wide range of services including transport, payments, food delivery, logistics, and many more. Abhinit is here with us today to share his insights and learnings while building Asphalt; Gojek’s design system;
What is a design system? How is it different from a brand guidelines or Sticker sheet or pattern library or Front end framework?
How did the name Asphalt come about? What is the story behind “Salam satu aspal”?
Is asphalt based on Brad Frost atomic theory? Are there any other such theories? Did you hunt for more such theories?
Why did you feel the need of building a design system? What were the challenges before that triggered it?
What are building blocks of Asphalt? How long did it take to build it and what was the strategy before taking it on?
It is generally said that design system is a breathing document so when do you take out the ventilator? There have also been articles strongly recommending that it is not a side gig but a full time investment & commitment. How would you respond to that? One important myth associated with Design Systems is that it kills creatively. We have to work in a lot of constraints - How do you look at it?
How big is the team that handles Asphalt and how deeply front end is involved in this ongoing vertical? How big or small this team should be for a fast growing startup? Can you tell us the importance of making all organisms and molecules to be living things with code and not just static sketch or figma files?
Can you briefly tell us how did you build it? What were the key milestones and checks which gave the confidence of you going in the right direction? What was the process of validating your components to be modular and scalable?
Can you share details of any medium size project which got shipped effortlessly at Gojek because of Asphalt?
How critical is a buy-in from the top management and how did you go about doing it?
You can follow Abhinit on Twitter @abhinitial and me on @nimkarkedar and Audiogyan on @audiogyan
Oh, BTW, Gojek is hiring. Visit Gojek.io to know more.

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Today I have Harikrishna Katragadda with us on Audiogyan. Hari is a Mumbai based photographer whose work explores communities, environment and personal memories. He uses long-term documentary approach (which is very new to me). he works with alternative photographic methods to incorporate found materials in images.  He graduated with a Masters degree from the University of Texas at Austin and started his career as a photojournalist in New Delhi. Today we are here to know more about his work practice, his philosophy and most importantly how has he recourse his work for social change. 
How do you define your work of painting? What style is it? Any early life influencers? Any other legends who have played with cyanotype and your style of abstract paintings?
We will start with a more relatable question and then we will go abstract further. In one of your interviews, you have mentioned "Art is an inner exploration as well as a way to address social concerns” - Can you start by telling us what do u mean by that? Any particular artwork series like “Effluence” which enabled you to address social concerns?
What according to you is important while creating an artwork. Be it taking a photo or painting on a canvas? Style, medium, content, context, artists journey? Why?
In your case, you are both a photographer and a painter. What’s your definition of patience? 
From whatever your artworks which i have seen, you expression is abstract in nature. Do you find it difficult to express that in photography?

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Mohini is a self-taught designer and illustrator from Mumbai and now based in Bangalore. She runs Indian Gig Poster Archive - a repository of posters created to promote independent music in India. She has been an exclusive artist with Kultureshop. Her work is affectionately dismissive of pop culture and its common visual tropes and motifs. Today we are here to document a case study of her project, “Indian Gig Poster Archive”
What is Indian Gig Poster Archive?
How did this idea come about? Why did you start it?
How do you source these posters? Where are you getting these from? How far do these collections go?
What makes these artist share their artwork?
What happens to these posters when the gig is over?
Can you share any worth noting incident / case study which revived the band because it was rediscovered through your project? Any story / anecdote 
Do you follow any archiving practice of documenting based on year, genre, artist geography etc…?
Are there any other domains apart from Indie Music which you have discovered while logging these?
What do these posters tell you? Have you found any pattern of how the graphic scene has been evolving in the last few decades?
How has this side project helped you as a designer and as a music lover?
What is the long term future of Indian Gig Poster Archive? Till when do you plan to keep discovering and journaling them?
What is the feeling when you find a pile of old or new posters all at once?
You can follow her on Instagram @mohinimukherjee and the project @indiangigposterarchive. In my case, @nimkarkedar and @audiogyan on Twitter

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thegyaanproject.com

Vijay Dhondopant Tendulkar
Born on 6 January 1928 and passed away on 19 May 2008. Tendulkar Sahab was or should I call is an unarguably a leading Indian playwright, movie and television writer, literary essayist, political journalist, and social commentator. He is best known for his plays Shantata! Court Chalu Aahe (1967), Ghāshirām Kotwāl (1972), and Sakhārām Binder (1972).
Welcome to Audiogyan Biographies. Today we will be documenting Vijay Tendulkar with a bit of help from Ramu Ramanathan.
Ramu is an Indian playwright-director with acclaimed plays to his credit. Ramu has previously been a guest on Episode Number 29 of Season 1. He spoke about Stagelife Characters. Ramu is my go to person to understand tidbits about Indian Theatre.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thegyaanproject.com

Vijay Dhondopant Tendulkar
Born on 6 January 1928 and passed away on 19 May 2008. Tendulkar Sahab was or should I call is an unarguably a leading Indian playwright, movie and television writer, literary essayist, political journalist, and social commentator. He is best known for his plays Shantata! Court Chalu Aahe (1967), Ghāshirām Kotwāl (1972), and Sakhārām Binder (1972).
Welcome to Audiogyan Biographies. Today we will be documenting Vijay Tendulkar with a bit of help from Ramu Ramanathan.
Ramu is an Indian playwright-director with acclaimed plays to his credit. Ramu has previously been a guest on Episode Number 29 of Season 1. He spoke about Stagelife Characters. Ramu is my go to person to understand tidbits about Indian Theatre.
I am very curious to know, who were Tendulakar Sahab’s influencers? I am asking this because I was reading, Manus Navache Bait (Man is An Island), one of his first plays, was remarkable. People had never heard such dialogues before. Theatre at that time used very stylised acting and long sentences with very flowery language; it was distanced from reality. Something similar to which you spoke in the Episode 29 about Samuel Beckett and other playwrights trying to bring court room dramas to dining rooms. So do you have any insights what made him start this way?
What was happening in from 1960 to 1990s that Tendulkar wanted to express his thoughts through violence; because according to my limited knowledge, he said, that he lived in a simple middle class family which was doing fine.
What do you think; what made Vijay Tendulkar show violence to create awareness about violence, rather than showing something morally good or ethically sound? What is this style of showing real? Where does this form stem from?
What was his trajectory of him expressing violence throughout his plays? Did it increase due to ongoing unrest or it decreased? From Gidhade to Kamala?
Some of his plays were censored. What made him write so boldly in his new plays, despite being censored?
What is the one thing which young generation playwrights should learn from Tendulkar and what is that one should avoid considering the current times?
https://www.dnaindia.com/analysis/report-vijay-tendulkar-is-a-scathing-interpreter-of-maladies-4810
https://web.archive.org/web/20081201033510/http://www.indianexpress.com/res/web/pIe/ie/daily/19991020/ile20071.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rTqj3GVs6bM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2bF3GLjn1iI (Part 1 to 6)
https://www.indiatoday.in/magazine/society-the-arts/story/19801231-vijay-tendulkar-indian-theatre-only-complete-philosopher-773665-2013-12-02

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तुका म्हणे बरवे जाण ।
व्हावे लहानाहून लहान . This is an important line by Tukaram, since it illustrates something universal. I am from design background and swear by a line which says, "Less is more”. Having some bent towards listening or understanding poetry, I also loosely interpret this couplet as “realise that, the shorter the better”. In the 100th episode os Audiogyan with Balkrsihna Doshi, I asked him why do all architecture look the same. To which he replied because architects are no longer poets. In my 33rd Episode with Gangadharan Menon, even he said, "The moment we rediscover our poetry, that will be our renaissance.”
On that backdrop, today I have 3 guests on Audiogyan. Rochelle Potkar, Pooja Bhatia and Sanket Mhatre; all, stewards of an upcoming generations of great poets.
Importance of short form poetry?
Rochelle: What are the short form poetries that you have explore? What is a Hiaku?
Sanket: In Marathi we have Charoli? Are there any other forms? What are those?
Pooja: Can you tell what’s the difference between a Gazhal, Sher and Nazm? How have they evolved over time and why is sher so well known versus other forms for layman?
What are the constructs and why? Have they being broken in it’s journey? Art has always been transient. How have these short forms evolved?
Why is haiku only 6 syllables?
Why don’t we have Paacholi? Is it the meter or some other constraint?
Is there conscious effort by poets to keep every Sher integrated in the bigger narrative and yet independent in nature?
Who are the big names who have redefined trajectories? Like Kumar Gandharava in Music.
Who are the Haiku makers who have propagated this form? Is Tanka as famous as haiku?
Chandrakant Gokhale is all time favourite of the youth. Who all have made such impact on different sections of the society through short form poetry?
Sher has been glamourised by Bollywood and also abused? Where is the real substance and how Bollywood got influenced? Any insight there? How did the word Irshad come about?
Topics of Short form poems
In haiku, what are the topics which are explored and yet to be explored?
In Charoli?
In Sher? Is it always about love or passion? Have there been writers writing shre about social awareness like Rahat Indori?
Future
You all have been to various parts of the country talking about poetry and reciting your poetry, what has been your observations?
How is Poetry perceived by a middle class layman?
Where do you see poetry 100 years out in India and other parts of the world?

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thegyaanproject.com

Rajdeepgiri is a Graphic Designer from Bangalore with over 11 years of experience. He has worked in the various fields of design, like type design, branding, packaging and advertising. Today we are here to discuss a case study with him called Tenpoints braille which is his passion project and he has been working on it for past 5 years.
What is Ten Points Braille?
How did it come about? What made you think about it? You also have other type design projects like Baboo, RupeeRaj, Singlanguage A. Can you tell us about these briefly?
If one has to use this for typing the required text, why do we have you use on 10pt size font and line height 30? How did you arrive at these numbers?
There is a beautiful video of how can one use it. But can you walk us through it orally as well?
Can you share your journey from the first cut of the font, experiments and iterations till you now have arrived at it? How did you keep on validating?
Why Tenpoints braille? How do you think it will help the visually impaired and others? With just 34% Internet penetration in India, one side we have invisible UI, speech to text, image recognition technology developing, What made you think of this idea?
In your research, what were the learnings, especially with visually impaired and hearing impaired people? How do they perceive fonts? Are they aware of serif and san-serif typefaces? What are your thoughts on bringing in revolution; can braille also have serif ans san-serif?
What was the process of making it 13 scripts?
What next? How do you plan to make it accessible?
How can people collaborate with you to make it bigger?

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thegyaanproject.com

This is the 3rd episode of a 10 Part series, "Designer’s Digest” with Dr. Susmita Mohanty, an Indian spaceship designer and a serial space entrepreneur. This series is created in partnership with Godrej Design Lab - a platform that encourages and advances design excellence and exploration. Godrej Design Lab believes in the power of design to make a meaningful change. I am so happy and proud that Godrej Design Lab is supporting the journey of Audiogyan.

Designer's Digest is a series about Design as a profession, it’s daily grind, the secrets to climbing the design career ladder and what edge we’ll need to thrive in the captivating world of design.

I want to start with a line by Vincent Van Gogh, “For my part, I know nothing with any certainty, but the sight of the stars makes me dream”.

Questions

1. Can we start by, who is a spaceship architect or a designer? Can you also elaborate on the 3 genres of space architects [Voyage d’Esprit, Man-in-a-Can, Trans-Gravity]? Where and how do designers fit in?


2. What does it take to become a spaceship designer or an architect? If you can share your version of a career? What does one do in their early years and then possibilities as they become a veteran like you? Design is broadly about problem solving and we see a lot of lateral entrants. Is it possible in this discipline?


3. You’ve said, traditionally government agencies tend to design in a very engineering centric approach where they don’t invite architects, designers to build stuff. With designers engaging in such space, collaboration with other professionals like physicists, engineers, biologists, seems inevitable. What are the challenges and rewards of such interdisciplinary teamwork?


4. Importance of multidisciplinary. You’ve straddled across design, art, tech, humanities, choreography. What was it like growing in Ahmedabad in 70-80


5. What are the unique challenges and opportunities in this sector for a designer? You mentioned about designing spaceship interiors for long distance travel, spacesuits to keep away from sharp dust on other planets, especially on the moon. Climate is another important domain to look into.


6. What all sections of the rocket or a spacecraft (For eg: Soyuz, I loved the video) could be given to designers? Where all design interventions can be done?


7. What made you start Earth2Orbit and later Spaceport Sarabhai and what exactly you folks do there? Can you share any specific project or a milestone that made you very hopeful about this it having a huge potential in India?


8. Considering costs, policies and constraints of this highly guarded sector, what makes your hopeful about brewing design talent in India? Can you slightly talk more about your 2017 article “India is sitting on a space goldmine”?


9. You often say, “space is not just about technology. It’s also about business, social impact, geopolitics and more about perspective. Could you please elaborate on it from a designer’s lens?


10. You often encourage entrepreneurs to look earth from 400km above. After working closely with such great organisations like ISRO, NASA, ESA what has been your biggest learning so far.

Reference reading

• https://www.weforum.org/people/susmita-mohanty/


• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Susmita_Mohanty


• https://www.imd.org/ibyimd/innovation/beyond-earths-boundaries-a-journey-of-innovation-and-leadership/


• https://www.stirworld.com/think-columns-soyuz-the-world-s-most-reliable-human-spacecraft


• http://earth2orbit.com/index.php


• http://www.themoonwalker.in/write.php


• https://thebrilliant.com/opinion/why-billionaires-playing-space-ping-pong-leaves-me-cold/


• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constance_Adams

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In this wide-ranging conversation, Appupen discusses the subtext in comics as a powerful tool of resistance. From his beginnings in advertising to his dark, ironic universe of Halahala, he critiques the manipulation of desire, hero worship, and media propaganda. Through works like Rashtraman and characters like Propagandhi, he reflects on India's obsession with godmen, political narratives, and the commodification of dreams. Appupen shares why art must disturb, why satire matters, and how comic art can gently push people to question dominant stories—even in an age of numbed outrage. The episode is a deep dive into the politics of visual storytelling, freedom of expression, and making dissent accessible.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thegyaanproject.com

Ranjit Dahiya is an artist, entrepreneur, motivational speaker and an arts & design professor all rolled into one. Founder artist of BAP, Ranjit Dahiya is originally from a small town named Sonipat in Haryana. He did his Bachelor's Degree in Fine Art from College of Art, Chandigarh and further went on to do his Post Graduate in Graphic Design from the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad. Today we are here to discuss his love for Bollywood, murals and documenting a case study of BAP, Bollywood Art project.
Can you start by telling us what is BAP and some background story behind it?
Can share some brief historical background about murals as an art form in India? Which all other Indian cities do have murals or graffiti going on? What according to you is role of mural in society?
India has 2 religions. Cricket and Bollywood. You picked Bollywood. The first ever mural made is a poster from a 1953 film Anarkali. What makes you draw stuff which is pre-2000’s? Do you consider drawing anything apart from Bollywood if not commissioned?
How different it is to detail out the nuances of the subject being painted when you draw on big walls? You have rough strokes or also show the smaller details? How do you decide the level of detailing you wish to achieve? Can you quickly walk us through the process?
What sort of colours are used to keep the painting fresh for some time? With the heat and rains in Mumbai - Have you experimented with colour mixtures to keep those murals long lasting? Mixing acrylic, with emulsion paint or simply oil paints?
When you travel across India, especially in highways and country side, You see lot of walls painted with either Tele-com providers or tractors… in a way actual advertising, which seems to be a paid job. From where do you think your motivation comes for painting old Bollywood stuff?
Can you take a particular example and tell how do you respond to the surface and how does surface responds to your artwork. For eg: If you are painting a Bollywood heroin, can her eyes be 2 windows which are nicely designed? Do you expect the building owners and keep their windows open or closed all the time based on your artwork?
I saw few of your videos online where you draw a rough sketch and then probably a complete artwork on canvas to envision, why can’t or don’t you just draw on huge canvases and hang them? What is the difference in drawing on huge canvas versus actual walls?
With Flex and other mediums emerging to promote films and TV series, what is your one hope and one disappointment when you look at these?

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Arthur G. Doughty a dominion activist once said, "Of all our national assets, Archives are the most precious; they are the gift of one generation to another and the extent of our care of them marks the extent of our civilisation.” Today I have Ruturaj Parikh with us on Audiogyan.
Ruturaj is an Architect & Partner at Matter. an architecture, design and content firm based in Goa. He has been involved in architecture, urban design, planning, curatorial and social projects. Ruturaj regularly writes about contemporary works and ideas on architecture relevant to India and its subcontinent. I stumbled upon him when i visited an architecture conference called Frame Conclave this year.  Ruturaj designs and writes from Goa.
What is Matter. ? Why do you think Archiving thought / documentation is important & required? Especially post Independence thought?
With so much noise, how do you decipher signal? How do you decide what to archive? What qualifies to be worth archiving?
What are your thoughts on “reflecting on your own work”?
As per my experience, very few professionals are reflective about their work; while academicians, authors & researchers have a more broader vision. Is it true and if yes, why?
Classic work always has a pull and need not be pushed. But it can take really long for people to understand the value. What keeps you going and doing this?

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thegyaanproject.com