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D'Art Pvt Ltd

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Interviews with D'Art Pvt Ltd

Read the interviews with D'Art Pvt Ltd: understand their philosophy, creative process and award-winning work.

Designer Profile

Design Interview

House of Red Chief Global Retail Identity · 20 questions

The Core principle applied here was “Design is nothing but experience” Firstly we sketched an Educative Experience of the product so that consumer psychographics could reach “Well Informed Buying Process”.

What is the main principle, idea and inspiration behind your design?

The Core principle applied here was “Design is nothing but experience”

Firstly we sketched an Educative Experience of the product so that consumer psychographics could reach “Well Informed Buying Process”. Here the consumer enjoys his complete freedom. Sales/fashion consultants have zero influence on consumer decisions. Secondly, we crafted a category wise engagement zone so that consumer should feel the entire product line in a very playful way and yet gets his complete confidence in his “purchase intent” which ultimately “intent transforms into purchase”

The IDEA & INSPIRATION have come from “DOMINO EFFECT”

The hypothesis was that, can there be a design that could provoke consumers to buy “NEXT”?

Design+Matrix+Coding was knitted in such a way that led to a “Domino Effect”

Literally, design seduced consumers. “An Eye View Develops CRAVING To Buy - NEXT”

What has been your main focus in designing this work? Especially what did you want to achieve?

Focus – Focus was to Create an unseen framework of mentally stimulating activity that triggers the consumer’s brain to act in a particular way. Giving a deep meaning to simple things to introduce the old technology into a high-end transformed experience for consumers.

Achieve – We controlled human eyes to make repetitive, uncontrolled movements at predefined “HOTSPOTS '' which helped us drive a predefined shopper journey.

Where consumers feel that he is a driver but he is “NOT”

What are your future plans for this award winning design?

Future Plan – The present crisis has to change the world completely in terms of everything that we can think of. As a responsible “Design Author of Future,” we wish to create a model which is compatible and co-exist with present challenges. Yet people should be safe & secure without compromising on brand growth. We are working on some interesting projects that may help the world look at our contribution to “HUMANITY”

How long did it take you to design this particular concept?

As an agency, we don’t design anything before we are done with our work on “RESEARCH”. In this format, we conducted research work for about 1 month and we took around 3 to 4 weeks to close the concept and the technical docket took about 15 days. Overall from research to design docket completion we took about 2.5 months to deliver this project.

Why did you design this particular concept? Was this design commissioned or did you decide to pursuit an inspiration?

We had two options, either to design something trendy, high on tech AI/VR/AR etc or to take a risk and designs something which is more clutter-free and unique.

Red chief and D’ART is a very old and strong association. Whenever brands want to expand into something new, they call us for the discussion as part of an extended team only. There we saw this challenge with the client, seeking all brands to merge under one roof and display for wide and dense categories and within which large SKUs need to display. Practically at a 2-floor store, it becomes quite a challenge to ensure every consumer who walks in, ensures he or she walks up to the predefined journey path within the store.

Is your design being produced or used by another company, or do you plan to sell or lease the production rights or do you intent to produce your work yourself?

Yes, our design has been produced in India. It will certainly move to global locations now. We have already sold our design to Red Chief. The entire production work was done by the fabrication vendor right under the supervision of D’ART and site & factory hand-holding by D’ART.

What made you design this particular type of work?

Because we are “BELIEVERS” & “LOGICAL DREAMERS”. We work every day as “DESIGN WARRIORS” to hunt new thoughts and can weave with client requirements and ask. We live and die for our design passion and this pursuit us to deliver the “NEW” at whatever “RISK” possible. The madness and raw passion behind the design are what make D’ART the first choice of clients in global space.

Where there any other designs and/or designers that helped the influence the design of your work?

A brilliant team who have made this possible. I need to take their names and the contribution they have given at every stage of the project that got delivered and WON the most prestigious award on earth in 2021.

Sameer Khosla – Global Design Head

Deepak Kumar – Global Operations Head

Syed Shahnawaz Zaidi – Global Head – Retail Strategy

Saurabh – Design Research

Smriti – Design Conceptualization

Sachin – 3D Formation

Sanjay – Project Manager

Anshu Raj – Project Architectural support

Shashank – Client Servicing Manager

Anees – Project Support Team

Shan-e-Alam– Project Support Team

Chiranjivi – Project Docket Assortment

Who is the target customer for his design?

Male & Female of all Age groups with a major focus on “YOUTH”, as they tend to be stylish and trendy with keeping an update on new fashions coming their way.

What sets this design apart from other similar or resembling concepts?

The ‘set apart’ factors were the creative elements (that includes climbing wall, treadmill, LED wall), precise touchpoints, eco-friendly and sustainable materials that were induced in the design. The trendiness approached differently laced with ‘old-school’ tech created a new bench-mark.

How did you come up with the name for this design? What does it mean?

The name was given HOUSE because we were putting all the brands under one roof. Therefore, amongst many of the names suggested, we finalized “HOUSE OF RED CHIEF” as the name of this project.

Which design tools did you use when you were working on this project?

The design incorporates both Autodesk 3D Max and a varied range of Adobe software like Photoshop, Premiere Pro, AfterEffects, Illustrator, and some more that come under Adobe Creative Cloud.

What is the most unique aspect of your design?

THE ABILITY OF DESIGN TO DEVELOP A CONFLICT BETWEEN TRENDY AND DIFFERENT.

Who did you collaborate with for this design? Did you work with people with technical / specialized skills?

Every inch of design & other services was rendered in-house only

The only place where we collaborated with fabricators to deliver this project for the client.

What is the role of technology in this particular design?

We said no to AI/AR/VR and many more tech. We challenged the fact that we can use “OLD technology” to give a new meaning and transformational look to the design theme.

Is your design influenced by data or analytical research in any way? What kind of research did you conduct for making this design?

1-month research work was conducted to analyze the clear intervention areas and strategy behind such interventions as explained above-mentioned answers.

What are some of the challenges you faced during the design/realization of your concept?

Gauging our ability to take the risk at the price, you may lose a business or client forever.

1.Delivering easy Design Vs Complex design thinking to deliver the best

2.Eco-Friendly material limitations and challenges Vs Easy material sourcing at a cheap price.

How did you decide to submit your design to an international design competition?

After winning an A’Design award in 2020, it’s our second consecutive A’Design win, in a row.

Every year we have a mindset that we deliver something that WINS an international design competition

What did you learn or how did you improve yourself during the designing of this work?

Few learnings came from:

1.We took learnings from our vendors what ways they make the same design look better at a cheaper cost

2.We took learnings from fresh design interns which worked very well.

3.We took learning from cross-sectional teams to drive the thought for uniqueness and differentiation.

Any other things you would like to cover that have not been covered in these questions?

Every time we work we pay attention to small things which means a lot to HUMANITY

1.360-degree safety SOPs were followed to avoid any mishappening. Hence HSSE at its “BEST”

2.Working in live site – We ensure zero disturbance to neighbours to keep the harmony strong

3.There were trees around the retail façade. We did not cut trees to take the advantage of better visibility.

Design Interview

Studds Accessories Ltd Retail Space · 20 questions

We had to create a space where masses and classes could shop together. Hence creating a combined retail identity for premium brand SMK and Mass brand Studds.

What is the main principle, idea and inspiration behind your design?

We had to create a space where masses and classes could shop together. Hence creating a combined retail identity for premium brand SMK and Mass brand Studds. The main inspiration behind the design was “Solving The Problems” faced by Client, Channel Partners and Consumers and we saw all of that in our detailed research across all segments.

What has been your main focus in designing this work? Especially what did you want to achieve?

Our main focus was to arrive on the right mix and optimum balance of design language where we could make mass consumers and premium consumers comfortable under one roof. Finally leveraging on product & price point try to upsell and cross-sell for all types of consumers. This strategy resulted in driving the mind-blowing sales number for the client.

What are your future plans for this award winning design?

We will be turning this project as a case study and will be taught in various

A.Design & Fashion Institutes – Domestic and International

B.Business Schools – Domestic and International

C.Professional Induction Programs - – Domestic and International

How long did it take you to design this particular concept?

From Research to design we took 90 days.

Why did you design this particular concept? Was this design commissioned or did you decide to pursuit an inspiration?

STUDDS is an old client of D’ART. In the research paper from one of the interns of D’ART said that “why Studds sells Helmet from different Shops, Premium helmets from a different shop, Jackets etc., all biking accessories from a different shop. Why they cant open Franchisee shops where they can generate additional sales revenue by franchising the brand store as well. We pitched the same idea to our client and found that Studds was extremely excited to explore this opportunity with us.

Is your design being produced or used by another company, or do you plan to sell or lease the production rights or do you intent to produce your work yourself?

As creating the master design we help the client to

1)Create design adaptation/Drawings/Civil details etc for new store rollouts

2)We have the authority to reject the new sites and partners if we don’t see the compliance and relevance.

3)We do outsource the production by the third party

What made you design this particular type of work?

There are two sections in our design masses and classes

For Masses – In our research, we found that people buy a helmet that fits and looks the best on face + sunglasses. On average there is about 62 type of faces & we got all these dummy faces with sunglasses and used them for helmet display. Therefore the purpose got achieved when people use to walk in the store, sales guy very easily directs them to the face cut type and with digital VR gear they see themselves in almost every SKU available or not available in the store.

For Classes – Premium consumer takes pride in who they are & this is why it was very important for us to give them “luxury ego massage” we kept helmets as Jewels in elite feel rectangular lit boxes and purposely we displayed very less number of SKU’s to craft the best experience. Needless to say, keeping premium consumer hygiene status we kept helmet sanitization machines to sanitize customers exiting helmet and sanitize helmets on display after every trial.

Where there any other designs and/or designers that helped the influence the design of your work?

We are a core team of three directors Sameer, Shahnawaz and Deepak who takes the final call on design after research of product, market, consumer, price point and material Vs cost.

Who is the target customer for his design?

All-Age groups right from kids, teens, youth, middle & to the old age group of people.

What sets this design apart from other similar or resembling concepts?

As explained above there is no match to this concept as we suggested this to our client post detailed research.

How did you come up with the name for this design? What does it mean?

STUDDS is a very big name, the world's largest helmet manufacturer company. We have the name of this store as STUDDS only to pull the existing customer base and attract new with a brand historic legacy.

Which design tools did you use when you were working on this project?

The software we use are SketchUp, Revit, 3D Studio Max, Autocad, V-Ray, Photoshop, InDesign etc and the equipment is VR {virtual reality} platform that dramatically transforms design collaboration and communication experience.

What is the most unique aspect of your design?

This design gives due respect to everyone without asking how much you carry in your pocket. The experience that store delivers is of different class if even don’t want to buy a product come to this store they will connect you with a lot of biker groups and communities that in turn that leads the customer to a different world altogether.

Who did you collaborate with for this design? Did you work with people with technical / specialized skills?

We didn’t collaborate with anyone. Every single inch of this design got developed under the roof of D’ART only, even the tech part too.

What is the role of technology in this particular design?

As we are living in the era of digitalization. Connecting brick and mortar stores with digital connect points takes the experience to the next level only.

1.VR to impact brain – What happens in an accident when you wear a low-quality helmet.

2.VR to convince human brain – Zero Sales person interference – Technology with which you helmet is built with.

3.Discussion Table Cum Touch Screen table – Decreases the inventory cost and while the friend is doing his purchase the guest with him is web browsing through various product categories/Playing games/checking social media over a cup of coffee.

Is your design influenced by data or analytical research in any way? What kind of research did you conduct for making this design?

We did extensive research

1.Heat Map analysis of multi-brand stores – to identify the layout challenges

2.Consumer gesture analysis – to identify the probability of buying a product

3.Consumer Qualitative and Consumer Quantitative – Across Asian markets to drive the right conclusions to design

4.Channel partner – Focused Interview across all markets national & International.

What are some of the challenges you faced during the design/realization of your concept?

Some of the key challenges that we faced were

1.Arrive of right or optimum mix to deliver desired experience to all types of customers

2.Design implementation cost should highly be cost-effective to make it scalable with compromising on the quality and premium feel of the store.

3.Getting the phygital equation correct was an extremely difficult decision.

How did you decide to submit your design to an international design competition?

We always believe in our effort and we felt its time now to explore global competition to check where we stand in global competition.

What did you learn or how did you improve yourself during the designing of this work?

Every day is a learning process and every client and project evolve you as a better designer. This project taught us “Design Empathy “in a deeper sense.

Any other things you would like to cover that have not been covered in these questions?

"Success is not final; failure is not fatal: It is the courage to continue that counts."

D’ART is the story of three very simple friends yet highly aggressive. Sameer Khosla – Creative Director, Syed Shahnawaz Zaidi – Marketing & Retail Strategy Director & Deepak Kumar – Operations Director. Ours headquarter in New Delhi, India. Our studio consists, a bunch of crazy designers who are in the quest to creating some new yet simple. In a very short journey of four years, serving 8 countries, significant share in blue-chip clients in national & international markets. We have a vision of expanding D’ART in more than 200 countries with our global alliances by 2030.

Design Legend Interview

49 questions

With an architectural background in residential space core, we put our passion for designing as the contribution to beautifying this world to extend beyond imagination.

Could you please tell us a bit about your design background and education?

With an architectural background in residential space core, we put our passion for designing as the contribution to beautifying this world to extend beyond imagination. The shift to designing commercial retail spaces was swift and directing our energy in that space helps us to achieve ‘BIGGER’ and the most ‘COVETED’.

What motivates you to design in general, why did you become a designer?

Besides passion, we love the course of designing the thought into a reality that’s the most difficult job, we think. Imagination doesn’t have limitations but to apply the same fundamentals in the practical world, that’s the challenge we accept and thrive for.

Did you choose to become a designer, or you were forced to become one?

Definitely by choice

What do you design, what type of designs do you wish to design more of?

Our design range covers a wide space of deliverables including 10,000+ stores, schools, pubs, experiential stores, 20,000+ fuel courts, bars, restaurants, and villas. As D’Art we amalgamate Design+Manufacturing+Deployment in our multi-disciplinary design studio.

What should young designers do to become a design legend like you?

It all comes from practice and consistency. Be in the game, stay in the game, and you’ll succeed against all odds. Like we know - success takes it all, so be ready for everything coming your way and bounce back in a hard manner.

What distinguishes between a good designer and a great designer?

At D’ART the first few pointers that we follow religiously to ensure great design output:

1. Client's skin is Designer skin so that we can feel the same pain.

2. Empathy is the biggest asset” without which we can’t design anything for clients

3. Rationale between the heart and brain defines the final and correct mix of the project.

What makes a good design a really good design, how do you evaluate good design?

A good design is one that creates a benchmark, fulfills the client’s expectations. We achieve it by keeping transparency with the client as we firmly stand on our belief that a design is a co-creation process.

What is the value of good design? Why should everyone invest in good design?

We curate a design with an engineering perspective in order to drive desired (output) value. The desires are equivalent to the expectations which ultimately results in satisfaction. Also, the value of a design is simultaneously increased with the fulfillment of expectations. Investing in a good design not only creates the value for that design but also the appreciation for the brain behind it.

What would you design and who would you design for if you had the time?

At D'ART our core passion is to give a real and tangible contribution. There we would like to adopt a small village and transform that village into a better experience for all the villagers. Hence by working with sustainable materials and creating new models and materials with local resources around the place and people. We would like to set up a "Bench Mark Village" that could sustain more affectively. With the virtue of this project, we end up innovating or discovering something today our earth and people need the most.

What is the dream project you haven't yet had time to realize?

Water Park and Amusements Park

What is your secret recipe of success in design, what is your secret ingredient?

We are not into flexing (mostly) but consider our passion and dedication to be the secret ingredient behind our successful designs. We go by the pedigree, from ‘WHY’ to ‘WHERE’. Analyzing the gaps with reference to the current scenario.

Who are some other design masters and legends you get inspired from?

We believe form, shape, and colors are too narrow definitions to arrive at favorite designs. We like concepts of “Fluidic Design” by Late Zaha Hadid truly an inspirational legendary designer. What I love the most in her thought ideology is that she was “CONFLICT” any things normal is normal but what is the change, that we bring in design with our wisdom is what matters the most to us.

What are your favorite designs by other designers, why do you like them?

We believe form, shapes, and colors are too narrow definitions to arrive at favorite designs. We like concepts of “Fluidic Design” by Late Zaha Hadid truly an inspirational legendary designer. What I love the most in her thought ideology that she was “CONFLICT” any things normal is normal but what is the change, that we bring in design with our wisdom is what matters the most to us.

What is your greatest design, which aspects of that design makes you think it is great?

So Far be believe Studds is our greatest design which has made us Won A'Design Awards Project Uniqueness – As D’ART we always believe the design is a vision of the believers. We designed STUDDS to capture masses and classes under one roof. This store offers a complete phygital connect right from VR for an immersive product experience, Touch displays to maximize SKU’s and minimize inventory cost. Legendary and geometric design to ensure maximum eyeballs are captured to increase the probability of sales. Project Striking Feature in today’s context of COVID19 – Sameer always believes in keeping hygiene and sanitization in every piece that he creates. In the research, we found that people in India come to helmet stores by wearing sweaty helmets because of the climate, which may cause infection. Therefore, a new STUDDS store has a “Helmet Sanitization Machine “by the time you shop from STUDDS new stores you can keep your used helmet on the sanitization machine to ensure hygiene with a nice fragrance. Also, the fresh pieces after every trial get sanitized to keep the customer safe from COVID19 or any contagious infection.

How could people improve themselves to be better designers, what did you do?

Similar to our tagline ‘Designing the Change’, we constantly evolve ourselves with ‘Change’ as it is the key to survival. We treat every project as a new challenge posed to overcome.

If you hadn't become a designer, what would you have done?

Photographer for sure

How do you define design, what is design for you?

D’ART believes that design is an expression and the vision of all believers to allow sketching a beautiful story that is liked by brand, channel partners, and end-user. Finally, a soothing translation of the expression into the experience is the heart of design for us.

Who helped you to reach these heights, who was your biggest supporter?

"Success is not final; failure is not fatal: It is the courage to continue that counts." D’ART is the story of three very simple friends yet highly aggressive. Sameer Khosla – Creative Director, Syed Shahnawaz Zaidi – Marketing & Retail Strategy Director & Deepak Kumar – Operations Director. Ours headquarter is in New Delhi, India. Our studio consists of many designers who are in the quest to create something new yet simple. In a very short journey of four years, serving 8 countries, significant share in blue-chip clients in national & international markets. We have a vision of expanding D’ART in more than 200 countries with our global alliances by 2030.

What were the obstacles you faced before becoming a design master?

Shifting from job to business was a very risky decision.

How do you think designers should present their work?

Research and Design, Research and Prototyping, Research and Rollout, Research and Performance Audit, Research & Improvise, Research, and Final Design.

What's your next design project, what should we expect from you in future?

Our Next project is how to help humans on earth to "MIGRATE TO EV'S" to save this world where we live and our future generations flourish. Therefore, this is our major agenda now. We are creating an experience center where will have every technology that you can think of like AI, Data Science, AR, VR & much more. This will help us to deal with future customers at three stages.

A. Educate the customer - So that he or she can take "INFORMED DECISION" without any external influence.

B. Engage with Customer - Age, location, behavior, Situation, and financials, etc. define our tools and models to deal & arrive on engaging with customers to trigger, aspire & influence them towards purchase decisions.

C. Best ways in which we can capture & "CONVERT" the customer to give a "TRY MODEL”. Hence these models will help us to create larger milestones

What's your ultimate goal as a designer?

Our thirst is quenched for perfection when we bring the latter to the table for the client. And after that our goal is to design for the laid purpose to benefit the society we live in.

What people expect from an esteemed designer such as yourself?

People can expect expertise, benchmark, and award-winning designs (that are capable to drive ROI), eco-friendly design to deployment, the legacy of our influencers, and the connection to our roots.

How does design help create a better society?

A design helps in engaging and connecting to the world, navigates us through both ‘PHYSICAL’ and ‘DIGITAL’ spaces. It acts as a medium of communication to influence behavior and understand demographics. Also, the visual appeal of a design has the power to persuade the decision-making process.

What are you currently working on that you are especially excited about?

There are loads of interesting projects we are working on -

1. Live fish farming experiential farm for B2B and B2C audience

2. Pet Clinic + playground + pet feed and toy store

3. Live Digital Store - Replica of the physical store and operates digitally to drive better numbers.

4. Helping Mall to SURVIVE - Developing Future of Retail Formats in the malls - Modular stores which can change each day in the week and pay rentals for that day only. Hence the same retail shop will be operated by 3 brands simultaneously in a week.

5. And many more are in the pipeline.

Which design projects gave you the most satisfaction, why?

To work and develop a "BLIND SCHOOL" was always a "Dream Project". and contributing to the ones who need you the most always creates a feeling par everything. Therefore, this project offers everyone a great sense of satisfaction and (heartfelt) happiness.

What would you like to see changed in design industry in the coming years?

Designing something that never existed before has been our take for a long time. We work according to our three-point map -

•Invite Future customers - Needs & wants are changing every day. pandemic on top has changed our interface with this world.

•Mind Mapping Digi Tools - Perception Drivers, Influencers, Data Science, AI, AR, VR, and much more to ensure we get to drive the customer to every stage which is a pre-defined journey.

•Development of 360-degree Integrated Ecosystem where B2B and B2C have complete freedom to operate without any "PUSH" but a huge "PULL".

Where do you think the design field is headed next?

The design field is moving towards newer technologies like AI, VR, and AR at a very fast pace. We are also in the same run, as it helps us to create tens of thousands of variations and increase our productivity. Though we are capable but visual storytelling with these technologies would be an effective way to tell.

How long does it take you to finalize a design project?

Depends on projects – 24hours to 1 year or more even

When you have a new design project, where do you start?

As per the client’s needs either HO or sub-location.

What is your life motto as a designer?

All designers in today's world are emerging as "WARRIORS TO SAVE HUMANS & EARTH" and the role as a designer in society is getting much more serious and sincerer at the same time. Therefore, from a basic Covid-19 PPE Kit design or Elon Musk's reusable spaceship, everything must be translated to "SAVE NATURAL RESOURCES", "ZERO CARBON FOOTPRINT", "GREEN MATERIALS" and much more.

Do you think design sets the trends or trends set the designs?

The design of course. Extravagant designs become popular, because of their acceptance by the people. Therefore, acceptance becomes the trend but the trend-ious design is only possible when it has the power to create a change in society.

What is the role of technology when you design?

Technology plays the most important role in our design process. Though we sketch it out initially. But without the design software, it is not possible to make it a real thing. Further, technologies like AI are used in creative ways to achieve the trendsetter design.

What kind of design software and equipment do you use in your work?

The software we use are SketchUp, Revit, 3D Studio Max, AutoCAD, V-Ray, Photoshop, InDesign, etc. and the equipment is VR {virtual reality} platform that dramatically transforms design collaboration and communication experience.

What is the role of the color, materials and ambient in design?

Color is one of the visual elements that have a powerful role in any design. A good design will always feature a good color combination/contrast. And our take on materials is always ‘Green Materials’ primarily, though we use traditional materials extensively the former one is our first choice. All the visual elements amalgamated with materials create an ambiance needed for the design and hence the story is narrated in a way to feel it.

What do you wish people to ask about your design?

We appreciate people's opinions as they help us to improve and communicate in a much better way. The most important question we would like to be asked about our designs is -

Did the design intervention improve "HUMAN LIFE ON EARTH" or not?

When you see a new great design or product what comes into your mind?

WOW, how they thought about this idea.

Who is your ideal design partner? Do you believe in co-design?

All the Directors of D’Art - Syed Shahnawaz Zaidi (Global Director Marketing), Sameer Khosla (Global Director Design), Deepak Kumar (Global Director Operations) play their part while we are finalizing any of our designs. Great teamwork is another key to thriving in the industry and we all back each other in times. Yes, of course, we believe in co-design and we welcome great opportunities.

Which people you interacted had the most influence on your design?

Researchers Insights and End Users

Which books you read had the most effect on your design?

We don’t read as much, More of Ted talk shows, AV of real project case studies, etc.

How did you develop your skills as a master designer?

Through the practice of years has enabled our skills to get polished. Also, the new challenges posed help us to nurture our expertise even more. Industrial competition is the third key we always make our designs stand out.

Irrelative of time and space, who you would want to meet, talk and discuss with?

God, Family, Friends and Me time

How do you feel about all the awards and recognition you had, is it hard to be famous?

We are truly humbled and honored on receiving the A' Design Award which is World’s largest, most prestigious, and influential design accolade. After god & family blessings, we thank our clients and people who work for D’ART because of whom we have reached here on a short journey of 4 years. As a retail design agency, you always cherish winning such a global award. "Make In India" and "Making India Proud" is a different feeling altogether. Keep tuned for some thrilling future projects in the pipeline to witness the next level “CHANGE”

What is your favorite color, place, food, season, thing and brand?

White color, India, all types of food as long as the taste is amazing, winters is what we like the most, the brand I like is Apple.

Please tell us a little memoir, a funny thing you had experienced as a designer?

In our struggling day's people don’t pay us and we end up creating a free portfolio. This is funny and painful too.

What makes your day great as a designer, how do you motivate yourself?

New Challenging work motivates us as a company.

When you were a little child, was it obvious that you would become a great designer?

Not really, I need to check this from my parents.

What do you think about future; what do you see will happen in thousand years from now?

Alvin Toffler said the world will witness the last wave before the end “THE THIRD WAVE” – “IDEA WAVE”.

1. We all are in this stage design idea comes like a bubble, makes money, and bursts. Future designs will be.

2.Phygital – Right Mix of Online and Offline

3.Design Adaptability – Space/Climate/People/Culture

4. Multi-Utility – One utility will be a dead design

5.Flexible & Scalable – Diverse yet cost-friendly

6.The notion of tech in it will be built-in.

7.The design will try to build all 5 senses in every piece of product.

Please tell us anything you wish your fans to know about you, your design and anything else?

Our second consecutive A’Design Award win has made our follower base stronger. Catching the eyes and feelings at the same time is an emotion par anything. Though we vision many great opportunities in the future, we still want the people to know our journey to the top, and that’s the course.

Designer Interview

40 questions

I am a designer by choice with an amazing amount of passion which gives a serious contribution to the practical beauty of this world.

Could you please tell us more about your art and design background? What made you become an artist/designer? Have you always wanted to be a designer?

I am a designer by choice with an amazing amount of passion which gives a serious contribution to the practical beauty of this world. I started my career with an architectural background which was more into residential space. Soon I realized my core of interest lies in designing commercial retail space and that triggered all my energy and focus in the right direction to achieve the bigger objective in life.

Can you tell us more about your company / design studio?

"Success is not final; failure is not fatal: It is the courage to continue that counts."

D’ART is a story of three very simple yet highly aggressive friends, Sameer Khosla – Creative Director, Syed Shahnawaz Zaidi – Marketing & Retail Strategy Director & Deepak Kumar – Operations Director, who started the journey four years back and Currently serving 8 countries, a significant share in blue-chip clients in national & international markets. Our global headquarter is based in New Delhi the capital city of India. All our studios consist of a bunch of crazy designers who are always in the quest of creating something new yet simple masterpiece. We have a vision of expanding D’ART in more than 200 countries with our global alliances by 2030.

What is "design" for you?

We believe that design is an expression and the vision of all believers to allow sketching a beautiful story that is liked by brand, channel partners and end-user. Finally, a soothing translation of the expression into the experience is the heart of design for us.

What kinds of works do you like designing most?

Right from 8-inch product display to 10,000 Stores/ Restaurants / Schools / Villas / Bar / Pubs / Exhibitions and much more in one year. Yes, we enjoy multi-disciplinary design projects. We have tremendous expertise to deliver Design + Manufacturing + Deployment.

What is your most favorite design, could you please tell more about it?

We believe form, shape and colors are too narrow definitions to arrive on favorite design. We like concepts of “Fluidic Design” by Late Zaha Hadid truly an inspirational legendary designer. What I love the most in her thought ideology that she was “CONFLICT” any things normal is normal but what is the change, that we bring in design with our wisdom is what matters the most to us.

What was the first thing you designed for a company?

Our first project was to design the retail identity of Indian Phillipe Morris - A legendary brand “MARLBORO”. After the Switzerland team of Marlboro, we were the only agency globally who had designed every single inch of Marlboro.

What is your favorite material / platform / technology?

We like to play more with the fusion of various materials. Our first preference is always green materials as a responsible design studio we owe a lot from this environment and it’s our turn to give it back. Hence most of our designs are metal, fabric media etc. D’ART believes any platform or technology becomes affordable only if you can drive volumes. Therefore as D’ART, we are very lucky that we are blessed with clients who have volumes in abundance.

When do you feel the most creative?

Most of the times the way most of the design agencies get the brief from clients is not a justified document. When we get a detailed brief from the client that rejuvenates our excitement for work and yes that is the time where we feel ourselves most creative.

Which aspects of a design do you focus more during designing?

The first few questions that we ask and that turns out as our design research before that we don’t initiate any design project within our design studio.

Q1 – Why are we designing this?

Q2 – What is the purpose or objective of this design?

Q3 – The purpose or objective of design is built for which kind of end-user?

Q4- Where are the present gaps and how our designers can fix it?

What kind of emotions do you feel when you design?

As D’ART the first few feel that we take is as follows

1. Client skin is my skin so that I can feel the same pain.

2.“Empathy is the biggest asset feel” without which we can’t design anything for clients

3.Rational between the heart and brain defines the final and correct feel of the project.

What kind of emotions do you feel when your designs are realized?

We are never in the race of creating the WOW designs. The only intent that we work with is to solve the problem of the client in the most simplistic way possible.

What makes a design successful?

A design is engineering to drive the desired output. We always check this equation (Drive “X” output) again and again in our design projects. Therefore mostly we find the success rate of our design projects climbing up.

When judging a design as good or bad, which aspects do you consider first?

D’ART always believes that the design is a co-creation process. We never keep our clients out of that process of designing. Therefore at every single macro and micro stage, both client and us judge the project together to ensure that the final result becomes “Turning dreams into reality”

From your point of view, what are the responsibilities of a designer for society and environment?

We owe a lot from this environment which is already disturbed and polluted. We as a design studio is highly fortunate to sit on the position where what we design becomes a mandate of production on a massive scale. Hence at D’ART ensure to maximum play with green material and also ensure the process that consumes less energy and creates maximum output. This is how we try to contribute to the environment.

How do you think the "design field" is evolving? What is the future of design?

As Alvin Toffler said the world will witness the last wave before the end “THE THIRD WAVE” – “IDEA WAVE”. We all are in this stage design idea comes like a bubble, makes money and burst. Future designs will be.

1.Phygital – Right Mix of Online and Offline

2.Design Adaptability – Space/Climate/People/Culture

3.Multi- Utility – One utility will be a dead design

4.Flexible & Scalable – Diverse yet cost-friendly

5.The notion of tech in it will be built-in.

6.The design will try to build all 5 senses in every piece of product.

When was your last exhibition and where was it? And when do you want to hold your next exhibition?

Auto Expo – Automobile Biggest Show In India – Client UM Global. We are looking forward to doing an exhibition in the UAE market soon.

Where does the design inspiration for your works come from? How do you feed your creativity? What are your sources of inspirations?

Design inspiration comes from brand ideology and market research on consumer taste. More brief and diverse exposure to national and international clients portfolio feeds creativity in us. TED talk shows are the true inspiration for us.

How would you describe your design style? What made you explore more this style and what are the main characteristics of your style? What's your approach to design?

Our style is “Less is More”. The more we have tried to keep things simple and functional have majorly resulted in a win-win situation, which truly drives & justifies the common objective of all related stake owners of the project.

Where do you live? Do you feel the cultural heritage of your country affects your designs? What are the pros and cons during designing as a result of living in your country?

We live in New Delhi, India. India is extremely rich in its cultural heritage that allows us to weave a few patches where ever possible in our design projects. There are practically not many pros and cons because of the age and era that we are living in is the same – The Digital Age, the challenges for every individual is almost the same.

How do you work with companies?

Master Retail Agency – 1 to 4 years contractual basis.

What are your suggestions to companies for working with a designer? How can companies select a good designer?

The designer needs to have empathy and if one has empathy then soon after the client brief the reaction from his or her side will define whether you proceed further or not.

Can you talk a little about your design process?

Research And Design, Research and Prototyping, Research and Rollout, Research and Performance Audit, Research & Improvise, Research and Final Design.

What are 5 of your favorite design items at home?

Laptop, Phone, Gaming Room, Vertical garden, Kitchen

Can you describe a day in your life?

My day consists of 14 to 16 hours of working, catching up flights almost every alternate day. It so happens that I meet my kids after week. Life is super busy but regrets “I love my work because the design is my passion”

Could you please share some pearls of wisdom for young designers? What are your suggestions to young, up and coming designers?

The world has changed so fast in the last 5 to 10 years. Whatever we learned in the past does not apply today. Try to unlearn and try forecast & somewhere in the middle of both lies the real answer.

From your perspective, what would you say are some positives and negatives of being a designer?

The clients look at you with a very narrow perspective of design only. The only way out is to show yourself as 360 service provider to gain that respect, trust, faith for your self.

What is your "golden rule" in design?

Don’t try to design, try to understand the problem and help to solve it.

What skills are most important for a designer?

Empathy with your client

Which tools do you use during design? What is inside your toolbox? Such as software, application, hardware, books, sources of inspiration etc.?

The software we use are SketchUp, Revit, 3D Studio Max, Autocad, V-Ray, Photoshop, InDesign etc and the equipment is VR {virtual reality} platform that dramatically transforms design collaboration and communication experience

Designing can sometimes be a really time consuming task, how do you manage your time?

Blesses with an excellent design team, yes the fun of working is in only real tight deadlines.

How long does it take to design an object from beginning to end?

It depends on projects – 24hours to 1 year or more even.

What is the most frequently asked question to you, as a designer?

How can you make us look different, unique & attractive in the market

What was your most important job experience?

Designing the school for blind people.

Who are some of your clients?

Adidas, Exxon Mobil, Marlboro, BlueStar, Hitachi, Cargill, Castrol, Studds, Mithashi, TVS, Singer, Godrej, Shell, Polaris, Red Chief and many more

What type of design work do you enjoy the most and why?

B2C format where we get to study consumer behavior and that becomes the most entertaining part of the project. Design for humans and drive their behavior to do something, that is very interesting to watch.

What are your future plans? What is next for you?

In a very short journey of four years, serving 8 countries, significant share in blue-chip clients in national & international markets. We have a vision of expanding D’ART in more than 200 countries with our global alliances by 2030.

Do you work as a team, or do you develop your designs yourself?

Definitely as a team.

Do you have any works-in-progress being designed that you would like to talk about?

House Of Red Chief is the upcoming project that will change the way people look at footwear and apparel retail stores.

How can people contact you?

Email at info@dartdesign.in or call on +91 9818817555

Any other things you would like to cover that have not been covered in these questions?

Our View on Market looking at COVID19

We have crossed the threshold of 2020 with the euphoria of strength & have all the necessary resources to deal with these crises. We are blessed to be with the industry which has weapons to combat COVID19. Innovation, diverse adaptable yet digitally integrated teams. The burning need of the hour is to change this notion of negative perspective towards this situation. This is an era to evolve, expand, resize finance, deep thinking on planning. Lastly, people who don’t agree with us “At times Taking a Step Back is as Necessary as Moving Forward”

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