An mm affiliate! work in conversation and dialogue with the Material Matters team - individual projects and material explorations conducted in our labs.

Medha Mistry (Author)

Emily Carr University of Art + Design Graduate Studies (Degree Granting Institution)

Hélène Day Fraser (Thesis Supervisor)

Katherine Gillieson (Thesis Supervisor)

Heritage, Visual communication, Branding (Marketing)

Ahmadābād (India)

Ahmedabad, City branding, Visual vernacular, Visual communicaiton design, Flexible brand identity design, Indian visual vernacular

Abstract: This thesis investigates how branding can be used to celebrate the historical identity of Ahmedabad, India. Branding a city can be a difficult task because cities are complex and constantly evolving. For a richly diverse and geographically vast country like India, it can be particularly challenging. The existing brand identity for Ahmedabad lacks an extensive, consistent visual identity system and uses stereotypical Indian motifs to represent the city. The thesis explores Ahmedabad’s colonial, pre-colonial and post-colonial heritage to find visual vernacular that is true to the region. These concentrated communication design-based studio explorations inform a larger exercise to represent the city of Ahmedabad visually. Other design research methods include photo analysis, case studies, observations and personal reflection. The thesis proposes a flexible brand identity system to capture the multiple realities of the city, its people, its tradition and cultural heritage. The final studio project is inspired by the windows of Ahmedabad. From 600-year-old monuments to residential pol houses to modernist buildings — windows have displayed a wide range of architectural heritage and played a huge role in defining what is important to Amdavadis. The research also creates a generic module that can be used to brand other Indian cities by looking at its tangible, intangible cultural heritage and its visual vernacular or graphic past.

Link to thesis