INDIAN
EPHEMERA

Identity, Strategy,
Collaterals, Curation+ Copy

Founded in the begining of 2020, initially as a personal way to catalog interesting instances of design found in the local context, Indian Ephemera is a project that looks at the everyday and familiar in a new way.

With the exception of a few key, contemporary incidents, ‘design’  in the Indian context is viewed as an imported ideal, one of luxury or of aesthetics, as opposed to  problem-solving measures.Even the design movements we learn about in design schools tend to revolve around the Bauhaus, and it is important that we take ownership of the work that designers do.

IE was born out of the idea of looking for roots in design, and trying to define what Indian design is - as pluralism, as an amalgamation of all its influences.

We draw these lines between design and craft, between design and “vernacular” design, and tend to create our own little designer bubble that tends to influence itself. “Indian Design” can root itself in our own needs, materials and traditions, to solve our problems, and by looking at the way we have solved these problems since forever, we can find better ways to solve new problems.

The designed objects or solutions are all shot on or given simple, black backgrounds in postproduction to avoid any distractions and to view the object in isolation of other influences-the same design solution that we view on a daily basis takes on a whole new meaning and is perceived to have a higher value when viewed in the neutral, almost design museum-like context.The Visual language of Indian Ephemera is simple but can still hold its own - allowing the design solutions and objects which have not even been categorised or seen as design, to take their place as something we can rightfully learn from.

As an archive, Indian Ephemera needs to be unbiased.

That’s why it’s so important for the project to work with collaborators and partners, other individual viewpoints on the pluralistic existence of the same Indian design context that we all view so differently. Partnerships with designers selected through an open call, with LOCAL LABS, and presentations at design institutions and conferences all add to the diversity of perspective that helps document design from the subcontinent accurately.