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April's
Articles for Giftware News:
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Field Agents, India
1.
September 18, 2006
Sometimes I think of design as the spy network, in the way designers
are the field agents sent out into the cold to hear rumors, seek
influences, discover ideas, and return to the home office and
report their intelligence. As the secret agents did in the days
of the cold, we go the exotic locales where ideas are born: India,
Paris, Hong Kong, London, Los Angeles, Montreal, and Miami. We
sniff around for the newest, the latest and the most arcane. There
is no holiday spot without influence and no retail shop too small,
to not be inspected for clues.
What are good ideas, new trends? What are the rumors that are
without substance that everyone has on their lips? Which are the
designs that will flounder and fail? Which are the ones that are
the silent sleepers of the season, that will roar to life in customers—homes
across the country, that have the power to resonate with women
everywhere?
Yesterday I did some field work—the secret agent of design
that I am. This was the kind of field work that I really love.
I drove across the monsoon-washed fields of Rajasthan India. The
desert state was drenched in seasonal greens, the camels’
tan coats (guess what—they're camel colored.) worn against
the sharp green backdrop of Acacia trees. Women and girls in swirling
colorful skirts—the flash palette brought to mind the colorful
quilts of Freddy Morans. Freddy has taken the quilting world by
a storm—she is bright, brash and unconventional. I see the
mimic of her colors in the vibrant dress of the village women,
and in the extravagant turbans of the men. Color—hmm, it
is resonating—hmm, vibrant and brash. I think I feel the
rumor of a trend.
Everyone sees black and white—this field agent sees a vibrant
flush of color.
From the field(s) of Rajasthan, India,
April Cornell |
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