26 September,2009 07:29 AM IST | | Anjana Vaswani
From plastering Rajnikant on the walls of a boutique hotel in Chennai to exhibiting in Frankfurt, 25 graphic designers who prefer to remain anonymous, are going places. The Play Clan team wants you to see the world differently through lamps that discuss overpopulation when they light up, and cushion covers that lament traffic jams
Their website invites you to get cloned. But don't get excited just yet. We got it on good authority that the store doesn't offer any sort of replication service. It's the artistic mindset they are hoping to clone hereu00a0- the refusal to succumb to commercialisation at the cost of "fun", which is the end-goal of this enterprise.
So if your work's getting to be a drag or you are itching to go back-packing, but find yourself stuck in the manic city paying bill-after-painful-bill, don't expect to walk in here and find a doppelganger to take your place. What you can hope to find here is salve. Images of nomadic Rajasthani Rabari tribesmen call out to the untamed soul off coasters here.
And if the sight of the ever-growing minister-convoys makes you nostalgic about the reign of the humble Ambassador, you could pick up a cushion that's a veritable ode to the heavy-duty beauty. The brand's 1 Billion range holds everything from lamps to tees and is dedicated to the burgeoning population of our country.
Psychedelic shopping bags stand on racks emblazoned with Vijay Mallya's giant yacht alongside pictures of traffic hawaldars and Cafe Leopold. Tennis shoes are painted with funky images of rural India's favourite sportu00a0- kite-flying.
"The emphasis is on story-telling," says the brain-child of the company, requesting that we preserve his anonymity. Play Clan was born at a Delhi-based branding studio named Indian Design Project, and now includes a team of 25 artists. Their attempt is to emphasise on the clan and its ethos, rather than on individuals.
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Drawing your attention to a Play Clan YouTube video that represents a square world, Play Clan's spokesperson says. "We are hoping to create a brand that speaks to people who see things in a different light, like we do. For instance, we create art and then think of how it can be used, not the other way around."
Available at: Attic, Bir Sagar, 396/20, Flat no 1, End of 17th Road, Santacruz (W).
Call: 32169292
Log on to: www.theplayclan.com
