Design Indaba launches India special issue “Once we were Cool” guest edited by W+K Delhi

The special issue looks at celebrating India's unique contribution to creative industries worldwide.

The genesis of the India special issue occurred when Mohit Jayal and V Sunil of W+K Delhi spoke at the Design Indaba Conference in 2009; the audience was introduced to a new Indian cultural sensibility, quite apart from the usual Indian cliches of Bollywood, Kama Sutra that people usually hear about.

So Design Indaba invited the advertising duo to guest edit an edition of the magazine – the “Made In India” issue. 

Says Ravi Naidoo, founder and managing director, Interactive Africa, on the special edition, “This edition of Design Indaba magazine offered us the unique opportunity to celebrate India's cultural contribution to the creative industries worldwide."

V Sunil, Executive Creative Director, Wieden+Kennedy, Delhi, said, “I think it’s important for everyone to understand that Indian design and culture runs much deeper and is more meaningful than Bollywood, calendar art, Rajasthani colors and general kitsch.”

Mohit Jayal, Managing Director, Wieden+Kennedy, Delhi, said, “Everybody’s watching India and wondering what will happen next”. They’re asking how we will overcome huge challenges and live up to our potential. We need to remind ourselves of who we really are, and draw strength and inspiration from that.”

The launch event of Design Indaba’s ® ‘Once We Were Cool’ was partnered by Campaign India, Magique, and Dewar’s who served ‘Darjeeling Cooler’, an India inspired cocktail to guests. “Made In India”, dubbed “Once We Were Cool”, is a nostalgic, critical and hopeful look at the fine Indian traditions of yesteryear. Literally an A to Z account of Indian life, the magazine is a cover-to-cover exposé of everything from craftsmanship and cuisine to journalism, pop culture and housekeeping. From a wet sari shoot and a graphed decline in idealism, to the ultimate opulence of maharajas and the lesser- known Indian martial art of Kalari, W+K Delhi have pushed far beyond the cliché.

Featuring some of India’s foremost thinkers like Dr Vandana Shiva, Palagummi Sainath, Bharat Sikka, Amit Chaudhuri, Manish Arora and many more, this is an exclusive insider’s guide to Indian creativity and culture. Many of the features reminisce about the rich cultural heritage that has been all-but- abandoned in the name of Westernisation and so-called progress. It hints at the reasons for India’s return to glory and why the traditions that once made India cool is what’s going to help make it great again.

Coinciding with the 150th anniversary of the Indian community in South Africa, the “Made In India” edition has special relevance in South Africa and every Indian diaspora community. An edifying celebration of culture from a design perspective, the magazine is a manifestation of the power of being Indian.

Design Indaba will be available at a cover price of Rs 250 from October 2010 (10,000 copies). Distributed across points such as Media Mart, Crossword, Landmark, Oxford, Om Book Shop and leading newsstands in Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Pune, Ahmedabad, Lucknow, Goa, Chandigarh, Jaipur, Bhopal, Cochin and Indore.