“We’re away on a mission-vision exercise,” said the client’s voice on the phone, speaking Hindi. ‘Vision’ sounded like what philologists call an echo word: a handy utterance meant to downplay the echoed word—mission, in this instance. Like we say ‘tax-vax’ or ‘college-shollege”. Mission-vission. That was two decades ago. These days, Deep Design often deals with… Continue reading The vision-mission exercise
Category: deep design
The Business of Consulting
In the last decade, the more far-seeing set of mature, large businesses has been making hopeful approaches towards design. Their ardour comes from seeing design as a source of competitive advantage, and has been reported on widely. This column, too: we labelled Apple, Airbnb, Google and their increasing tribe as ‘digital darlings’. In their wake,… Continue reading The Business of Consulting
Numb and Number
We live in the age of data: we marvel at it, fret over it and depend on it. To an unprecedented degree, data, or observations that can be counted, is the boss of our factual universe. Own the data and you own the conversation. Further, sight trumps the senses, and we live in the era… Continue reading Numb and Number
A Class Apart
A drawing room sofa upholstered with bold graphics runs the risk of showing poor taste. But sofa cushions, by convention, are a license for graphic fun. My sofa set sports a smart black and white set (pictured) of four, with printed and crudely embroidered naive drawings. They picture: a bicycle; a hand pulled rickshaw; an… Continue reading A Class Apart
Big Food, Small Food
If this hasn’t happened to you, make it happen. Go to a shiny modern retail store near you, and stroll the juice shelves. Your eye is caught by a glass bottle with a metal cap, a mini-replica of the milk bottles of your youth. You take in the charmingly ‘un’-designed bottle. Austere titling identifies the… Continue reading Big Food, Small Food
Dear Chief Design OfficerA Class Apart
Dear Chief Design Officer You don’t know me, but as Chairman of this company, I created and gave you your job. Congratulations on being the first Indian CDO in India of a major company. It’s up to you now to make my gamble work. It wasn’t easy to convince the board. Yes, we all agree… Continue reading Dear Chief Design OfficerA Class Apart
A Carol For A Brand New Christmas
In a saucepan, on medium heat, bring to a boil 3 cups of milk, a cup or so of heavy cream, 3 inch-long cinnamon sticks, vanilla (bean/pods or vanilla essence) and a teaspoon of grated nutmeg. Switch off the heat. Separately, beat 5 egg yolks and sugar until thick ribbons form. Slowly whisk in the… Continue reading A Carol For A Brand New Christmas
Visionary Position: Design on Top
Look around you and you likely wouldn’t know it, if you are reading this in print in a developing country, but business is getting very, very attracted to design. If, on the other hand, you are reading this on a screen in a G-8 country, this may seem like settled fact. This is a consummation… Continue reading Visionary Position: Design on Top
Good design: It’s all in the mind
It seems unarguable that designers carry a psychological armoury that makes their work effective. That, not manual skill, is why we trust them with our businesses, or not. Without it, designers would miss their only target: other people. If you are looking for ways to use psychology to boost the value of your design rupee,… Continue reading Good design: It’s all in the mind
Personality, the uber-construct in the modern ‘liking’ business
Whether simultaneously, or in stages, whether consciously or less so, design rests on two legs. The first concerns appropriateness, or shaping form to purpose. The other concerns liking, or the positive emotions she expects to evoke from the persons in whose life the object will have a role. The uber-construct in the modern liking business… Continue reading Personality, the uber-construct in the modern ‘liking’ business