Indian interior design

A few pictures from the book Indian Heritage Hotels: Legacy of Splendor:













If you're interested on seeing more of those beautiful interior designs and architectures, I advise you to have a look to those books too:
India Contemporary
Forts & Palaces of India: Sentinelles of History.
India: Decoration, Interiors, Design
The Royal Palaces of India
Traditional buildings of India
India style
India sublime: princely hotel of Rajastan
Princely Rajastan: Rajput palaces and Mansions

My top 10 favorite Indian Fashion Designers

Ajana Bhargav

Ranna Gill


Kavita Barthia


Arshiya Fakhi


Peacock


Mandira Wirk


Anju Modi


Payal Singhal

Satya Paul


Shantanu and Nikhil

My top 10 favorite ambiant ads

Indian Product Design

Here are a few interesting product designs from India:


The tippler chair by Garima Aggarwal:





Salt&Pepper by Neha Chandra:




Clotheline clip by Paul Sandip:

this designer is making awesome design for everyday items, you should definitely have a look on his blog!



Here is an original vase designed by Pawan Pagaria:




And a beautiful lamp by Mann Singh:




And let's finish by this intersting urban concept, the tree parking by Abhinav Dapke:

US election

Rangoli

In Indian cultures, all guests and visitors occupy a very special place, and a rangoli near to the door of the house is an expression of this warm hospitality. Traditionally, such floor decorations were done only on auspicious occasions but we nowadays we also find them in weddings, birthday parties, opening ceremonies...

The designs are symbolic and common to the entire country, and can include natural or geometrical patterns. They are made with natural elements such as flowers, stones or most of the time colored powder (the base can be sand, marble dust, saw dust, brick dust or other materials).

Rangoli also has a religious significance, enhancing the beauty of the surroundings and spreading joy and happiness all around. The entire pattern must be an unbroken line, with no gaps to be left anywhere for evil spirits to enter.

As it’s currently Diwali (the festival of lights) and that people visit a lot each other's homes to exchange greetings and sweets, we can see a lot of rangoli around. Here are a few one from my office:

This one was taken at the entrance of an hotel:

Rangoli can have different sizes and can be huge as you can see on the picture below:

Discover India with Claude Renault

Claude Renault is a photographer that travelled numerous times to India and took beautiful pictures there, you can see some pictures of his work below:

Check his flickR http://www.flickr.com/photos/clodreno/ to discover India from your home!

Lighting purse

Did you know that the average european woman spend 15 hours a year searching in her purse? Merry Kawamura Ganjavian worked on the problem and created this lighting purse!

Financial crisis

The current financial crisis can paradoxically be an argument to sell. Ads that use it present products as smart buys because they offer “real value” for money or invoke news headlines in a tactic that is known in marketing as borrowed interest, which hopes to gain attention by riding the coattails of important and topical events.

Here are a few samples:

This online campaign for HBO comedy Video (made by Venables Bell & Partners San Francisco) includes several situations that require a sense of humor like “You just opened up a mutual fund. That falls more often than your toddler” or “Your 401(k). Now down to $4K.”

"made for the most extreme downhills"

" other operations: see your account / historic - Need comfort?"

Some other examples are:
_The retailer’s suits Brooks Brothers who reprinted a 1942 pitch “It pays to buy at Brooks Brothers” stating that the most economical clothes are those that are made to last. The current ad declares just as the one of the 1940’s that “during these uncertain times, Brooks Brothers is still the investment you can trust.”
_Burger King ads ( by Crispin Porter & Bogusky) with its King character playing Robin Hood: He puts money back into the pockets of customers who buy items from the B. K. Value Menu.
_TV commercials from Walt Disney Co for the "Mary Poppins" Broadway musical.

“The crisis is part perception, part reality,” said Ezequiel Triviño, founder and president of the San Fransisco agency Wikreate. They gave a “Celebrate the Crisis” party where financial sections of newspapers were shredded. “If we are optimists, if we feel we can get out of the crisis, it will be less prevalent.”