In India, we've always had a deep connection with the things we use. We have a culture of reducing, re-using and recycling that has influenced generations. This project is an attempt to create an awareness of the amount of waste the textile industry generates.
The project is in collaboration with Swachha, a Bangalore based NGO that has been working hand-in-hand with the Government and local communities to manage, reduce and recycle waste at different levels.
Collected shreds of cloth
Images from K.R. Puram, Bangalore; Wholesale Market, from where the fabric excess was procured
I have created yardage from fabric excess generated from industrial centres and donated apparel from households.
The yardage has been created using the practice of making 'kavan' that is native to Maharashtra and Goa.
Process of creating a Kavan
Making a 'kavan' involves converting the excess cloth into geometric shapes and them stitching them to give unique designs. Individual geometric panels are strung together to give the final piece.
Creating yardage as an interactive intervention, I wanted to attract and motivate people to incorporate sustainable practices and help them to identify how to take action.
Further, functional yardage qualifies as the best medium for it gives the audience the choice to customize!
In developing a brand for the Kavan, promoting it as Swachha’s initiative towards their vision of creating a sustainable environment made a lot of sense. With this thought, “Anantar” as a concept came to mind. It literally means continuous, to go beyond the end point. The concept best expresses the basic nature of the product that has been created. The yardage is essentially using cloth/clothes that have reached their ‘intended’ use. At the end, it is an upcycled product.
Few chosen iterations and fine tuning of Logotype
The chosen logotype emulates the fluid and organic form of the cloth. The uneven edges are similar to the ends of a cut up fabric. The logotype is an embodiment of the personal experience had while experimenting with the tactile medium.
Further, Maroon has been chosen as the primary colour. It has a close resemblance to red-brown, which is associated with the colour of mother earth. Also, red-brown is usually obtained from clay and is therefore associated with healing. The aspects of healing (upcycling the fabric for reuse) and being close to mother earth are in sync with what the product stands for.
The secondary colours have been chosen to achieve a Triadic colour scheme. This scheme uses colours that are evenly spaced around the colour wheel. Triadic colour harmonies have a tendency to be vibrant where one colour dominates and other two accentuate. In this case, Maroon is the dominating colour.
With the product, I also made an interactive stop-motion film to establish validation, with respect to hygiene and resources involved. The running title of the film is “It’s not waste until its wasted”.
The film is linked, and is complementary to the developed brand.
