Collaboration can be magical and at Direct Create we want to weave magic. All the people who appreciate and breathe art, Direct Create is a platform for them. It is everything that a hand-producer can be and more. It is a family of true art lovers that knits them together in one unit while helping them retain and expand their individuality.
In the last year, Direct Create has worked extensively on design projects for clients like Fabindia, Reliance Foundation, KGK group, Nicobar, Sujan Luxury and many more. As collaborators, we seamlessly navigate design thresholds from crafted products to large-scale projects. On the following pages, we’ll illustrate how we are able to leverage the Direct Create principle of collaboration to realize projects that cross industries and sectors – from architectural solutions to sustainable textiles and historic public spaces.
Experience the enchanting blend of Indian and Western music in 'Soundscapes: Nature in Music.' Four gifted musicians from different continents converge to create a harmonious symphony inspired by the serene beauty of natural ecosystems. Join us on this journey of healing the mind, body, and nature through the transformative power of music.
In the lush landscape of Odisha, India, the heritage village of Raghurajpur stands as a testament to the enduring legacy of traditional Indian arts. This village, more than a geographical entity, is a vibrant tapestry of cultural heritage, where every stroke of the brush and chisel speaks volumes of India's rich artistic past. Amidst this historic grandeur, DirectCreate has embarked on a transformative journey, redefining the narrative of traditional Indian art forms and empowering the local artisan community.
The Swadesh Bazaar was an immersive experience into India’s deep cultural heritage, curated and designed by Direct Create. Thematically designed around 108 Crafts of India - a sacred number with roots in ancient mysticism - were showcased to represent each and every state of India.
Commissioned by the Reliance Foundation, an Indian philanthropic initiative driving sustainable development across India, the exhibition was initiated to encourage the craftsmanship of traditional Indian artisans, with a special focus on preserving and reviving indigenous craft traditions. The exhibition not only provided livelihoods to thousands of such artisans but also gave them an opportunity to showcase their rare works from every corner of India to a global audience.
A lasting legacy of eighteenth-century India that continues to delight visitors and residents of Jaipur is the Jal Mahal on Mansagar lake. Moving away from Amber, Sawai Jai Singh founded the city of Jaipur in 1727, whereas contemporary historians date the Jal Mahal to 1734. The Mansagar Lake is strategically located to join the ancient capital of Amber with late mediaeval Jaipur as a junction between the old and the new. The lake is a pivotal point to the north that is surrounded by all that is quintessential of Rajasthan’s landscape. Low hills, forests and forts, a perfect landscape from which to enter or exit the Pink city.
Discover the fascinating intersection of artificial intelligence and traditional arts and crafts in our latest blog post!
This pandemic has created havoc and has brought disruption into many lives including the craft communities. The effect has been enormous with the changing economy, reduced spending and subsequent lockdowns. The artisans and makers are facing the brunt because tourism has come to a grinding halt and spending capacity has decreased or we should say that it has become thought driven. The handcrafted products do not come in the essential category, but given a thought, we can make it a personal choice to adapt to more sustainable ways to lead our lives. There is always a way to switch to a better alternative that is healthier, joyful and has a personal touch to it.
The Craft and Handmade Collective is an informal group of over 500 (and growing) professional individuals and organisations passionate about the craft and handmade industry in India. It includes artisans, master craftsmen, producer organisations, designers, design studios, retailers, e-commerce platforms, NGO’s, craft institutes, design schools and colleges, media, and other stakeholders.
The HFH movement is working for the resurgence of the craft and handmade sector during COVID crisis and beyond. We believe that the sector can be energised through research, education, design intervention and market stimulus. We are looking at how consumer behavior and needs will be changed due to the COVID crisis. We are motivating designers to curate and create good quality and value for money products. We are going to run a campaign to sensitise the market to the crisis facing the sector and how buying craft and handmade products serves a dual purpose. Making craft a subject in education will enable the millenials and future generations to have an appreciation for craft. With this thought process, Hand for Handmade is proceeding with working groups around Education, Design Intervention, Market Campaigns and Repository.
Direct Create aligns with PM Modi's Aatmanirbhar Bharat vision and launches Shilp se Swavalamban campaign.
With our custom built technology we not only just allow buyers to purchase products on our platform but also collaborate, co-create and customize any craft or project with us.
This is a step by step guide on how you can collaborate with DirectCreate with not just our one vertical but 4 different vertcals (Crafts, Discover, Shop, Projects). In short, we give you a smooth and trouble-free experience on ways to collaborate with best makers and designers of India for handcrafted products or projects in 4 different ways. So let us take you through all these verticals one by one and help you kick-start your collaboration journey with us.
There is also a visual exaplaination on how to collaborate with DirectCreate for your assistance.
NEW DELHI (AP) — “Sanjhi,” the ancient Indian art of paper-cutting using nature-inspired motifs, is how Ram Soni puts food on the table. It’s also a carefully preserved skill passed down through generations in his family.
Using special scissors given to him by his parents, who taught him the craft at an early age, he patiently carves out intricate pieces from folded paper to create complex stencils that stand out against contrasting coloured paper.
The last two decades saw the emergence of two-sided economic models championed by successful startups like Uber, Airbnb and Canva. They also heralded the gig economy, a new Digitally active avatar to its predecessor. Maturing the two-sided economic model has enabled the flattening of the buyer-seller ecosystems, upending the consumer-facing business cycles. We have built DirectCreate as a starter case for the next wave of the three-sided business cycle - the cycle that integrates all three segments of our physical world and encapsulates everything and everyone.
Feeling lost? Puzzled with budget and provisions? Here we'll guide you on how to collaborate with DirectCreate and make trailblazing progress in getting the right products for your business from the craft community all over India.
We at DirectCreate serve a platform to connect local makers and artisans with global designers and buyers so keep following up as we will lead you to ways in which you can select and make the best of purchases.
Fill up your details and select the I am a BUYER option at the very start of signing up (there are other 2 options for the roles of DESIGNERS and MAKERS too which you can select all together accordingly) with the Correct mobile number & Email ID as our team will contact you very soon after the completion of the joining process.
Now the real work would be visible on your dashboard for you to keep track of.
A gallery of various crafts available across the nation is available for you to explore and choose the type of art you're looking for. Click on CRAFT DETAILS leading to the detailed description about the art origins and everything of relevance. After happening to go forward with the craft, click on COLLABORATE after which you'll be needed to fill in more details about your service or company name, colour, JPEG, PNG or PDF of a particular design or pattern, further requirements, order quantity, order value and lead time of your choice. Once you're done, send the request after which our team will be getting in touch with you on the provided phone number.
You can make your choices on the basis of makers and designers by viewing their profile, area of work and offerings for collaboration. Choose from a pool of talented creators - DESIGNER or MAKER. Make further choices from the craftwork practised by them and collaborate with the order related details similar to the way mentioned earlier.
A gallery of products' collections with different crafts is available for the customers' choice. These can be ordered either directly or with the customisation of your choice. Click on the BUY button which will lead to the dashboard giving you the choice of usual online buying options.
START A PROJECT option helps you to customize the product your way. The buying process forward is similar to the earlier.
May it be a special occasion, festivity or a renovation of your workspace or home, you name it!
Work with the already available crafts, artisans or a completely fresh collaboration creating different mixes of crafts of products... Share your ideas the best, we'll do the mechanics while you rest!
Located on the South Gola scope of the Himalayas, the Chestnut House was a Sanskrit researchers work of adoration for his Polish spouse. In 1933, when his significant other was achy to visit the family for the colder atmospheres of her local nation, in a ploy to extinguish this yearning, he constructed her a house in Uttarakhand, thick timberlands.
A long time later, the 80-year old house was changed over to what is today by Direct Create team as the Jilling Terraces – a wonderful resort settled between Nanda Devi and its encompassing pinnacles.
Covered up inside thick Himalayan backwoods, the 45 acre of land Jilling Terraces is only reachable by a 2km climb from Matial Village in Uttarakhand.
Chestnut House, one of the stone cabins at Jilling, looks out from behind the fog and trees. Overwhelming with sentimental idea, the bungalow and the rooms of the Chestnut house have names and stylistic layout mixed with motivation taken from Himalayan widely varied vegetation. The property is true to sustainability and ecological tourism with furniture, decor, furnishings, utility and wellness products have all been produced by local communities or artisans from India.
We exhibited at the MDW 2019 on the theme "Craftsmanship in the Digital Age" to showcase the impact of traditional craftsmanship on modern design. The possibilities of combining time-honoured crafts with futuristic ideas are only limited by the imagination of the creator. Direct Create bridges the gap between tradition and innovation to define a new collaborative future for sustainable artisanal crafts.
Through the installation, works of the Indian artisanal and creative community reached the international audience and business players. Through the week, we engaged in dialogue with the creative community that attends the Milan Design Week and Salone del Mobile.
Sustaining Art by Yeshi Seli for Business India
Imagine a cluster of textile weavers in Maheshwar or stone carvers in Agra. These artisans come highly skilled in their craft and can produce a perfect product with their hands. There are hundreds of similar artisans all over India. However, the buyer response is not uniform – many times, the response is not even excitable. Have you ever wondered why?
Watch Sheela Lunkad, co-founder of Direct Create talk about “Scaling up Creativity with Technology” with Sanmitra Chitte, World University of Design. She talks about how Technology can be used to connect the vast creative communities to the worldwide ocean of opportunities. She also talks about working towards a digital handmade future where a platform like Direct Create can seamlessly undertake new design thinking, business processes and innovation to the Crafts sector.
For the Instagram Live Session connect with @designstrategistwud and @directcreate
300-year-old monument rejuvenated. 310 acres of lake and wildlife habitat restored.
150,000 lives in the community impacted. The magical revival of the Jal Mahal monument, an 18th-century floating pleasure palace of royalty, and its surroundings, transformed the historic building from a crumbling environmental disaster and toxic wasteland into the shining glory of Jaipur.
The project envisioned a 100-acre mixed-use tourism infrastructure that could restore ruins and serve as a green leisure destination. The commissioners called in the founders of Direct Create to give the palace, once deemed to have “no real historical value” and “ruined beyond redemption,” new life. To bring the Jal Mahal back to its former glory, the team collaborated with more than 400 craftsmen and artists from across Rajasthan. They recruited experts from around the world and harnessed the skills of local craftsmen and masons for the extensive overhaul – structures were restored; artists painted frescoes and murals throughout; flora revived; pavilions showcase the best of Jaipur's traditional decorative arts. Today, the Jal Mahal has become a landmark of Jaipur and is a glowing showcase of the vibrancy of India’s craft skills and living traditions.
Located at the heart of Jaipur’s emerging commercial district in the Rajasthan region, Lehariya is a finely-crafted business destination that integrates traditional values with the modern-day enterprise. Famous for its flowing patterns inspired by waves or ‘lehar,’ ‘lehariya’ is a tie-dyeing craft technique native to Rajasthan.
The Tie & Die craft is the inspiration for Lehariya’s facade, as well as the root of its name. The pattern, derived from the Lehariya turbans worn by Rajput nobles, flows across all four towers, covering them like a second-skin. This facade is not only aesthetically pleasing but has a functional benefit as well: by absorbing and deflecting much of the direct sunlight, it keeps the towers cool.
The Crafts Council of India was once told that the crafts sector was, in fact, a 'sunset sector', that it was a shame that had no place in modern society or the future. Had the CCI given up then and showed no faith in the intrinsically beautiful Indian crafts, we might not have had an industry that not only exemplifies Indian culture and heritage but also contributes very well to the development through livelihood creation, empowering women and marginal communities, reducing India's carbon footprint, promoting peace and security and articulating cultural identity in the age of globalization.
Creating Impact for Livelihoods through Weddings and Cultural Events
When an Indian business family wanted to push the envelope of the grand Indian wedding by making it sustainable, creative and impactful, it appointed Direct Create to envision the occasion.
The Direct Create team managed the INR 220 crore worth business of the Home and Lifestyle SBU at Fabindia during 2017-18. The business had 12 Home and Lifestyle categories such as Furniture, Tableware, Linen, Rugs and Dhurries and more.
Designing and merchandising of over 5,000 new products to infuse exciting and inspirational products and categorisation of all product ranges into a system which could bring uniformity across communications: Efficiency, Texture, Sustainable, Power and Luxury. Fabindia is India's largest retail private platform for products that are made from traditional techniques, skills and hand-based processes.
Tholu Bommalata is a tradition from Andhra Pradesh, of shadow puppetry dating back to 12th century. In Telugu, tholu is leather and bommalata means ‘dance of the dolls’. These leather puppets are large in their make and made from translucent goatskin. The distinctive details are painted in bright colours, and perforations are later added to these striking puppets.
The craft was part of Andhra’s cultural heritage, as leather puppetry united the arts of painting and sculpture, with theatre. It also called for seasoned and deft hands for manipulating puppets, and puppet-making.
Gleaming through the screen in night-long performances, they are used to narrate stories from epics like Ramayana and Mahabharata. Animals, birds, gods, and demons dominate the screen. A fine white cloth measuring 12x9 ft lit from the back with a bulb or oil lamp arranged so that the size, position, and angle of the puppets change with the distance of the light, functions as a screen. Both sides of the puppet are painted by us to enhance the projection of the figure. The puppet is then inserted in between two bamboo splits for stiffness, and movement. They can range from 3 to 6 ft in size.
Harela...the greens ..a word I heard for the first time in the hills.Its a festival dear to the Kumaoni, possibly the most popular only after Diwali. It is their way of paying obeisance to mother earth. Harela this year fell on the 7th of July heralding the onset of the monsoons.
Write an article covering the story of the craft, the maker communities involved in the entire crafting process and the innovative practices that keep the craft alive. You can cover this in about 500 words, although we would not mind publishing more elaborate articles. Share a creative and concise title for the same. Don't forget to add a few great pictures
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