Watch Company Pays Tribute to Timelessness

Infinity – The Time Machine

Materials used: Watch scrap, dials, straps, faces, hooks and scrap iron sheet. Approximately 3000 old watches

Dimensions: Solid circumference: 8 feet; Length: 48 inches; Width: 30 inches; Height: 21 inches

Weight: Approx 70 kilograms

Unveiling The ‘The Time Machine’

Hi all,

My eight foot scrapture christened ‘The Time Machine’ created exclusively for Titan Industries will be unveiled tomorrow, the 13th of August 2008 at 12pm at World of Titan, South Extention – I, New Delhi. It will be on show all day before it travels to various parts of the country. Please do take out time and see it.

The scrapture took 19 days to create, weighs approximately 70 kilograms and is made of almost 3000 old watches.

Look forward to seeing you tomorrow.

Cheers
Arun

We require Technology Developers. Right now!

At Arun Verma Design Studio, we’ve been working with a host of clients in the US, UK and India across varied
creative domains.

Now, we have some immediate requirements for technology developers and was wondering if we have people within this group who would like to work in a fantastic environment and work on some brilliant ideas
that we’ve been toying with. As someone who’ll be working with us, you might not know everything about technology but should have the ‘fire within’ to learn, experiment and make mistakes. You should be creative and logical, should be a self starter with an ability to troubleshoot and deal with software programming problems. Basically, you should have an attitude for finding ’solutions’.

Please do read more about careers with us.

The details of the technology developers that we’re looking for are as follows.

Number of openings: 3

Years of experience: 2+ years

Languages: PHP 4&5 (min 2 years experience)

Databases: MySQL and PostgeSQL (min 1 year experience)

CMS: Drupal (min 6 month experience; the more the merrier)

Scripting Languages: HTML, CSS, JavaScript and AJAX

If you fit the bill, or would like to do somebody else a favour, tell them about this. Please get in touch with me on 9811214413 or write to me.

Look forward to having you on board.

Heavy Metal

The Telegraph did a feature on me and my creations this Saturday. Read it here.

Scraptures Now In Mumbai

I am having my first show in Mumbai of my creations – scraptures, lamps, accessories and furniture. Please do take out time and have a dekko if you are in Mumbai or visiting Mumbai.

The show is on till at 29th of September 2007 at:
Turqoise
Sunbeam Building
2 & 3, Perry Cross Road
Bandra (W), Mumbai – 50
Tel: 32409827

The store is open all 7 days from 11am to 8pm.

Happy Anniversary

This is one of my latest creations inspired by Creativegarh’s 7th Anniversary.

Materials Used: Die scrap, ball bearings, construction rods, bolts, key chains, drill bit, window latches, screws, nuts

Dimensions: 12 x 8 x 8 inches 

Photographed by: Sushmendra Dubey

Old Keys And Locks

I am in desparate need of some (in fact lots of) old locks and keys. I need these for an idea that I have been toying around with for almost the last 3 years. So, if you can dig into your old cupboards, drawers, attics, boxes and don’t mind letting go off the keys and locks now useless for you, please get in touch with me. I can have them picked up from your place if you are in and around Delhi NCR. Or if you’re travelling towards South Delhi, it’ll be great if you could drop by at the Creativegarh Gallery in Shahpurjat.

I have been in regular touch with the local kabadiwaalas but what I need is a huge number… almost 1500 keys and locks.

 Have a look at some scraptures I had created with old keys a while back.

A Logo For 7 Years Of Creativegarh?

7 years? Already?

Yes! Creativegarh will soon be 7 years old, that is, on the 12th of September 2007.

And what could be a better way to celebrate Creativegarh’s seventh birthday than by giving it a beautiful birthday gift that’ll last for one whole year.

How about a logo to celebrate the 7 Years of Creativegarh?

We’ve been creating a commemoratory logo for the two years inhouse. [ You can see the '6 Years of Creativegarh' logo here. ] And this time, we thought, why not have the members of the community come up with a logo.

The brief is simple, and wide open.
We need a logo that captures the essence of Creativegarh as you see it. It needs to say ‘Celebrating 7 Years of Creativegarh’ or anything better that you can come up with as long as ‘Creativegarh’ is a part of the line / phrase / copy. Also, the logo should translate easily across mediums and across sizes and should look ‘equally good’ in black and white. One more thing. The 7 Years Logo should ‘preferably’ use the Creativegarh colours. Green and Blue to signify that that it is a global community. Black to signify the magic and mystery that creativity holds. And white to signify the purity of the creative expression. The ‘CG’ swirl in the centre of the Creativegarh logo signifies the energy associated with creative thinking.

An EPS version of the Creativegarh logo can be downloaded from here. 

5 logos will be shortlisted by a panel from within the Creativegarh community itself. And then, the entire community will vote for their favourite logo. Democratic as always.

How to send in your entries?
All participating members are requested to send in their designs to me  in .jpg format, in a minimum size of 4×4 inches (450×450 pixels @ 72 dpi). A higher resolution version may also be requested. Please mark the subject of the mails as ‘Creativegarh logo’ and please send it latest by Friday, the 31st of August 2007.

Who can participate?
Anyone and everyone. Logo designers, freelancers, design companies, individuals or anyone who is feeling creative enough and thinks he / she can do a good job of it. And we’re sure you can.

And finally, what’s in it for you?
Oh come on, don’t ask that! This is the least you can do for a community that really tries to do so much for you. But yes, if your logo is the winner, we’ll make sure you get due credit wherever this logo is used – on partner websites, on blogs, other forums, and all Creativegarh collateral. What’s more, the entire Creativegarh community will give you a standing ovation. In addition to this, we’ll ensure that we use your services on a live and paid logo design project for a client within the next 6 months. And if that’s not enough, I personally promise you a fantastic meal with unlimited wine whenever we meet in person. It’ll be great to have your company.

Please feel free to forward this post to your friends / colleagues and associates.

Looking forward to some mindblowing designs.

For creativity,
Arun Verma
Moderator, Creativegarh: Where creative minds meet, work and play!

How To Start Your Own Design Business – A Creativegarh Workshop

We at Creativegarh are planning to hold a one day workshop sometime in September in Delhi on ‘How to start your own design business’. The workshop will cover all aspects of getting started as a design entrepreneur – the do’s, the dont’s, the tricks, the resource gathering, how to get clients and how to keep clients.

So, if you are an aspiring design entrepreneur and are interested in attending this workshop, please write to me or call me
on +91.9811214413

Also, if you are already a design entrepreneur and would like to share your insights and experiences at the workshop, please do get in touch as well.

Look forward to a full-house.

The Jeevika Trophies

This year again, we were commissioned by Centre for Civil Society to design the trophies for Jeevika 2007 - a documentry film competition on livelihood issues. We had designed the trophies for the inaugural Jeevika in 2003 as well.

Pictures below:
1. The Jeevika 2007 trophies
2. Finance Minister, P Chidambaram giving away the first prize trophy to Nandini Bedi for her film – Ambi Jiji’s Retirement
3. P Chidambaram giving away the first prize trophy for best student films to Megha Lakhani and Radhika Murthy

Cool Home Pages: Site Of The Week

Just came to know that Cool Home Pages has listed our website in their ‘Sites Of The Week’ section. This came as a very pleasant surprise. Check out our website.

A very special thanks and congratulations to the entire team at Arun Verma Design Studio. Deepak, Anil, Sunil: You guys rock!

Let’s Ignite Great Ideas In The New Year

A Happy New Year to everyone.

Me And ‘Terminator On The Go’

Creativegarh Stall

The Creativegarh Art and Craft Gallery Stall at the ‘Festa of Lights’ organised by Akshay Pratishthan at the Swiss Embassy on Saturday, 14th of October 2006

Key Musicians

A 2006 creation

Dimensions: 9×5x4 inches each

Materials used: Keys, scrap metal plates

Private collection. Not for sale.

An Art And Craft Show By Creativegarh At Oxford Bookstore, New Delhi

Please to visit.

For a larger image, click here.

The Tricycle Table

A 2006 creation.

Materials Used: Motorcycle sprockets, rolled pipes, bicycle pedals, bicycle seat, machine frame

Dimensions: 24″ x 24″ x 16″

Price: On request

Available at: Creativegarh Art and Craft Gallery, New Delhi

Going On Your Own? Some Tips For You.

Having been a working-out-of-home-design-entrepreneur for close to four years now, I often get mails from many young writers and designers asking for advice and tips on what to expect and the do’s and dont’s. So, I thought it might be a good idea to write a post on this based on my personal experiences and what I’ve learnt from other SOHO entrepreneurs. 

Assuming that you are going on your own and will be working out of home, here are some quick tips on what to do and what not to do when there’s no assured monthly paycheck coming in.These tips are best applicable to writers but barring a point or two, these work for anyone who is looking at moving out of the corporate world and being his / her own boss. Read on.

1. Get a business card in place. It’s your ad / TVC / promotional leaflet / POP / resume rolled into one. Don’t waste money on letterheads, envelopes and other stuff. That can come in later after you’ve made some money.

2. Invest in a good computer / laptop that also comes with reliable service. Club this with a hi-speed, reliable internet connection and you are ready to rock and roll. Honestly, as much as many people will tell you, that’s all you need to start your home based writing business.

3. Get an official phone / mobile phone (if you have to travel) with a post-paid connection.

4. Don’t spend foolishly on office supplies. Fax machines, scanners, printers can wait.

5. Pick up any work, any. When you are starting off, don’t be choosy. Pick up anything closely related to writing / copywriting and do a good job of it.

6. When starting off, don’t let go off any work because the client is not paying you a lot. Atleast you have work. And that’s important.

7. Talk to friends. Write for them at a nominal cost. Ask friends, family and ex colleagues if they have any writing work for you. Ask them for references. Scratch corners and you’ll find something. Every extended family has atleast one businessman / woman. Convince them that you can write their brochures / leaflets / promotional collateral.

8. Your business and your need is bigger than your ego. Always keep that in mind.

9. Work for a ‘bigger’ / more established freelancer. Get work outsourced from him / her.

10. Over time, pick up one client on retainership. That eases the pressure and atleast gets some assured bread on the table every month.

11. Find a comfortable corner in your house which is ‘YOUR OFFICE’.

12. Get serious. When working out of home, the temptations are endless. The bed, the TV, the fridge are just 10 steps away. Put down a schedule and stick to it. And yes, enjoy the afternoon nap and the TV. These are benefits of working out of home, so avail of them.

13. Remember, everyone you meet is a potential client. Don’t be afraid of asking for business. One out of 10 proposals will work out.

14. Take a break everyday. Join a book-reading group / walking club / common-interest group. Sometimes the lack of professional human interaction can get to you when you’re working alone. Meet up with your clients / asociates / ex colleagues atleast once a week.

15. Network. Network. Network. Network. Network. Subscribe to common-interest groups online. Attend offline meets / networking events of your favourite groups. If your online group does not have an offline presence in your city, take the initiative to start one.

16. Work atleast 16 hours a day. Provide unmatched service. If you can solve a client’s problem at 3 in the night, he’ll swear by you.

17. Be professional in your dealings with clients. But remember, clients become fans if you can do something for them at a personal-professional level.

18. Invest in reference books related to your line of work. These are more important than fax machines.

19. Make a job list everyday. Understand the power of lists. And try to strike off everything in your list in a 24-hour day.

20. Stick to commitments of costs and timelines, come what may.

21. If you can’t handle lots of work, pass it on to someone who has the time. But DONT refuse work.

22. Exercise everyday. Take one short vacation every three months. File your returns every year.

23. When you make some money, invest in a comfortable desk with lots of drawers and a comfortable, ergonomically-designed chair.

24. And finally, don’t lose hope when business looks difficult to come by. Give yourself atleast 8 months to allow things to work out.

25. Drink plenty of water.

26. Honesty and openness still matter in business. [From KM] 

All the best!

~ Arun Verma

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