Identity Creation ⋆ insidereview

As the Senior Vice President who has been closely associated to the journey of the brand, Dinesh Vyas shares a fundamental understanding of the range of factors involved in the development of a brand or a product at H & R Johnson (India) through a ‘user-centric’ thought process.

Role of Design

Discussing industrial ceramics and ceramic tiles, in particular, the purpose is defined by a three-fold objective: Durability, Aesthetics, and Functionality. A tiled surface is designed with the intention to last for a long duration of time apart from being integrated into an aesthetic aspiration of an overall palette. This means that the functionality and aesthetics must have a much longer life without any objectionable decay or loss of sheen. In that sense, aesthetics, which is often considered to be an artistic endeavour – dealing with colour, design flow, touch etc – also needs to be a consideration of durable use.

Johnsons’s Tactiles used in public spaces such as bus stops to endure high traffic

Design in industrial ceramics involves multiple disciplines. The first one is ceramic engineering. It imparts desired mechanical strength and dimensional attributes to the tile body and the top, visible surface of the tile. The second aspect includes graphical combinations of shades, detailing and an overall visual appeal. Since surfaces are designed to be integrated with different environments of usage, it requires intuitive design expertise from architects, interior designers and other such professionals from diverse fields of design.

‘Lifestyle’ and the constantly changing definitions: H & R Johnson proposes an alternate understanding that basis itself in well-being

The essential components of a contemporary lifestyle – the foundational ideas for design at H & R Johnson

Not Just Tiles, Lifestyles

‘Lifestyle’ is a constantly changing attribute of our society, and with every change, there are certain unconventional nuances that gain prominence. It is widely known but not well-accepted that lifestyle, in a way, is also a reflection of wealth and power. Having our positioning as ‘Not just tiles, Lifestyles’, we have launched Stain-Free and Germ-Free tiles which cater to ‘health & hygiene’, Anti-Static and Anti-Skid tiles for concerns of ‘safety’, slimmer but stronger tiles and cool-roof tiles that address the concern for our fast-depleting resources and the urban heat islands respectively – in short, our ‘concern for the environment’.

We believe in empowering people for ‘making informed decisions’.

To sustain these efforts, we have introduced the ‘House of Johnson’ Experience Centres across the country where our trained staff can help and guide every customer – even if unaided by a qualified architect or designer – about the best options to suit their needs, budgets and aesthetic requirements. At Johnson, we have over 3000 products across over twenty categories – ensuring a ‘freedom of choice’ for every type of customer for any need that they may have. Overall, our effort is to design ceramic tiles that can push the envelope with their enhanced performance attributes and add value to the society in as many ways as possible.

Industrial Tiles for Server Rooms

Germ-free & Stain-free Tiles for Hospitals

20 mm thick Meteor Series Industrial Tiles for Garages

Germ-Free Tiles for domestic use

Cool Roof Tiles for reduced heat gain used in domestic and commercial spaces

Co-Creation

Collaborating with architects and designers on exclusive projects has been very rewarding for us as a company. The scale, however, could be an issue as ours is a process involving mass-production. But with present-day technology, I think that a lot many projects could be customised where the requirement is of a few thousand square meters. We are part of an industry where design is driven by architects and interior designers. In this way, we consider ourselves as co-creators within the same fraternity – thus trying to involve ourselves beyond just ‘a product’ as a deliverable.

There is constant effort from our end to positively influence the fraternity by way of having a physical and digital presence.

Designing industrial ceramics is an iterative process that involves much back-and forth between design, production and marketing teams

Co-Creating flooring ideas with Ar Swapnil Patil for a cricket pavilion

[IN]SIDE is a Print + Digital content initiative by H & R Johnson and Matter for the fraternity of architects and designers in India

We are also associated with a few design institutions and architecture bodies apart from encouraging and promoting good publications and design conclaves on contemporary architecture and design such as the [IN]SIDE journal and the Frame Conclave on ‘Modern Heritage’ in Goa. Our ultimate aim is to qualify as a collaborator in design with the very diverse architecture and design community of our country, therein helping us enrich our conversations and thus, products ⊗