24 May,2011 09:28 AM IST | | Dhvani Solani
Fungus Designs aspires to rid this world of 'ugliness and sameness' by replacing the boring black laptop bag with witty, aesthetic options
A crusade against ugliness sounds tawdry, we first thought. Also elitist and snobbish. So, when we spoke with a certain Raghu Bhat, perceptions of talking to a narcissist (who knows, may be even a nihilist) had already taken root. Raghu, however, turned out to be a soft-spoken, speaks-his-heart kind of a guy. The ad man
with a fondness for design and aesthetics convinced us about his philosophy and we 'grew' to like his quirky-named venture, Fungus Designs, that aspires to banish ugliness and sameness, one laptop bag at a time.
The Birdie bag designed by Maria Iovine
Raghu, a 38 year-old who set up advertising agency Scarecrow Communications nearly a year-and-a-half ago, thought he had had enough of the plain black laptop bag that is 'big, bulky, shapeless just like the majority of the men and women who carry them' as his website states. "I also realised that graphic designers and art directors come up with interesting typography, illustrations and designs that can't be used on the brands they are working with because of the stringent advertising guidelines," Raghu tells us over the phone. "Their portfolios have plenty of brilliant but unused work. So, I thought of a commercial possibility that can emerge from this output." The end result? Neat laptop bags sporting a combination of colour, wit and visual adventure, with designs made from graphic designers around the world.
On their website, apart from the clich ufffdsu00a0-- Che and Jimi Hendrix (didn't you expect these already?)u00a0-- there is a Birds bag, inspired by the legendary filmmaker Alfred Hitchcock, that sports just a blotch (denoting the bloody massacre by birds) and the film title. Another Hitchcock tribute comes through in Vertigo, with the name printed upside down. Musicheads have supercool Jimmy Page and Bono designs to choose from. New designs are constantly added.
"My favourite one though," says Raghu, "is the Birdie bag that has a bird with its wings drawn out but its feet in a nest. It's a very sophisticated design and drawn with so much skill that you don't know where it starts and where it ends." The design is by Maria Iovine from Buenos Aires who terms her designs as 'a spontaneous outburst against the excesses of industrial design era.' It's international designers like Maria, and a
largely international clientele which is the reason behind the pricing quoted in dollars on the website.
The bags, made with soft PVC material, have sleek, adjustable shoulder straps, a crinkle-free finish, slim body, suede-lined file holders, a pen holder, ample storage for keys and documents, and are about 30% lighter than the average black bag. Apart from the website, they are also available in a city store. A huge chunk from the sale of the bag goes directly to the designer, a way for Raghu to ensure that creativity gets its due.
Log on tou00a0www.fungusdesigns.com. At Taxxi & Vitamin K, Kusum Kunj, next to Mango, Linking Road, Khar (W). Call 9820048951 / 9820311174 Cost Rs 3,200 to Rs 3,600
