JANUARY 2024
DESIGN DIGEST
A TEMPORARY SPACE
Maximal Mix
Communicating with color is like speaking a universal language.
Freedom Tree on how their love for color and artistic expression shaped the Creator’s Lounge at SAF.
Silent Night. A illustration that has found its way on many textiles. Lampshades, cushions, placemats. Veneered serving trays.
CREATOR CONCEPT OF SHOW
This year the festival celebrates human linkages and of making with the hand.
“In our work, its best when we understand the context of the client…where they want to go with an idea. That insight helps us the most to get the message across and amplify what they are trying to do”, says Latika, Design Director at Freedom Tree.
A temporary VIP lounge at a rock concert arena? When given the brief, even as stated during a free-flowing meeting with the client, it is a bit of an oxymoron. When songs are written about protest against ‘the man’ we can't be kowtowing to the man. Instead, Freedom Tree thought of making the place so comfortable in that dusty arena, that guests could ease into a wondrous space with the Artistease concept. So home-like, encouraging them to abandon convention in favour of artistic expression.
We were privileged to embark on the creation of the VIP lounge as part of our collaboration with the Serendipity Arts Festival held in Goa in December 2023. Our contribution extended beyond the visual realm, as we curated a sensory experience through carefully selected scent families and colors. The exhibit, aptly named 'Scent & Sensibility,' was designed with the intent of providing a transportive sensation, ensuring a truly immersive and memorable experience for all attendees.
COOL LANDINGS IN A GOA STATE OF MIND
Crayon Print from the Artistease collection on the sofa. Singular cushions and hand-cast vases line up in modern artistry.
“Communicating with color is quite universal”, Ashka, from FT Design Service maintains. “We get a cue to different parts of our country in the distinctive color palettes we see there. Having a store in Goa and knowing that people love our coastal blues, we naturally thought of getting people in a Goa state of mind with water-colour blues”.
The overall space was an elevated platform. To seat about 50 to 60 people. The space was layered in seating heights, from front to back. Floor cushions to lounging sofas, upright chairs ending with two long community tables for raucous back benchers.
Color was everything. Awash with cool blue greens from front to back…and a swathe of orange-red cutting through midway. ‘Like the fleeting sunsets we all want capture on our seaside visits.’ The placement plan also kept in synch with how people gather for viewing. They may be in a family or friend group. Or just a couple. Even a loner. Clusters of seating took care of all the familial ways friends sit.
A fresh and bold color palette, planned with color gradations, and seating plan of 50 for the space.
NOTHING NEED GO WASTE
The festival director at SAF, Smriti mentioned that they love using up things and let nothing go to waste. Surely Freedom Tree must have furniture which was not in use, that could come into the lounge? Freedom Tree did better than that.
Being naturally squirrely, they looked through samples and brought out hidden trial gems. Updating sofas with fantastic hand screen prints, bringing in colored rope chairs, dotting the place with colourful side tables, a playful cabinet of curiosities. Furquan our site manager found “The fun-est piece was a pair of long tables. In a moment of inspiration, salvaged wood was converted into planked tabletops”. A new dimension was added with print, when the tops were pasted with a micro print blue fabric on the surface!
Tropica rope chair
Kamu print pasted on a planked table.
Patchwork print. Striking black n white.
MIX & MATCH MAXIMAL
Looking at things from a distance, the designers picked prints that would stand out. Signature lines in black and white prints took centerstage - literally the front row sofa seats in striking graphic designs of Salaka and Patchwork.
Working with hand drawn illustrations, is a striking trait of the brand’s design ethos. ‘Cushions are always like picture frames in a narrative,’ says Tarjani. ‘Every drawing allows us to escape from the mundane into created scenes.’ Each sofa had a striking cushion from the much-loved Artistease collection. Panthers and people illustrations, basking languidly on extra long cushions. Merging art and functional furnishings in an uncompromising way. Equally comfortable at your home or as an art exhibit at a gallery.
Face Artistic Blue textured cushion
Blue Panther…an all time favourite
Moody Silent Night
cushion
NEVER MISS THE TOP & SIDES
Taking print and pattern into a space of such scale, [however temporary] would need as much deft handling as a bunch of performing rock stars. In any space, the vertical surfaces and the ceiling accents are always the first thing one takes in. While the seating layers are thought through, this would need to be a breathtaking moment, without taking anything away from the real stars on stage.
Nidhi, our designer, explains, “Our prints range from the geometric to the fiercely narrative. The lines and masses in the seating were all geometric abstracts, to which we needed a contrasting element. Taking an opposite approach, we wanted to soften the surround, with nurturing botanicals and have whimsical lighting overhead”.
A larger than life, hand-painted Montane Rainforest print, which was in conception was revealed here, hung as beautifully breezy curtain panels.
The shapes of furniture, materials, print & patterns varied differently in mass and line. Color and contrast held these personalities together in a fine balance like a musical piece.
Artistease
Offers all the materials to turn space into a canvas. Fearlessly paint your own story!
creator’s lounge
How the Creators live
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