Hasta La Creative!

Elephant is a strategic design consultancy established in 1989 in Pune. Today it has offices in Pune, Delhi & Singapore with more than 80 people across multi-disciplinary teams.
Key practices at Elephant are: Brand Strategy & Communication, Corporate Identity, Product Design, Packaging Design, Retail & branded Environments, Innovation Consulting.

Tell us about your designers. Did they go into fine art or design schools? How do you pick them up?
Elephant is a destination place to work. Our Principal Designers come with design education from premier design institutes like NID, IDC (IIT). Some of our designers are also from newer Design Institutes like MIT. We also have people with background in applied art & commercial art who have gained tremendous experience in design led thinking over the years.
We work on some of the best design projects that India has. So we have a constant flow of aspirants from all over to join us. We pick them based on their design thinking aptitude, articulation skills & ability to work their best in a team environment.

How would you define the design style at elephant design.
Design is the solution to a problem or a challenge faced by marketeer or user. At Elephant, we believe our solution must align with and supersede expectations of the audience. It is not a platform of self expression or style. So I would say the design style at Elephant may be very diverse in terms of look & feel, but it would have a common thread of audience empathy & delight.

Were there any particular role models for you when you grew up?
India did not have a multi-disciplinary design practice in the eighties when I was studying to be a designer. Business of design was non-existent.
But there were companies like Pentagram that became the inspiration for starting a collaborative practice.

Who was the most influential personality on your career in graphic design?
Very difficult to speak of one personality. But I have learnt different things from different people. I interned with a small studio run by a senior from NID. She was the first one to give me the confidence to start an enterprise. Over the years I have been pushed to extremes by a long time client to give better than best ideas & take them through ultimate detailing. She has been a big influence on the way I declutter ideas to the bare minimum expression. My professors at NID have deeply influenced my choice of colours, typography & composition. Subconsciously, I ask myself if they would approve it before I internally pass any work to be presented.

What made you start elephant design?
While graduating from NID in 1989, I along with few other batchmates had clarity on the fact that design is a team effort. Non-existence of of multi-disciplinary design practice in India was the reason to set up Elephant that was based on the story of blind people where diverse viewpoints make the big picture.

How important is the focus on good design at your design firm
At Elephant, we believe if it is not good, it is not design… it is just a decoration. And we are not in the business of decoration.

Are you working with any advertising agencies? Any brands?
We work directly with clients. Our clients include ABD, Abbott, Akzo Nobel, Axis Bank, Bausch + Lomb, Britannia, Godrej, Godfrey Philips, Heinz, Nirlep, P&G, Piramal, Symphony, Venky’s and Wipro.

What do you feel about the state of design in India? Do you feel that our collective aesthetics need to improve?
Design as a profession is barely 30 years old in India as against 100 years in Europe or America. It is in its evolutionary stage. Indian consumer/ user has only just started demanding products, services & brands that suit his/ her lifestyle and culture. So Indian design is yet to emerge as a voice, but it is getting there.

It is presumptious to believe that our aesthetics need improvement. It is only being said because  of the general  belief that western concept of aesthetics is better.
We definitely need to get more fastidious about systems, discipline & detailing of design.

Any other Indian graphic designers who you admire?
I like the work of younger designers who are far more experimental & fearless as compared to our generation who had to struggle to establish the value of design.
Many of the designers that I admire work with Elephant.

What advice do you have for aspiring creative professionals? Would you advise them to take on graphic design as a career option?
I would say design is a socially responsible commitment. It’s a great profession, but come into it knowing that you are in a country where design needs to fulfill the basics first.

Who would your design team like to take out for dinner?
A typical Indian consumer. The perpetual mystery person.

What’s on the company iPod?
I am waiting to do the AnthemsTM workshop with our sonic branding team that works out of Delhi. We will soon have an Elephant Anthem that all of us will want to hum…

Mac or PC?
Definitely Mac.