Presence of mind

Designers are finding upmarket retail outlets the perfect place to display their work.

I am doing work that earns my bread and butter, and satisfies my heart and soul together," says Thomas Louis, a ceramic designer. He calls his creations "functional yet with a strong design element", and seems to have found the perfect outlet to display and sell them "" The Next Shop in New Delhi.

In a recent exercise, the store had heavily promoted the designer's exhibition. It was win-win: the young designer from the National Institute of Design (NID) got the desired visibility, and "the store had designer products in tune with its look and feel, which helps in the image building for an upmarket lifestyle store" in the words of Rathi Varadarajan of The Next Shop.

At Muslin, a furnishing store, a small part of a wall has some unique curtain rod designs by Tatva. Another wall with niches has studio pottery, and so does The Neemrana Shop, which has the output of artists working with Foundation of Arts, an NGO. Likewise, Good Earth is promoting the water hyacinth furniture of New Zealand-based designer Yothaka.

Upcoming designers and artists who cannot afford regular exhibitions are discovering the joys of retail display. Keshav Nanda, a freelance studio potter with Foundation of Arts, speaks for many when he says that an artist is not a marketing whiz, and shops know how to attract wallets.

Especially shops that cater to a clientele that may be appreciative of artist endeavour "" as is increasingly likely in the metros.

Also, observes Sunil Ajmera, president, Foundation of Arts, "The recall and revisit value at regular exhibitions for young and nameless artists is less, but at stores they share space with established artists like Jatin Das so they get picked up if someone likes the work."

Some designers rely almost entirely on such retail relationships. Mukul Goyal, another NID graduate, just displays his unconventional curtain rod sets at 30 upmarket furnishing stores across the country "" looking for custom orders.

Does he pay a rent for the space? On the contrary, he claims to charge stores for his designs' presence. "I am confident of my product," he says.

The arrangement has proved enormously successful. Such displays have seen Tatva sales increase from Rs 20 lakh in 2003-04 to Rs 75 lakh in 2005-05, and Goyal is expecting a sale figure of Rs 1 crore this year. And so long as the displays act as footfall lures, it's win-win.