Onio, the seed and the sprout

In the name of the greatest one;

Onio Design has been a passionate dream woven together by the Karmyoga of two individuals. Right from the conception, Onio has never been a milking cow (read money), nor has it been an overnight success built on miracles. In the darker times for design market when industry didnot care for design or innovation in general because of ample supply of foriegn or imported 'products' and 'technologies', when the design studios were closing one by one in an ordeal of survival, Onio took birth and survived. Onio mastered the survival technique by learning the virtues of intelligently reading ahead and venturing into the unknown in child like play but with mastering the skills over a period. When product design was giving way Onio become a web-design company doing portals and corporate websites for software companies. When do-com bust took the toll on web-design too, Onio moved on and captured the grand-space of branding. When branding too started becoming common place, Onio thought it is logical to move up still higher in the value chain of innovation and tied up with Style-vision to offer trend-research. Onio knows how to learn the new and master the alien domains and move up the value-chain quickly. Onio also knows how to retain the core competence and hone it when market is dull.
All this has been possible due to inherent synergy within the company. Coordinated thinking and focused actions made it possible to go through the tough times and engage in futuristic possibilities while the purse stringsa are tight.

Now when the first phase of growth is over Onio needs to gear-up for the next phase of growth that entails bigger goals, broader mindset and more formal approach to growth itself. Usually, entreprenurs in design profession are known for conservative attitude to business expansion. But at Onio, the founder deemed it fit to understand the need for inclusion of a director with different set of expertiese and exposure that is not directly connected to design, but surely has greatest impact when it comes to expansion.

Anil, comes with hard-coded experience in USA as a matured IT professional over the last 10 years. The processes that are needed to standardize the practice so that it can be replicated and expanded have been mastered by IT industry and Onio believes that this expertise applied to design field would open the flood-gates of expansion in the ways unimaginable as of now. Together the power of 'organised creativty' would be unleasehed in the hitherto untapped market that India is sitting pretty on.

Ten Trends Reshaping the Global Landscape

Home > Ten Trends Reshaping the Global Landscape
Ten Trends Reshaping the Global Landscapeby Van Wishard, World Trends Research

First, the modernization, urbanization and globalization of China, India and other Asian nations will be the most dynamic and convulsive event of the coming decades. Millions of people will have their personal and collective lives transformed to a greater degree, in a shorter space of time, than has been experienced by any people ever before.
Second, the world is still seeking a new geopolitical configuration. We are at the end of a 500-year period when the Atlantic-centered nations dominated world economic, political and military affairs. For the first time in modern history, China and Japan both have economies larger than any European national economy, and, along with India, may become the world’s center of technological innovation and production.
Assessing Global Trends and Decision-Making

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Third, the accelerating tempo of life has now become a critical issue in mental health. The emphasis on constant change has created a clash of different time scales. The time scales created by technology clash with the time scale required by natural life. Unhurried time is essential for natural growth. Yet speed, which is the forced compression of time, is increasingly necessary for the modern economy. Some suggest that we’ve moved beyond the age of speed and have entered the era of “real time.” There is now, they say, only a single “world time.”
Fourth, the information environment in which the individual lives has been radically altered. Throughout history, the transmission of information, ideas and images took place slowly, taking weeks, even months, to move around the world. Such a slow pace of information travel gave people time to adjust psychologically to a new information environment. Today, we zap information, ideas and images across the globe in nanoseconds. People have no time to adjust, no time to assimilate the new information and shape it into coherent meaning. The result is uncertainty and disorientation.
Fifth, the Eurasian landmass will continue to be a source of uncertainty, and even possible instability, for some time to come. Russia has not yet truly entered a “post-Communist” era, as most of its political and industrial leadership was shaped by the influence of Communism. Even the Moscow Times noted, “There can be no denying that contemporary Russia is in its very essence a product of the Soviet legacy. Our whole life is still shaped by the influence of Soviet-style expectations. We are still governed by Soviet-reared rulers.” Recently, Russian officials met with the elite of Russian “rock” to ensure that a situation such as Kiev, where many Ukrainian rock stars supported the Orange Revolution, would not be repeated in Moscow. Such activity only underscores that it may be a generation before the psychology of Russia is truly free of the influence of seventy-four years of Communist rule.
Sixth, a destabilizing threat facing the world is potential violent political turmoil that, if not avoided, could produce global anarchy. The arena for this possibility is not only the Middle East, but also the nations of the former Soviet Union, which form a belt stretching from Ukraine across southern Russia, to Kazakhstan, to Kyrghyzstan, to Tajikistan, and including Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan. The peoples of this entire stretch of the world are being awakened to the deprivations caused by archaic economic and political systems, as well as to the realization that such denials need not continue. How the U.S., Europe and other major powers together help ameliorate this situation, while not yet commanding our primary attention, is nonetheless vital to future world security.
Seventh, science is in the process of redefining our understanding of terms first given us at the dawn of human consciousness: such terms as “life,” “nature” and “human.” Increasingly, scientists are subordinating humans to technology. In essence, we may be abdicating our own psychological center of being and handing it over to the computer. Scientists tell us that when artificial and human intelligence are eventually merged, we will enter the “Post-human” era. Thus by 2030, we may have reached the point where the primary question will be, “What are humans for in a world of self-replicating technological capability completely independent of human control?” We thus face a policy and human crisis without historical precedent.
Eighth, globalization has moved far beyond economics and finance, and has now moved to a stage where western political, social, cultural and philosophical ideas are gradually seeping into the fabric of the rest of the world. While we Americans believe what works for America will work for all nations, we sometimes forget that cultural differences between the U.S. and other nations represent profound psychological differences. The critical question for globalizing nations is, “How can we modernize without losing our traditions, which represent our psychic roots?” Thus we Americans need to be far more sensitive to the acute emotional trauma nations are experiencing as they confront the varied effects of globalization.
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Ninth, the largest migration in history is changing the face of nations. In China, one hundred million people are moving from the country to the city. In the West, the European Union needs 180 million immigrants in the next three decades simply to keep its population at 1995 levels, as well as to keep the current ratio of retirees to workers. In Brussels, over fifty percent of the babies born are Muslim. In Germany, the death rate has exceeded the birth rate for decades, so the government now has to fly in planeloads of technicians from India just to maintain the German high tech structure. In England, there are now more practicing Muslims than Anglicans. The Catholic Church is facing the distinct possibility (probability?) that in coming years, Islam will become the largest European faith. In coming years, what it means to be French, German, Italian or English is going to change just as radically as what it means to be American has changed in the past four decades. Such changes suggest an increased inward European orientation at a time when just the opposite is needed.
Tenth, the world is in the midst of a long-term spiritual and psychological reorientation that is increasingly generating uncertainty and instability. This trend is best exemplified not by public opinion polls stating what percentage of the population believes in God, but by the character of the Western world’s postmodern culture. To understand the extent of this spiritual reorientation, look at the section on religion in any American bookstore. As well as books on Christianity, there are books on New Age spirituality, Buddhism, Nostradamus, yoga, fundamentalism, channeling, angels, miracles, Eastern philosophy, addiction, psychic health, mysticism, or finding meaning in life. All evidence of a massive spiritual uncertainty, and a search for some new spiritual dispensation.
The psychological reorientation can be seen in the breakup of our collective symbols and inner images of wholeness. For example, we once talked about “heaven,” which denoted the transcendent realm, eternity, the dwelling place of the gods. Now we just speak of “space,” which implies no spiritual connotation. It used to be that when we looked up in the sky at nighttime we saw the moon in heaven. Now we stand on the moon and see the earth in heaven. Heaven and earth have become one, and so our system of symbolic images has been jumbled. As the function of symbols and mythic images is to link our consciousness to the roots of our being, to our unconscious, this loss of historic symbols leaves little to sustain the inner life of the individual. So we turn to all sorts of chemical substitutes and pseudo religions.
These are just some of the forces reshaping the global landscape in the coming decades.

Design Research: onio's take Nov 2006

I wish I knew this conference (Wonderground) earlier, I would have surely sent some write-up. It is a new begining probably when Onio has set-up a small team dedicated to Design Research. Though it is happening after 10 years of our professional practice of design in India. But yes, now this dedicated team is actually earning money for Onio...wow, Indian clients are now just about ready to pay money for DESIGN RESEARCH seprately. This team is consists of Designers, Management Super graduate and Social Anthropologist (we could manage one..). But as we are getting into this, we are realising is that all one needs is a smart mind and power to absorb, connect, project and articulate.At Onio we follow something called 'MUST' model for design research (which is our own find). Market, User, Society and Technology, all are equal realities in the business dynamics today. Tweaking anyone of them would result in setting new ripples in the market. We have incorporated SENSING as two steps before DESIGN (Sense Strategise Design). So our pitch is that 'WHAT' (research)to do is becoming a bigger question than 'HOW' (design) to do. Thus even branding exercise at Onio starts with 'SENSING' first. Conventional 'Logo design' comes towards the last end (it is amazing to see that this part of 'skill' seems to have reached an 'autopilot mode'). Similarly, for product design, 'concept generation' is way too below in the 'gantt chart' of activities. And surprisingly, I have started understanding the worthless(ness) of 'three concepts' kind of approach. Focus is now shifted to honing the 'context' and hence probably single concept would work.Our model does not explore new academic evolution of design domain but surely puts across a highly applied model of making a difference in the market. A very big challenge we find is to explain to our clientele the difference between "market research" and "design research". Which some times pops a expected question , " Is this going to provide us price- point as well?". :)Our experience with the two extreme of clients a) large international giants b) small Indian entrepreneurial set-ups who want to launch world class offerings; has been very good. Both the ends clearly understood the language we are talking and the deliverables that are expected from Design Research. It is usually the medium/large size established corporation who seem to have a set ideas on research. But it is heartening that they have started the articulation of softer issues at the top level.

A brand character write-up I did

Brand XYZ

A journey of a small star towards its greater destiny in the infinite universe….a spark of life poised to take on the fears of oblivion, in the expanse that tires the powers, that be.

When the sunrays touch the earth, pick the selected rays; silky, satin sheet of light would fill the room that has mild colours. Sit and warmly converse about the snow capped hills in the window.

There are moments of truth that fire the being right where it aches. But we are born soldiers…soldiers of astral destiny…either way we belong to sky…we fight hard to remain aloft..away from the drudgery that obfuscates the lesser mortals.

When there is a call…run. Because there is nowhere to hide. Run and fetch the best tulips you can, princess awaits you at the other end of the lake.

When there is a call, run..because to run is to pray..to pray is to have fun…

Stars are bright…because they have fire in their heart. When there is light, stars have contributed their share….whatever small it may be…

In the winds of change stars go…galaxies vanish concept of light remains. Master the light and ‘change’ adds to the glory of light.

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A journey of a small star towards its greater destiny in the infinite universe….a spark of life poised to take on the fears of oblivion, in the expanse that tires the powers, that be.

XYZ is focused and steadfast, it hold close to the values it respects….as if they are the only universal truths.

XYZ is poise and grace…it’s a great balancing act in the danger zone. Its care and caution in all too favorable..grit and warmth when times are against.

XYZ is speed. Slow, slips…speed transcends. When sight is blurred in speed, check the construct…road becomes clear.

XYZ is about minds. Minds that connect evolve and transcend the perceptible and the subliminal.

Reading some future trends

Some trends: Freshly fried (to be elaborated)
Manoj Kothari

Unorganized will become Organized
Sectors: Agriculture, retail, accessories, construction, jewelry, home services, wellness
Current scenario, % of market in unorganizedà predicted shift to organized
Statistics of productivity gain /loss for becoming organized
World statistics US/Europe how does it fare?


Organized will become Aggregate Monoliths
Sectors: Steel, Consumer gadgets, dairy products, software,
Move to the next consolidation (rule of 3-4)
Recent acquisitions


Monoliths will give way to paradigm shattering start-ups
Sectors: Entertainment, telephony, transportation, hospitality, health


Social mobility will thrive on pseudo adoptions
What seems out of place for a section, will increasingly become adorable i.e. car owner in a slum, vegetable vendor with a mobile camera phone, a software engineer with private aeroplane.

Pseudo Icons to show prosperity. society would need more pseudo-icons for show of prosperity.


Old time social elites would move to ‘luxurious naturalism’
Excess of indulgence would give way to ‘lost touch’. Recall of the elements, with out losing the touch of cushion.


New social elites would move to ‘middle-class kingdom’
Extend the kingdom they owned. Make it ‘posh’. Bring the ‘royal extravagance’ and ‘arrogance’.


India would become a verbal society?
Tacit cognizance and symbolic communication on which Indian society flourished till now, will increasingly become verbal. Verbal because there are no more gaps left in mind-space. There are no reserves….We are spending ahead of our income.


All that is remixed, will have a techno tweak…
From clothing to music to ambience…the next tweak is digital, heavily impacted by newly discovered technology.


All that is classic, will have a ‘happy wrapper’
Amzad Ali Khan’s sarod recital, on you-tube..but a clip that only lasts a few minutes, who has got a time for 3 hrs?

Space, will be biggest differentiater
Cut the clutter…leave large margins; visibility due to size; visibility due to missing slab, missing articulation, missing perfection, missing notes…


Still on……..