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ShareWhen FoleyDesigns in Bangalore won the contract to create the Commonwealth Games baton for the 2010 games in December 2008, managing director and chief designer Michael Foley already had a plan in place. He wanted the baton to be representative not just of Indian design values but also carry a tangible piece of India with it, while, at the same time, be as much about technology as good aesthetics.
Michael Foley, a National Institute of Design graduate who headed Titan Design Studio for many years and is often counted as one of India's top 10 product designers (with top-notch business and design magazines doing the ranking), is quick to point out that creating the baton was very much a team effort. While quite a few members of the FoleyDesigns team were involved in the project, also collaborating were Titan Industries and Bharat Electronics Ltd.
The baton, which took pride of place at the Commonwealth ceremony in London recently when it was handed over by the British Queen to Indian President Pratibha Patil, has turned out to be an authentic representative of old and new India. Made of 18-carat gold and aluminum, 664 mm in height and weighing in at 1,900 grams, the baton is helical in shape with gold leaf patras engraved on its body, the patra (leaf shape) being an ancient Indian motif.
The team at FoleyDesigns also hit upon the idea of making the baton truly representative of India by enclosing soil from all Indian states in it. Abrasive manufacturers Carborundum Universal was responsible for layering the baton with thin sheets of soil collected by the Indian Army.
The baton is also capable of lighting up in the flag colours of all the 70 countries it passes through. Athletes carrying the Bluetooth-enabled baton can also record their messages, images and sounds on it. The location of the baton can be tracked throughout its journey through an embedded GPS system.
Foley is justifiably proud of being associated with this mammoth project. "I travelled to London for the ceremony and it was quite a thrill watching it being handed over by the Queen to our President," says Foley. "We decided to pitch for this project not just because of the prestige associated with it but because it's a matter of pride for India. We wanted to do the best job possible," he adds.
As Titan's design head, Foley created watches, sunglasses and lifestyle products and was behind some of the company's most talked-about brands such as Titan Edge, the world's slimmest watch, and Fastrack, the youth brand that became a best-seller across age groups. While he worked independently as well during his years at Titan, he finally gave up his full-time job to set up his own design studio a couple of years ago. "I was eager to explore other design categories," says Foley.
While FoleyDesigns has worked on projects as varied as interiors of restaurants (Civet, F Bar and Lounge) to designing stores (Enamor, Fastrack) and lifestyle accessories (Tanishq, Innoviti), Foley is very excited about designing for public spaces. He believes there has been a silent design revolution in India with homeowners becoming more and more conscious about their style sensibilities, but he feels this has the potential to extend beyond our immediate surroundings.
"Now design has to go beyond homes. It has to penetrate public spaces," he says. "There's so much scope for innovation and great design in our public spaces, be it bus-stops or park benches," adds Foley, who finds working on lighting systems most exciting and who designed the tree-shaped, fractals-inspired streetlights in Cubbon Park.
Currently, FoleyDesigns is ideating on waste disposal and expects to complete a prototype within the next few months and approach the city's civic agencies. And don't think that means some fuddy-duddy, boring old garbage-maker. If Michael Foley's behind it, expect a technological marvel that is strong on both form and functionality.
