Moderated by Milan Chokshi, Convener – promotions & marketing, GJEPC, the session was held in conversation with Dipendra Baoni, Founder and Managing Director of Lemon Design, which is an integrated design studio known for its primary focus on design thinking and methods to create holistic systems and designs.
The session began with an interesting speculation by Dipendra Baoni, where he stressed on the need for an introspection. In light of the current crisis and the impact it has made on the lives of the people, Baoni believed it to be a great time and opportunity for people to rethink their ways of life and living. “We’ve always looked outwards, looked at materialism, growth, have looked at the tangible physical spaces around us. We have just seen what we get out of it, not what has gone into making it”, he said.
According to him, the monotone or the monologue of urbanization and globalization has become extremely human-centered and in turn creates a huge divide between everything that exists in the world. “Everyone wants to sell to everybody else. This overall way of looking at one pattern of growth or a pattern of value has a fundamental problem”, he added.
Indulging deeper into the conversation, Baoni introduced his viewers to ways in which designers and jewellers can make a more holistic difference in the world and can build a sustainable lifestyle.
He suggested that he believed in the idea of reviving the communities that are around us. As a jeweller, he said that the tradition of hand-made products in India is long forgotten. That they got too involved in the race of mass production. “This is the time when we can dig into our roots, family traditions and do what we really did best”, he added.
Baoni said that he sincerely takes pride in the designs created by the local artisans, which the jewellers and designers often neglect, calling them the rural economy. According to him, sixty to seventy percent of the population in India, who are poor, comprise of either farmers or artisans. They have been marginalized and have not been appreciated enough.
In order to encourage the artisans and give them a sense of motivation, Baoni believes there should be no hierarchy and the structure of discussions to create a design should be equal. “The problem is we are in a hurry. Immediate gratification. Growth is mapped through time and we don’t understand the consequences of that time. The quality of the product gets better, if we slow down a bit,” he added.
Finally, Dipendra Baoni suggested that the designers and jewellers must try and incorporate traditions with technology. According to him, one should be able to simplify one’s personal as well as business life, but also be able to use the available technology to be more efficient.
