The cup brimmeth over

Designers find a niche in the trophy-making market

Sanjay Sharma, country manager of Swarovski India Ltd's crystal components business, has been winning golf trophies as a handicap four player.

 But winning the trophy "for the longest drive" at the President's Golfing Out Tournament in Noida two years ago was somewhat disappointing.

"The trophy was rather sad to look at and the design element conveyed nothing about the event." So Sharma took to designing trophies in his free hours.

He designed the trophy for the Bilt Skins Challenge 2004. The stainless steel and crystal trophy was embellished with Swarovski cut crystals.

He also designed a glow-torch like, battery-operated trophy for Air Sahara CEO Achievement Cup. This was followed by Elle Decor International Award trophy.

Designer trophies are in. And a series of awards in music, media, sports and the corporate field is pushing the boom. Delhi's traditional trophy manufacturers (in Chandni Chowk) say that though the business has been growing at 10-15 per cent every year, a chunk of this is going to the designers.

For instance, most of the cricket trophies this year "" the ICC Cup, the Samsung or the ongoing Videocon Cricket Cup (currently being played between South Africa and India) "" have been created by professional designers.

Vibhor Sogani, for instance, designed the Samsung Cricket Cup for the one-day cricket series in March this year. Now, he's been hired to design the Primary Hockey League Cup, that will be jointly sponsored by ESPN Star Sports and the Indian Hockey Federation.

"My brief is to make something that will rejuvenate the game and make something that is pacy, colourful and young," says Sogani.

Sharma, meanwhile, executed the V-shaped Videocon Cup trophy, studded with over 4,000 glittering blue Xilion crystals, for the India-South Africa cricket series.

Last September, he designed the ICC Cricket Cup in the shape of a slender stainless steel hand, holding up a sparkling red, crystal cricket ball. "I receive at least two calls a week to design trophies," says Sharma.

Event sponsors are increasingly looking at designs that are communicative and speak about the essence of the event.

"Earlier people used to look at just an immaculate piece, a job well done. Today people want something that carries a message," adds Sogani.

Says designer Mukul Goyal who runs Designwise India Ltd, "It is not just about designing something around the ceremony but about taking a ceremony home to remember long after."

He's designed Businessworld's Most Respected Company award and several Ficci awards. He's also designed the BBC Mastermind trophy and created trophies for schools.

With the demand for trophies going up, designers are using materials like granite, glass, cut crystals, stainless steel and silver innovatively. And the prices range between Rs 1 lakh and Rs 5 lakh, including designer fees and material.

Says Nupur Jain, chief designer at Frazer & Haws, "Corporates are giving out more service awards and mementoes to key dealers. Our trophy design business has grown by about 50 per cent over last year."

Frazer and Haws designs at least 60 trophies a year for clients like GE Capital, Lufthansa, HSBC, Canon, Ernst and Young, Hindustan Lever Limited, Godfrey Phillips and Whirlpool.

Clearly, trophies are in great demand and the number of players in the business has gone up from 15 to 70 over the years offering more choices to the winners.