Diversify sectors to survive economic cycles

Ashwini is the co-founder of Elephant Design, India’s largest independent integrated design consultancy with offices in India & Singapore. On this episode, we talk about Ashwini’s journey as a designer, how and why she started Elephant Design with her friends. She also shares with us the thought and process behind some key projects created by the studio. We discuss the unique challenges of being a design entrepreneur in India and about sustaining India’s oldest and largest multi-disciplinary design company against all the odds. SECTIONS - TIME INDEX Childhood and Early influences - 00:02:00 Design Education at NID - 00:09:00 Founding Elephant Design - 00:15:40 Projects : 1. Paper Boat - 00:52:00 2. Tata Salt - 01:13:30 3. Organic India - 01:24:45 4. Epigamia - 01:38:00 Studio culture that scales - 01:49:00 Discussion on Design Awards - 01:55:00 RELEVANT LINKS Elephant Design - www.elephantdesign.com Elephant Design Wikipedia Page - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elephant_Design Aurangabad, Maharashtra - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aurangabad NID - www.nid.edu IDC -www.idc.iitb.ac.in DIA Studio - www.dia.tv IIM, Ahmedabad - iima.ac.in Nehru Centre - www.nehru-centre.org Deutsche Mark - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deutsche_Mark German Unification - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_reunification Lakh - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lakh Pune - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pune Make in India - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Make_in_India Brand New Conference - bnconf.com Forest Young - twitter.com/ten_ten Uber Rebranding by Wolf Ollins - www.wolffolins.com/case-study/uber PANTONE - pantone.com LLP - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Limited_liability_partnership Sole proprietorship - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sole_proprietorship Confidentiality Agreement - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-disclosure_agreement Bookkeeping - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bookkeeping Paper Boat Drinks - http://www.paperboatdrinks.com Paper Boat Branding - www.elephantdesign.com/packaging-paperboat Aam Panna - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aam_panna Aamras - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aamras Jal Jeera - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jal-jeera Jagjit Singh, Woh Kagaz ki Kashti - www.youtube.com/watch?v=xEdAiJiwkDE Doy Pouches - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stand-up_pouch Sensory Branding - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sensory_branding Thandai - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thandai Kokum - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garcinia_indica Tata Salt - http://www.tatasalt.com Tata Salt Packaging redesign - www.elephantdesign.com/tata-salt Brand Positioning - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Positioning_(marketing) Tata Chemicals - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tata_Chemicals Brand equity - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brand_equity Thali - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thali Organic India - www.organicindia.com Organic India packaging design - www.elephantdesign.com/organic-india Tulsi - tulsi wikipedia in marathi Lucknow - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucknow Tulsi in Hinduism - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tulsi_in_Hinduism Epigamia Yogurt Brand - www.epigamia.com Epigamia packaging design - www.elephantdesign.com/epigamia Epigamia (Greek term) - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epigamia Ghee - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghee Ghee Spread - www.epigamia.com/spreads-made-from-ghee