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D&AD
Judging Preview – DesiCreative
Ektaa Aggarwal: Creative Director at Landor Associates Mumbai & D&AD Branding Jury member 2015
Why did you become a designer?
I don’t think there was one big pivotal moment. My eary childhood memories are around losing myself to drawing, taking my ficticious dog for a walk and acting in a lot of plays. I knew that my career would be in the arts very early on. It’s what came naturally.
Did you attend school for fine art or design?
I attended The Pratt Institute for Communication Design.
What design role models did you have growing up?
One of my biggest influences was my dad, namely his diagrams and the things he’d bring back from his travels. Other than my dad, it was Natalia Makarova, my older cousin’s fashion flair and books. Books fueled my imagination and took me to far off places.
Who has been the most influential personality on your career in design?
It would be the aesthetic of Paul Rand, Massimo Vignelli and my first ever creative director, Mike Joyce.
What projects are you working on currently?
One of the many exciting projects that I’m currently working on is a re-fresh of one of India’s oldest and biggest coffee chains.
On the innovation side, I’m in the middle of scaling a hygiene school called ‘Masti Clean’ for children from slum communities. This has been particularly exciting as it’s great to see design thinking creating behaviorial change in real-time.
What will you bring to the jury?
I hope to bring my experience along with a global perspective.
Branding is always a highly contested category, what will you be looking for amongst the entries?
A simple idea. A disruptive approach.
What are the key visual trends you’ve observed within branding in recent years?
Brands are not logos, promises or static old cathedrals fenced by steel walls called guidelines. Today, brands have strong personalities, are dynamic, can have moods and love a good converstaion.
Presentation of work is always important at global shows. What advice would you have for entrants?
Focus on seeding the idea in the minds of the judges as quicky as possible.
What piece of design work has stood out for you in the past twelve months?
Probably sick of hearing this – the Mandela cell.
What are you most looking forward to about judging at D&AD?
Hope to leave with.
Freshness
Envy – “Darn, I wish I had done that!”
What do you feel about the state of design currently in India? Do you feel our collective aesthetics need to improve?
You are seeing pockets. Indigo was just voted amongst the top 10 most innovative brands by Fast Company – design has been a big contributor in this case.
Most marketers under-estimate middle India’s appetite for new and exciting design. The creative community is doing good work. If clients don’t seek safety in the sea of sameness, you would see design power the economy.
Do you think brands who do well with design awards also do well in the market?
I’m split between genuine work that is done for big brands like Coke and then scam work that never really gets much traction other than award shows. The idea behind awards is a celebration of ideas and creativity and not the impact, really. So I guess my answer is yes and no.
What would be your dream project?
To set-up white telephone booths in cities around the world in which people can express themselves, their emotions or just talk. People get lonely sometimes, they just want to be heard and they want to know that someone is there at the other end. Perhaps ‘the good telephone’ project by Vodafone.
Mac or PC?
PC Sarkar?!
If you could take anyone out for dinner, who would it be?
The Amul girl. She comes with her own bread and butter; more for me.
What’s on your ipod at the moment?
Audible books, my running music, podcasts
What advice would you have for aspiring professionals?
Stay true and honest to yourself. If you believe in what you’re doing, you will automatically give it your 500%.
If you’ve been having doubts, follow that hunch, change something.
The entry deadline for the 2015 D&AD Professional Awards has been extended until 25 February. To find out more about categories, eligibility and entry criteria, visit here.
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Post originalmente publicado no Brainstorm #9
