The core factor that connects the designer to their creations lies in the creator’s ability to bring out its finest virtue. That “art is everywhere” may be a cliche, but setting a narrative and concept in stone resides completely in its process. Pursuing the resource, moulding it, and transforming it into a striking design, are all at the product designer’s behest.
Some product designers use unique materials and resources for the finest outcome of their purpose. Whether it is wooden artefacts sourced from discarded trunks, or Mother of Pearl stone incorporated in furniture, the following Mumbai-based product designers have cracked this design code. Through their distinctive creations, these brands are creating a flutter in the product design market, amongst makers and consumers alike.
SHED
Priyanka Shah, Principal Designer of SHED, is an architectural graduate of the Parsons School of Design. The brand is based in Mumbai and Surat, with ten years of handicraft expertise. For the longest time, product designers at SHED have been using wood as its primary material. Shah explains her creative ideologies with three tenets: “Open-source thinking, innovation, and community-driven ideals of material knowledge.” Ultimately, the brand aims to engineer and deliver quality products.
Idiosyncratic inventions crafted with minuscule detailing, playful iterations, and stellar handiwork make this atelier a maestro in woodwork. Iconic SHED designs range from a Game Otlas in the courtyards of Alsisar Haveli, iterations of miniature Carousels, the Paperclay Armchair, and even a gola machine exclusively for the Papa’s restaurant in Mumbai. A wooden vintage carrom board crafted by SHED makes its home at the quaint Subko cafe in Bandra.
SHED also dabbles in marble, metals, paper clay, lime, indigo, and bamboo, with the intent to adhere to natural resources. In terms of sustainable practises, Shah focuses on looking for informal solutions in raw material sourcing. This involves employing scrapped wood from commercial chains, timber from abandoned tree trunks, and preferring a human hand over a machine. As the owner of a creative studio, the product designer claims that it is her team’s palpable energy that motivates her to do better every day.
To know more about the brand, visit their Instagram page.
Studio Indigene
Tanvi Deolekar and Shubham Mestry’s atelier, Studio Indigene, is a brand that induces product design in the most sublimity. Particularising in wood and metal, these product designers turn simple materials into distinctive identities. The duo are architects by profession and have set up their brand headquarters in Mumbai for the last five years.
Studio Indigene’s design philosophy is to “focus on the design and detailing of the smallest products” Their resolve is to manufacture designs that stand the test of time and that have limitless lives. A bespoke rendition of luxury and craftsmanship is put into play at the studio. Variations of lamps like Sārava, Aavaran, Sol, Traya etc. are all intricately handcrafted from wood and metal. Everyday objects used for trivial tasks are exquisitely elevated and turned into luxurious items of functional design.
Making the karigars feel part of the process, responsibly sourcing materials, and engaging in sustainable initiatives are values upheld at Studio Indigene. Handcrafted elaborately, the designers want their creations to be held onto and passed down as heirlooms, to be prized inclusions in one’s collection. When asked for their inspirative mantra, all the duo had were five words—“the endless possibilities in design.”
To know more about the brand, visit their Instagram page.
CNC Carving & Inlays
Chandrakant Jangir, who founded CNC Carvings in Mumbai twelve years ago, believes that no two designs are ever exactly alike. A dedicated carver and product designer, Jangir focuses solely on the Mother of Pearl and other natural stones as materials for his work. The ability to carve them as per your choice, along with their one-of-a-kind patterns, makes them eligible to form exceptional creations. Inherent qualities like raw elegance, versatility, timeless appeal, and sustainability, motivate this designer to continue his design pursuits using Mother of Pearls and raw stones.
Owing to its natural iridescence, organic structure, and lustrous shine, each product made from Mother of Pearl sets itself apart from the rest. Jangir claims that these virtues make it an accessible material for luxury homeware and high-end decor. A seven-feet luxury edition selenite dining table, door handles with inlay, table-tops, separating apparatus, door knobs, entrance lobbies in Mother of Pearl tile, etc are some popular products made by CNC. Along with making each creation stand out, the product designer ensures that his designs retain their beauty over time—highlighting the immortality of this precious material.
To know more about the brand, visit their Instagram page.
Buff Project
Product design was not the initial career trajectory for this designer. Kalpesh Solanki, the founder of Buff Project, unexpectedly wound up with wire mesh, which in turn paved the way for his ingress in this field. The brand operates in Mumbai, with a technical expertise of nine years. Buff Project’s USP, wire mesh curtains, offers a variety of designs.
His philosophy is simple: injecting creativity into an industrial environment. Pivoting around utilitarian elements, Solanki identifies practicality and artistic expression to manufacture compelling crafts. After completing the first prototype of wire curtains, the designer realised this was his canvas. His partial intent was to challenge using traditional fabric alone for upholstery. Solanki proved unpredictably that wire mesh can also be wielded into free-flowing curtains. This industrial invention led to a classic collection of designs, with Buff Project contributing to many luxury spaces. Crafting stainless steel mesh curtains at the JW Marriott in Juhu, a twenty-five-feet wave chandelier for the Fairfield by Marriott at the Mumbai International Airport, and installations for residences by LODHA in collaboration with architect Ashiesh Shah, Buff Project’s ingenious products have become household names in Mumbai.
While the goal is to engineer impactful craft, the firm’s belief also stands strong with sustainability. When asked how the team exercises these initiatives, Solanki simply narrates, “At Buff Project, sustainability is our North Star.”
To know more about the brand, visit their Instagram page.
Ware Innovations
A graduate of the Parsons School of Design, Yogita Agrawal Nahar, launched Ware Innovations in Mumbai in 2018. Stone-fire ceramics was the core USP of the brand’s creations. “The idea that I can look at things the way they are, imagine them better, and then actually go ahead and make them better, is what I love about product design.” This is the philosophy of Ware Innovation’s founder. This product designer’s main directive was always to create interesting pieces that can be used every day.
Expensive crockery being stacked away and not used frequently is a fate Ware Innovations refused to endure. Instead, they aimed at manufacturing stoneware dinnerware that is more robust than porcelain. High-fire stoneware ceramics were utilised to make the products completely food-safe, dishwasher and gadget-friendly. The other interesting invention was placemats procured from cork, making them stain-repellent and sound-proof. As a business focusing on dinnerware, the wholesome dynamic was to give their audiences a cosy dining experience at home.
For the last two years, the brand has taken up recycling the fired ceramics batch. Albeit the challenges of high costs and energy intensives, Ware Innovations makes fruitful attempts at incorporating and promoting sustainability.
To know more about the brand, visit their Instagram page.
Product Design in India
Much to these artists’ chagrin, mass production in the architectural realm has increased, decreasing exclusivity in bespoke decor. Their main directive is to reduce infiltration and promote ingenuity, with product designers coming forward to exhibit their unique ideologies. In a city like Mumbai, where real estate is constantly developing and homeowners are inspired to turn their personal spaces into works of art, the demand for bespoke decor and unique products has risen multifold. And these imaginative product designers have proven, with their materially intelligent and innovative craftsmanship, that good design can strike the fine balance between functionality and aesthetic appeal. Good design can become a part of our daily lives, by entering our homes and contributing to daily life.
India Design ID Mumbai 2024
Platforms like India Design ID invite emergent and aspiring product designers to tether this impending gap. India’s most definitive design week comes to Mumbai this year, cementing the relationship between product design and emerging city designers. After all, product design works best when narrowed down to its most primitive correlation—the art and its artist. At ID Mumbai, explore a wide range of contemporary product designs across our expansive pavilions, attend design talks at ID Symposium, browse through art installations, and discover the highly coveted Special Project.
ID Mumbai will take place from 27th to 29th September 2024, at Jio World Gardens, BKC.
