We had the distinct pleasure to interview award winning designer D'ART PVT LTD about their original and creative Global Retail Identity design work. D'ART PVT LTD is an award-winning architectural designer, that makes our world a better place with their original global retail identity works.
D'ART PVT LTD ("DPL") answered Design Interview ("DI") questions about their award-winning work Red Chief Global Retail Identity. Interview questions prepared by Frank Scott.
DPL : 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”
DPL : 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”
DPL : 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”
DPL : 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.
DPL : 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.
DPL : 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.
DPL : 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.
DPL : 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
DPL : 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.
DPL : 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.
DPL : 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.
DPL : 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.
DPL : THE ABILITY OF DESIGN TO DEVELOP A CONFLICT BETWEEN TRENDY AND DIFFERENT.
DPL : 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.
DPL : 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.
DPL : 1-month research work was conducted to analyze the clear intervention areas and strategy behind such interventions as explained above-mentioned answers.
DPL : 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.
DPL : 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
DPL : 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.
DPL : 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.
