The day we started working on No-Mad, our Creative Director Valerie Barkowski was very clear on two things. The brand had to be called No-Mad and the visual identity had to have the Indian cow as a logo. Ably assisted by Paris based designer, Geraldine Glisic, Valerie was able to get a logo made to her liking, an Indian cow in drawing format. Always ready to come up with creative ideas, Valerie decided that we now needed to shoot a real cow. Sounds crazy right ? Several options were discussed…shoot a trio of cows on the beaches of Alibag ? Maybe paint our designs on them? Would that be possible ? Maybe or maybe not.
Keeping it rational, we eventually decided to shoot at a local cow shed in suburban Mumbai, that provided the magical setting and four-legged friends, which helped us create the iconic imagery that has become a signature of the No-Mad universe.
We set out one morning with photographer Asmita Parelkar in search of our subjects. Some cows stood tethered to the traditional pull-carts, others fed their calves or enjoyed grass themselves, and a few sat on all fours lounging around with complete ease. It was Indian street life at its best !
The animals were gentle, patient and charming from every angle. The showstopper pose, however, was undoubtedly of Nandi gazing straight at the camera, which still remains a favorite amongst friends of No-Mad ! So overwhelming was the response to our visual identity, we eventually extended it to products like Nandi posters, canvas prints, dolls and postcards, almost a small department within the No-Mad collection. Shop the Nandi Portraits and Dolls HERE
Explore a pictorial journey through India on our Pinterest Page HERE
