Event Organization, Branding, Graphics
Walking hand in hand
The Story
CDS Art Foundation based in Ahmedabad, India founded by master artisan Asif Shaikh and craft-preservation veteran Villoo Mirza, recently welcomed HH Radhikaraje Gaekwad to their board. Garnering global attention, the Foundation has set up a school for the next generation of weavers in Varanasi, hosted traveling textile art shows and the ‘Festival of Indian Textiles’ (FIT Ahmedabad).
Pioneers in the crafts fashion show space, the Foundation partners innovative designers with master artisans to create couture collections for the show celebrating the finest of dyeing, weaving, embroidery and tailoring, with a special emphasis on India.
Every year the show and thus each collaborative collection is rooted in a core concept. The design and organization of the event is shaped around it, attracting patrons of the arts to unite and support artisans, improving their visibility.
Over the years we have worked closely together, a cause close to my heart – the conservation and celebration of Indian textile arts and crafts. Since inception I have worked with them to design all their branding, digital and print collaterals; as well as joining their core team to organize their annual fashion show – ‘Walking Hand In Hand’ (WHIH).
Highlighting a few memorable shows and themes
Iii walking hand in hand
Celebrating embroidery and the organization’s third year successfully supporting artisans by incorporating the humble embroidery hoop into the branding.
Highlight the detail of the wood by keeping the color scheme as black and white and transparent as the foundation ethos.
IV walking hand in hand
Drawing on India’s long and tumultuous history with indigo. A crop once fraught with politics and colonial influence, the art of natural dyeing is fighting to stay alive aided by conservation efforts.
Affected largely in recent years by climate change, indigo related hand-crafted products have been dwindling. This year’s theme was to invite master artisans new and veterans of indigo usage to dye, paint and create with the pigment in collaboration with designers.
The branding payed homage to a 300 year old hand painted indigo dome in Ahmedabad which reflects its craft legacy. A supporting coffee table book was designed to document the show and its collections.
Debuting Walking Hand in Hand’s new interlocking monogram
vi walking hand in hand
Creating a logo for all subsequent editions of the show, customized in the theme colors for the sixth edition of the show.
festival of Indian textiles
Developing the identity for CDS Art Foundation’s new venture in the textile space, launching a week long festival of talks, shows, live artisan demonstrations and exhibitions. The Festival of Indian Textiles (FIT) was launched as a larger effort to attract patrons from across the world, Walking Hand In Hand being the marquee event.
With guests from over thirty countries visiting the city, the festival’s identity echoed the theme of the fashion show, while still being clean and geometric in nature.
Impact
Every WHIH artisan has closed their collection, walking the ramp hand in hand with the designer, keeping the process transparent as it should be. Over the past 6 years, the shows have given rise to over 60 such collaborations, creating a trend in the country. The ripple effect has given work to hundreds of artisans.