01/01/2019
20 new years have passed since we started this design journey sojourning across dusty bachelor rooms and computers that ran humble adobe versions. Screen printing ruled, Pagemaker was the new kid in town, Photoshop had not assumed the political significance it has now.
As artists, we lived scattered doing odd jobs; designing letter magazines, colouring mighty walls with political slogans, naming shops for friends, sculpting assorted mementos, and crafting crazy marriage invitations all the while dreaming brave new designs. A decade ago, we moved into a room with a view. The sight of the vast Arabian Sea from our rooftop Technopark studio was inspiring enough to think bigger. We shipped in sleeky iMacs and erected them on IKEA furniture. Under the watch of a giant-dial clock, the biggest 'pani ayudham' in our small space, we spread our wings to corporate branding – total solutions as marketers call it.
For every project we bagged - be it the redesign of a newspaper or branding of a mall in the Middle East, the naming of a Bakery in Eastern Europe, rebranding of a Kerala women’s cooperative or launching of a tabloid in Himalayan Bhutan – we prepared multiple project proposals.
At Dzain, we are proud of those ubiquitous proposals. We made this far by wracking our minds over currency designs, highway plans, atm cards and beer labels, all the while treating every work as an egg that’s ready to hatch into this world, fresh.
We won awards and received appreciation from the humble and mighty. We worked with street-smart businessmen to bushy brained dreamers. Politicians across the Left, Right and Centre has sat at our design systems with their election manifestoes. Once in while, a book cover design goes viral on social media and we make new friends.
On behalf of Dzain, to all our old and new friends, partners and clients, let me wish you a fulfilling new year. We have moved into a new quirky little studio at Vennala in Ernakulam. It is my joy to welcome you for a cup of strong tea of one of those zero sugar health juices.
Let’s dream and live 2019.
With Love,
Zainul Abid
&
Bineesh K Purakkal, Dileep Kumar, Jose Livinse, Mohammed Khalifa, Nujumudeen Thonnakkal, Pratheesh Kt, Shameer Muhammed, Veerankutty Kalathil, Muhammed Razin
