I formulated a conceptual and visual language for a series of self-promotional products by a design house, aimed at Indian and international retail markets. The primary focus was on the creation of a set of idea diaries that also acted as a guideline for the language to be followed in the design of the rest of the products.The theme was ‘reinterpreting India’. The project required me to understand and deconstruct the entire notion of culture, study Indian culture, reinterpret it, and correctly and substantially represent it in a fresh yet pertinent way. This was done within the format of an annual diary, which was also given an original structure. The project encompassed everything from the early steps of formulating the brief to the final execution of the set of diaries.The project aimed to represent India in a way never seen before; to break the established perspective of the country being a loud, garish land of kitsch, understood and identified only by the cliché’s that are further strengthened by the media and often India’s own tourism industry. It attempted, in some way, to explain the concepts behind these clichés that due to commoditisation have lost their true essence. This was done by subverting kitsch and using a contemporary, internationally accessible visual language.

The final set of diaries, besides reinterpreting elements of India’s culture and lifestyle, also provide a vast amount of information on it, all while serving the more functional purpose of dated planners.