Community Profiles
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Individual Profile:
Unnikrishna Menon Damodaran
India
(Graphic Designer)
Lovemarks:
IPhone, Asianet, Che Guevara, Steve Jobs, Kerala, India, Kathakali, M.S. Subbalakshmi, Apple, India, Moleskine, Gandhi, Bose, Salvador Dali, Mammootty & Mohanlal, V.S. Achuthanandan, Harry Potter, MoMA - The Museum of Modern Art, Vincent van Gogh, Arundhati Roy, Sultanate of Oman, Dubai Shopping Festival, A.R.Rahman, UnderConsideration, Adobe, FreelanceSwitch, HOW, Amazon.com, Pantone, Batchelors, Abdul Kalam. -
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An icon in my heart
Gandhi
31 December 2003
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi - "father of the nation" - is always an icon in my heart from my childhood. His round thin framed spectacles and bald head. I think, in the present world, full of hatred, bitterness, cruelty, racial discrimination, communal riots, war, human degradation and erosion of values, Gandhi is more relevant today than at any other time. In the context of the present situation, I strongly feel that there is an imperative need to recapture the spirit and human touch of Gandhi. Gandhi is the greatest human lovemark India has ever contributed to the World.
A smile to my face
Teletubbies
31 December 2003
My children just love Teletubbies and what more I can ask. Happy children imitating Teletubbies "BIG HUG" and talk like Dipsy, La-la, Po, Tinky-Winky and Noo-noo, brings a smile to my face.
Every sound in life
Bose
24 January 2004
Bose - you can hardly see it in your drawing room but one way or another you're always listening to it. I'd go so far as to say Bose prooves the existence of the sound of silence. Even a pin-drop silence - you can hear it with Bose systems. With Bose every sound in life receives a new meaning and dimension.
You have to see it to believe it...
Kerala, India
19 February 2004
Kerala is the land of coconut and kathakali(traditional dance drama). It is a strip of green canopied land on the southern part of peninsular India bordered by the Arabian Sea on the western side and mountainous peaks on the eastern side. Another place on earth known as God's Own Country. The vast coastline stretching the entire length and sandy beaches is still mostly a guarded secret and are unspoiled by the moving band of Tourists. Palm fringed backwaters, mist clad hill stations, lush tropical forests, water falls, exotic wildlife , monuments, the people, the splendour, art forms and traditional festivals give it a distinctive charm. You have to see it to believe it. Beyond the reason Kerala is an ideal place to be in at any given period of time. Kerala is a Lovemark which is beyond reasons.
Everyday I Quark
QuarkXPress
19 February 2004
Everyday I Quark! It was a breakthrough for people like me while we were pasting up paper on art boards. Gone are the days with messy glue, scalpel cuts, bloody corrections, missing coffee and final approvals! Today QuarkXPress is synonymous with desktop publishing.
Stop myself for a while
Kathakali
13 April 2004
Kathakali has remained with me since I was a child. It's elaborate and colourful make-up code, large head dresses and extraordinary costumes attracted me to it, and I used to watch it for hours. It is a truly wonderful performing arts experience. The total ambience and the highly expressive faces will always make me wonder with my eyes and mouth wide-open throughout the night. The performance usually culminates at the auspicious hour of dawn, when Good finally conquers Evil. In this busy world where we are constantly running the race - Kathakali is all I need to stop myself for a while and just forget the real world.
To question, push, analyze
Blogs and blogging
27 October 2004
It's a ritual for me to visit underconsideration.com (and Speak Up). It is a virtual communication temple for graphic designers and I can't let a day go by without visiting. I love the pure and transparent communication about everything, especially graphic design. Here, everything is always under consideration. It is not just an online forum - it is the life and lust of graphic designers around the world. Everything as we know it is up for discussion, reinterpretation, examination - to question, push, analyze and agitate graphic design.
Pure and transparent communication
UnderConsideration
28 October 2004
It's a ritual for me to visit underconsideration.com (and Speak Up). It is a virtual communication temple for graphic designers and I can't let a day go by without visiting it. I love the pure and transparent communication about everything, especially graphic design. Here, everything is always under consideration. It is not just an online forum - it is the life and lust of graphic designers around the world. Everything as we know it is up for discussion, reinterpretation, examination - "to question, push, analyze and agitate graphic design".
Still a dream
Dubai
01 November 2004
Dubai!- final destination for any one working in Arab countries. It's still a dream for so many, a city of festivals, a city of cities - shopping, gold, cinema, internet, sport, kid's festival - I am bound to be there. Dubai calling me!
An adoration that I'm unable shake off
M.S. Subbalakshmi
13 January 2005
Madurai Shanmukhavadivu Subbalakshmi. She is Divine, melodious, cool and refreshing. Venketeswara Suprabhatham is a song from M.S. that I've grown up with, and now that I've reached middle age, I still wake to this song, It marks the beginning of my day. An adoration that I'm unable shake off, part of my life. To me and many, she is not merely a performer, not even a saintly singer - She is a Goddess incarnate. Hers is not a human art but a divine grace which manifests itself through her voice. I am but a listener who is lost in a trance.
My hands are itching to touch it...
Moleskine
11 June 2005
Honestly, I would love to have one. I am just craving for that. All your comments make me write this. unfortunately, I couldn't find one in this country which I am residing now. My hands are itching to touch it - Moleskine.
The lovemark of Indians to the world
India
29 October 2006
India. It ’s the lovemark of Indians to the world.
Apple smiles at you! Other machines frown!
Apple
14 January 2007
Starting a day with Apple is exciting. Since 1996 I have been doing that. This Christmas, I bought a new iMac 20". Excitement never ends with Apple. Apple smiles at you! Other machines frown!! Control>Alt>Delete is a completely negative start to kill your excitement.
Sensible touch that makes me excited!
iPhone
02 July 2007
iPhone has a special place in people’s mind. This company (Apple) know its customers very well. They keep on doing exciting things for their users. iPhone is one of them. iPhone is not just a mobile phone, it’s your friend with a special sense of touch! Sensible touch that makes me excited!
A true master of art
Salvador Dali
02 July 2007
While studying graphic design, Dali was an inspirational source to trigger my imagination beyond the limits and it still continues after many years. A true master of art. Salvador Dali with flying Cats "Atomicus", a photograph that still freezes my mind for a moment.
An inspirational guru
Steve Jobs
03 July 2007
Steve Jobs. A man who creates excitement through enriching technological splendour. An inspirational guru with an exciting vision with his customers in mind. With Apple work is fun!
Still craving for a Moleskine sketch book!
Moleskine
13 July 2007
This is very strange to myself. A product I have never experienced. But all these comments made me force to write this again after two years (see my comment in June 2005)! I am still craving for a Moleskine sketch book!
The "Man of Kerala"
V.S. Achuthanandan
19 July 2007
Velikkakathu Sankaran Achuthanandan. Popularly known as VS. Kerala’s most accepted-popular-chief minister. His charismatic political speech and contagious enthusiasm conquered the people of Kerala. His fight against the corruption in the society and political will to do the good made him a people’s chief minister. His passion to change the world for the better-equal-society is adorable. He is the "Man of Kerala". A political Lovemark of all the Malayalees (people of Kerala) irrespective of their political beliefs.
Glittering with excitement
Harry Potter
29 July 2007
When my daughter Vaid talks about Harry Potter, her eyes were glittering with excitement. And my son Dash filled with astonishment – when he listened to her sister. What more a father would like to see. There is no doubt Harry Potter is the living–legendary–character–lovemark of the 21st century.
More than a channel
Asianet
02 August 2007
Asianet. First and foremost news channel in Kerala, India. Malayali (people from Kerala) can’t let a day go by without seeing it. They deliver the thought provoking, informative news everyday without fail. Asianet is synonymous with live news! It’s more than a channel, it’s a news temple that actively interferes with issues of current social-economic-cultural and political life of Kerala and the world.
Master strokes!
Vincent van Gogh
02 August 2007
Vincent van Gogh. While studying in art school onwards this great master’s work influenced my proletarian lifestyle. Van Gogh continues to exert a compelling fascination still. His emotional-restless-unique brush strokes gathered in a canvas conveyed the real life. Even 117 years after his death his paintings and drawings making a remarkable impact on us. Master strokes! Bowing down with love and respect to the great master of our time and beyond. Indeed a masterpiece Lovemark to the world.
Art is long. Life is short.
MoMA - The Museum of Modern Art
02 August 2007
Indeed. As an art enthusiast and a graphic designer, I would like to get lost, myself, in MoMA. My daughter Vaid said to me after reading "From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler" by E.L. Konigsburg, she would love to stay there as Claudia and her brother Jamie did. She would like to take her brother Dash too with her. Hope we can make it. Art is long. Life is short.
Breathtaking images
Arundhati Roy
09 August 2007
Arundhati Roy. Her debut novel "The God of Small Things" is an exotic reading experience for any Malayali (People of Kerala) or any English reader. Keen intriguing insight into human behaviour pattern. Breathtaking images. Simple and structured beauty of prismatic – sensuous words and nuances. Besides her writing, her activism for greater common good for people transformed her status as an engaging political interferer who represents a good human cause. Arundhathi is an activist and a writer Lovemark of India and the world.
A real Arabian Lovemark
Sultanate of Oman
10 August 2007
Sultanate of Oman. Living eleven long years in Muscat, Sultanate of Oman, I never felt I was a foreigner. All those eleven years no one asked about my faith. Mosque, temple and church in the same area denotes the good understanding and pluralistic nature this friendly country. More than that, I have felt the loving people and their hospitality. When it comes to nature, I have found it exceptionally clean and serene. Un-spoilt torquoise blue beaches of Qantab and Bandr-Jissah and the corniche of Muttrah Mountain ranges of jebel Akdhar and Jebel Shams, Falajs (underground water flowing system) of Nizwa and Ibri. Potters of Bahla. A night under a canopy of stars in the empty quarters of Wahiba Sands. Home-like (I mean Kerala, India) weather of southern capital of Oman, Salalah. (Rain and greenery)!! If there is a real Arabian Lovemark, it must be the Sultanate of Oman.
An emerging modern nation
India
15 August 2007
India synonymous harmony in art, music, culture, religion, language, food...It is an emerging modern nation with social and religious diversities. The basic principle of the idea of coexistence of faiths-Sarva–Dharma–Sambhava (means that all Dharmas (truths) are equal to or harmonious with each other) - makes our civilization great. We are not just tolerating each other, in fact, we have learnt to live, grow, learn together; as each of us remains devoted to our own individual faith, we have learn to respect the faith of another. The basis of our nationhood. It is this great great quality of our ancient but living civilization that makes me proud on this 60th year our independence. Indeed these values must be instilled in in every daughter and son of India and all countries. Long live the Indian republic. India, it is an emerging harmonious–modern Lovemark of Indians to the world. A Lovemark any civilized human being cannot deny.
Not just shopping
Dubai Shopping Festival
07 September 2007
DSF-Dubai Shopping Festival! Still remember my first participation in Dubai Shopping Festival with my wife Parvathi in 1996. It was not just shopping. Not just spending all your money. It was more than all that mere consumeristic mind-set. It was an exciting experience with retailing cum entertainment extravaganza. DSF. It is universal brotherhood, adventure, culture, tourism, fun, joy, colour, and of course a month long excitement! A real festival of happiness-indeed a state-of-mind!
A rhythmic Lovemark of India
A.R.Rahman
20 September 2007
A.R.Rahman is a revolutionary trendsetter in the world of contemporary Indian film music. Rahman is the rhythm of India in an international attire. Pride of the nation. Role model for millions around the world. His music move our inner sense and takes us to a world that words cannot describe. It is an experience that he creates. A magic made of sound and time. A.R.Rahman, a melodious, rhythmic Lovemark of India to the world.
Cannot live with out it!
Apple
20 September 2007
Apple keeps away the struggle at work. Cannot live with out it!
Made for designers by designers
Adobe
30 September 2007
Adobe is an inevitable ingredient in the world of design. An application made for designers by designers. Contribution of Adobe to the world is evident in all levels of our daily life. Adobe, future is with you. Adorable Adobe.
A virtual shelter for people like me
FreelanceSwitch
03 October 2007
FreelanceSwitch is a canopy for creative people all over the world. Indeed it is a virtual shelter for people like me who have just started freelancing along with my day job. It is a mine of abundant resources for freelancers, especially designers. A day with out visiting FreelanceSwitch is impossible because I cannot afford to miss my daily bread! Cyan Ta’eed and team are doing a great job.
A source of creative inspiration
HOW
13 October 2007
Graphic designers always need a mentor. HOW magazine is one of them. An experienced and trusted design adviser. A source of creative inspiration not just a design tutorial. A caring teacher of practical design business. A guide to design success. "How"- really helped me at work in many ways. Value for money. Value for design. What more I can ask for?
A true Apple Evangelist
Guy Kawasaki
18 October 2007
In the early 90s, I was a regular reader of Macworld magazine, not just because I was a Mac enthusiast but for Guy's column. He was spreading the Apple gospel and broken the mediocrity and traditions of average mindset. Indeed a true Apple Evangelist. And I am an early Apple convert!Thank you Guy. Just Guy. No Wise Guy!
It is a way of life
Apple
28 October 2007
It is very amusing to know when I think of Apple - a 21 inch flat iMac screen come to my mind - I do not think of that fruit. Magic of turning a fruit into a computer is very mysterious. And that too a forbidden fruit! Apple - It is a way of life. It gives you excitement and energy to produce meaningful experiences in the form of print and online. It is touching your mind and making positive vibrations to your senses. To an extreme, it is my religion! It is my life line! Thank you Apple.
You're done!
Amazon.com
28 October 2007
An online place where words are real experience. You're done! True signature line in its real spirits. They mean it. Always kept their promise. Amazing Amazon.com.
Chocolate and toy!
Kinder Surprise
12 November 2007
Kinder kindle my children Vaidehi & Dasharath. When they open Kinder Surprise - it arouses doubled excitement on their faces - chocolate and toy! Their little fingers put all the parts together while they had the egg shape chocolate. Surprise! Fun! Sweet! Happy children! What more a dad like me can ask for? Kids and Kinder-fun never ends!
What every country needs
Gandhi
12 November 2007
It is time each and every country need a "Gandhi".
I see Pantone
Pantone
22 November 2007
With Pantone my colour selection for design is credible. Final print is predictable and effective. Whenever I think in colour, I see Pantone. With Pantone I am sure about my colours.
A Great Big Hug in a Mug!
Batchelors
22 November 2007
Batchelors Soup. One sachet is always there in my laptop bag. Yes, my instant lunch at my work station. I was not for the packet food but Batchelors Soup is an exception. Minestrone flavour with croutons! Plenty of croutons, round little noodles, vegetables like tomato, carrot, peas, leeks and onion, along with the pale browney colour of the soup granules are swimming around in a warm mug pool!. Or delicious Mediterranean tomato! An aroma-filled-lunch-yet feeling light on your stomach. Indeed, every sachet of Batchelors is a Great Big Hug in a Mug!
People's president of India
Abdul Kalam
10 December 2007
Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam. Popularly known as APJ Abdul Kalam. People's president of India. A great inspiration leader to children and adults. A progressive mentor. His vision on transforming India into a developed nation by 2020 was well received by people and government. The only president asked by people of India to go for a second term for presidentship. Most distinguished scientist of India. He was the Chief Executive of Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme. A presidential lovemark of India by the people and for the people. Abdul Kalam, Salaam!
Curiously fruity!
Altoids
10 December 2007
Curiously fruity! Small and eagerly waiting Tangerine sours smiling at me. It is like biting an orange!
Celebrate little moments
Dunkin Donuts
15 December 2007
Pink and orange logo. My daughter and son - they could easily identify that logo anywhere. And I had to stop then and there to get them their favorite long johns and sugar coated donuts! And of course the tasty little munchkins! It's a way to celebrate little moments, any time, anywhere! Yum!
A living experience
IKEA
15 December 2007
What I could have done with out IKEA? A perfect combination of design, functionality, innovation and yes indeed the price. IKEA is a living experience. Every moment of my life. A real Lovemark that makes your life full of life and ample space.
A smile that continues...
Apple
19 December 2007
Apple keeps smiling at you! Other machines grin and bear it! Last Christmas, (see my post on 14 January 2007) I bought a new iMac 20" and it changed my life! Excitement never ends with Apple. A machine with so much humane quality! Apple is my friend and partner at work or home. Apple, a smile that continues.......
Let me write, draw, scribble
Moleskine
20 March 2008
I could not believe my eyes. Finally after so many years of waiting I could get Moleskine. Last week while I was in London and I found Moleskines in Waterstone's. Indeed it is like I have achieved some thing beyond my reach. Mmmm Moleskine, now let me write, draw, scribble....
Apple what more you can offer?!
Apple
20 March 2008
It is never too much to talk about a Macintosh machine. When I moved to a new place, my new workplace welcomed me with Mac Pro Quad-Core Intel Xeon processors and a 30inch Apple Cinema Display. Now it is very difficult to go home in the evening as I have only a 20inch iMac at home! Apple what more you can offer?!