Case study : Idiom - Translating ideas into design solutions

Idiom Design & Consulting Ltd started in April 2005 when two distinct design firms - Esign (estd. 1997) and Tessaract Design (estd. 1985) - merged to form a common identity called Idiom. Today the company is India’s leading and the largest business design solutions provider.

The company is growing at a rate of 25 per cent approximately. The design services that Idiom offers are business & brand design, brand communication & corporate identity, retail & mall concept design and implementation, architecture & interior design, signage & environmental graphic, and product & packaging design. The company’s customers include Future Group, Titan Industries, Aditya Birla Group, Cisco, Godrej, Royal Orchid Hotels, Commonwealth Games Delhi 2010 Committee and a host of others. Idiom’s future plans include extending operations outside India starting with Sri Lanka and Europe.

Case Study

Bangalore-based Industree Crafts along with Future Group launched Mother Earth, a store which houses apparel, organic food and home furnishings that are environmentally and socially sustainable. 

 Solutions provided

The exterior of the store was clad in red marante, a sustainable, renewable timber, and large glass panels.  The overall mood for the store was to have a space which is earthy yet colourful, traditional yet contemporary, and responsible yet light. The interiors take on a colour palette of mud, gold, brass and copper. While the shell of the store gives a neutral background, the products and communication posters of the brand add colour and life to the space. The fixtures have been made of raw MDF and finished with wax and linseed oil.

Communication has been used widely in the store through visual stories to make a product come alive. The store has a wall with the touch-and-feel boards dedicated to educate shoppers on crafts like Kalamkari, Ikat, Appliqué, Leather puppetry and pottery.

At the entrance, a wall has been dedicated to showcase Mother Earth’s partners, which the brand has joined hands with to encourage traditional crafts.

The store gets ample natural light from the glass panels of the store front and windows on the other walls. Openable windows also facilitate cross ventilation inside the outlet to aerate the space without the requirement of the air conditioners, except in the summers.

Benefit

A new ideology in retail, Mother Earth is definitely a unique space where customers can avail interesting products at reasonable prices, thereby encouraging rural artisans and also taking a step towards sustainable lifestyle.

“We wanted a contemporary looking store, but emphasised on using natural materials for the store, and kept the use of synthetic material to a bare minimum. The store has received great response from customers, even though it was launched in times of recession and economic downturn. Mother Earth is successful as a concept and we have opened another store in Mumbai. We plan to open more stores in Bangalore and other cities as well.”

Neelam Chibber, Managing Director, Mother Earth

“The retail experience design of Mother Earth is based on the brand’s core values of being natural, fair, sustainable and sensible. With the glass panels and windows, the store uses less energy in term of light and even air conditioning. With this even the energy costs have been reduced.”

Jacob Mathew, Founder Director & Principal Designer (Experience Design), Idiom Design