Landscape India Journal

Brief

To capture the essence of PBB's studio culture into the design of a journal.

Why Comic Strips?

The office folks had a breezy approach to both work and life (think Steve Jobs at Atari, less the bare feet). One of their maxims was "don't take life too seriously". This contrasted the intensity and passion with which they worked. This gave way to the idea of telling their stories with a light touch, using comic strips.

Usability Study - Placement of Comic Strips

For most people, the bottom part of notebooks and diaries remain too uncomfortable to use. The stacked pages does not allow the hand to be on the same level, making it very uncomfortable to use, especially on the thicker side of the diary. So I placed all the comic strips along the bottom edge, keeping the remaining page blank for users to write on.

A Story about the Stories

For over a month, I spent my days at their  studio, interacting with members of the team and the space. After many endless conversations (read: 12 semi-structured interviews) and even more cups of coffee, the essence emerged - the studio loves a good story. In all their projects, from concept presentations to the actual gardens and buildings they engendered, a story was evident.

The Story of A Dot

The journal begins with a story of how 2 dots meet to form a line.

Developing a Character - The PBBian

The dots travel and learn worldly things; they end up drawing a complex shape in the process. I called him the PBBian (after the official name of the studio, M/s PBB).

The PBBian represents all the essential characteristics of the studio's employee.
For each story, the PBBian is found in a different setting inspired by actual incidents that went down in studio history.

1. Origin of The Loop - a story of inclusion  

The studio is a non-hierarchical space designed for continuous learning and conversation.

To this end, the entire team uses only one e-mail ID, logged into only one computer in the office library. All correspondence both personal and professional, is open to all employees to see, from interns to founding members. This was captured in The Origin of the Loop.

2. The Line-up of Cakes - a story of diligence

They loved hyper-planning, even for birthdays.

The studio loved throwing birthday parties for their employees. And what party is complete without cake? They would prepare a list of cakes for everyone’s birthdays every year, and the cake-list would be subject to diligent assessment, with the same passion and intensity of a landscape project.

3. Maintaining the Edge - a story of survival

Being able to tell a good story is the most essential part of the job.

The studio had a library where one could find every piece of literature relevant to architecture and landscape design. But when a new member joined the team, they had to first learn to tell a good story :) Here, a newbie walks into the library and walks out with a book titled "How to tell a good story".

Like this, I wrote and hand-illustrated 11 comic strips. We printed over 300 copies, each with the receivers name embossed using an antique letter-press.