Anjali Mody is a quiet influencer of tastes. A graduate in industrial design from the Rhode Island School of Design, Mody set up JOSMO Studio in Mumbai in 2010. The idea behind it is to serve niche and specific requirements for products and furniture, but by thinking out of the box. “The studio came into being organically and took form over the next few years into becoming a landmark design studio that provided custom-made solutions for clients,’ says Mody, who has in the past worked with Pinakin Pater and shadowed the late Dashrat Patel. She has also worked for Gray + Gustavsen in New York in 2008.
We ask her the story behind the name of her studio, “I wanted the name to be an expression of my identity, but in an abstract, personalised way. Those who know me, know me as Joss, and understand JOSMO’s origin,” says Mody. The design studio experiments in furniture, lighting design, interior spaces and sculptures. “As the founder, I try to bring in projects that challenge my team and make the work we do interesting and fulfilling,” says Mody, who spearheads a team of nine designers. They consist of industrial designers, interior designers and some that have a lifestyle and accessory design education. “We have a strong drafting and visualisation team that helps make raw ideas into tangible realities. I intend on keeping the size small to allow my designers to immerse themselves into the work they do. I strongly believe that once an organisation scales up, it fails at providing a custom experience and loses sight of the smaller details. We are all about the details,” she says.
JOSMO has a simple yet smart philosophy: ‘To provide an outstanding service to clients, be innovative and out of the box with thinking, and leave customer speechless with the end product,” says Mody.
The studio makes custom furniture to suit one’s space, mood and requirements. “Our pieces are detail-oriented and create a sense of wonderment in the person that owns them. Every piece speaks greatly of the person owning the piece, leaving an emotional mark on everything we create. It is sometimes this mandate that makes the design process time consuming and immersive,” explains the designer, who has recently started designing spaces as well.
“As it is a new vertical in the studio’s list of services, I take on projects whose mandates excite me,” she says. Last year, JOSMO completed the furniture for four private VIP suites at an upcoming hotel and casino in Daman. The space speaks of comfort and timeless elegance. Besides this, the studio has also worked on a residential project in Africa. “It is in a large gated community and has a beautiful outhouse and main house allowing me to play differently within the same project,” says Mody.
Understandably, the clients that visit JOSMO are looking for something that is cut above the rest. “We encourage experimental design decisions and help facilitate creating one-of-a-kind works of art that are functional as well as complex,” she says. On the process of making furniture, she says, “I use keywords to identify the emotion, aesthetic and vibe I want the furniture or space to have. Ideas are shared back and forth with material explorations through an immersive involvement between designer and customer. Once completed, we detail the piece out, get an approval from the client and get cracking on our beauties,” and adds, “I keep my customer involved till the last day of the project by sharing material samples and images of in-process work. I find this helps create a sense of excitement within the customer as well’
While JOSMO does not retail just yet (relying mostly on word of mouth), the studio plans to work on listing a few signatures pieces up on highly acclaimed e-commerce platforms in future.
What next? “Pooja Dhingra, the founder of Le15, has become a dear friend. We have worked on two of her spaces now and hope to continue this relationship for years to come. Besides that, we are designing a new experimental restaurant and bar for the owner of PDT and Pritam Hotel and should be ready to launch our collaborative efforts by later this year. I am also collaborating with a designer from Zimbabwe. We will be launching a high-end line of furniture inspired by reclaimed bones found in the jungles of Africa. This collection is very dear to my heart and has been a work in progress for over a year now,” says Mody.
For more information log on to www.josmostudio.com or check out instagram.com/josmostudio/