Let me tell you about one of the most heartwarming projects of my career. This happened two years ago. It began by me being asked to drop everything and rush for a meeting. As usual the copywriter had been forgotten till the last moment!
“Yes, Amrita, come in, come in” my boss said. “Meet Mr. Ghose from the Big Group. He wants us to do a coffee table book on Durga Puja. You have to work out the theme and content.”
“We want to portray the significance of Goddess Durga in our lives” explained Mr. Ghose. “It can’t be just another book. Our company believes in doing things that are not just good but appreciated for taste and quality.”
I came back to my cubicle and started my research, discovering several insights about the Goddess I never knew. Durga Puja is close to every Bengali heart, and both the art director and I were bubbling with ideas. We honed down on three routes to do justice to the client’s expectations.
The first was a mixture of historical and contemporary portrayals of Goddess Durga. Starting from the story of Sati, to Maa Durga’s fight with Aasur to how significant the Goddess is today. The second was more pictorial, bringing to view the many forms of Durga. The third was most contemporary, where I wanted to draw a link with the Goddess and today’s women and issues that matter to them.
We had another meeting in two days. There was a long discussion on all the three routes, and their best elements were selected. The final version included historical facts, contemporary views and renditions — with a wealth of pictures, of course.
The title, ‘Women of Substance’ sought to bridge the ancient Goddess with social and contemporary themes. As the pages unfolded, first came the mythological perspective, followed by her domestic traits, her nurturing qualities as the protector of the world, and her role as a victorious warrior. Powerful pictures of Durga slaying evil, ancient and modern, filled the pages along with descriptions.
Researching the content was challenging and exciting. The Internet is filled with information leaving me spoilt for choice, and up for nights. But then, for Big Group I wanted to make sure that I give something exceptional in concept and detail in keeping with their corporate reputation. I not only worked on the different forms of Durga and her significance in our lives. I extended my research to matters related to the Goddess, with the right pinch of ‘Bengaliness’. For example, I added a chapter on ‘devi iconography’, one on ‘kumartuli’ and wrote how Durga Puja has been celebrated since the beginning. It was a profound experience as every day I discovered a new fact.
Coffee table books are beautiful, powerful, inspiring and lift spirits of a person. The artwork was in process. Although I had done my job well (at least so I thought!), the feeling of ‘something is missing’ was giving me headaches and sleepless nights.
One afternoon I was having my lunch but this time my companion was our senior tech expert when he said something that made it click.
“Did you check out the new post Sir shared on Whatsapp? Many big corporations are now experimenting with Augmented Reality to enrich their marketing activities.” he said. “I think it’s going to be used in all printing in the future/”
“AR, oh yes, we can have an AR embedded coffee table book” I said to myself, as the uneasiness vanished.
I rushed back and wrote an email to my boss regarding the issue. Within minutes, the response came, “Go for it”.
Then arrived the day Mr. Ghosh was to see the final proof.
“Wow, fantastic!”, he exclaimed after leafing through it, the two words taking away the exhaustion of our late-nights.
But the surprise element wasn’t revealed yet.
“Sir, can I have your phone please?” I asked Mr. Ghose
“Yes, sure” he answered sounding quite unsure of what awaited.
I quickly installed the AR app on his phone and showed him as the print embedded codes brought key pages to life on the screen for surreal experiences.
‘This is really magical!’ he exclaimed. “I guess that’s what you mean by the edge of technology.”
That’s the Anderson slogan, by the way!
Disclaimer – The original name of the company has not been used due to privacy matters.