Scarecrow celebrates its 2^nd anniversary with a new design division

With two offices, 45 people and 25 brands in the kitty, the agency is gung-ho about the future. It has roped in Kapil Tammal to head the new division

BestMediaInfo Bureau | Delhi | February 9, 2012

As the agency celebrates its 2nd anniversary, Scarecrow Communications has announced the launch of a design division, Scarecrow Designs. The division will provide exclusive design solutions to various clients. It will be headed by Kapil Tammal as Design Director.

Scarecrow Designs aims to produce pure graphic design content on its own. The in-house designers and young talent from design schools would be roped in to create merchandise (T-shirts, bags, accessories, etc.), which will be showcased at the Scarecrow Art Gallery and on www.scarecrowdesigns.net.

Said Tammal about the new division, "Scarecrow Designs is not a conventional design house. Design for communication is what my team will focus on. Certain brands need to be looked from a design perspective, so along with the routine advertising ideas, the team will wear a designer's hat and think of 'designs' as and when needed. I wanted to form this kind of a team since long, and today it's finally happening!"

Manish Bhatt, Founder Director, Scarecrow, said, "Having an art background, I have a soft corner for design. I believe a great design has the power to create cult brands. Look at Apple or a Brazilian Hawaianas where a bathroom chappal could become cult, simply by the brilliant use of graphic design. I am looking forward to see some cool stuff in design by Kapil and his team."

There is a lot of demand in the market for pure design-led jobs, from brand manuals to corporate and brand identity and packaging. This has been fuelled by the retail boom, mall culture and entry of international lifestyle brands in India.

“Many national/international brands often avoid spending on full-fledged ATL campaigns due to high media costs. But what they can't avoid spending on is to create a look, feel and imagery of the brand where design is sacrosanct. So, these clients specifically seek design-led communication solutions,” added Bhatt.

To correct and balance the design ecology of talent and need, Scarecrow aims to identify design talent at an early stage. Like when Tammal was brought on board from McCann, he was also offered a senior position in Landor, one of the leading design houses. Subsequently, Scarecrow has also attracted talent from design institutes like NID.

As a design content generation initiative, and keeping in line with the theme behind the new identity of Scarecrow Designs, the in-house designers are currently working on the theme of Crop Circles and deriving new design forms using the Spirograph as a tool. The agency plans to have an in-house graphic design exhibition titled 'Crop Circles' at the Scarecrow Art Gallery.

Raghu Bhat, Founder Director, Scarecrow, commented, “This is a systematic attempt to broaden our communication offerings. It is also a recognition of the great design talent in Scarecrow."

Arunava 'Joy' Sengupta, also a Founder Director at Scarecrow, explained, “An interesting design can make huge difference to a campaign, be it print, TV or digital. Scarecrow Designs will give Kapil's talented young design team the opportunity to constantly push their boundary of design which going forward will help Scarecrow in developing a distinct identity in all its work.”

In his over ten years in advertising, Tammal has worked with some of the top agencies and with the ad veterans like Prasoon Joshi and Bhupal Ramnathkar. He has worked for agencies like McCann, Triton and Umbrella Design. His stints in various agencies have allowed him to work on a diverse set of brands such as Vaseline, Nerolac, Hanes , Wonderbra, Onida, L'Oreal, Maybelline, NDTV, Pears, Neo Sports/Cricket, The MobileStore, Cathay Pacific, The Economic Times, Shanti Amla, Siemens, Reliance BigCinemas and Indian Oil, DNA, Viacom 18, Euro innerwear, to name a few.

Among the awards won by Tammal include a Gold Press, Silver Poster and Bronze Press at GoaFest for UTI Bank in 2006; a Bronze metal at Cannes; two Bronze metals in Outdoor and Media category at Spikes Asia; a Bronze at Asia Pacific Ad Fest for Anando Milk in 2008; and 2 Bronze Press, a Silver Press and a Silver Press Craft – Art at GoaFest for Cocco's Café in 2009. He has also received the Young Spikes runner-up for Bali Tap Water, and Abbys Bronze for Western Union 2011. He has also been a One Show finalist for ATSS 2011.

Info@BestMediaInfo.com

Info@BestMediaInfo.com