There are two things a brand must understand well—its purpose and its patrons. Ellementry seems to have hit the nail on the head with both. Which is why despite the economic slump of the last two months, it has remained afloat with hope, perseverance and a fiery passion for craft. Steering this boat in the direction of success is its founder, Ayush Baid.
Choosing to stay active during the lockdown, he used his time productively to conceptualise two new terracotta summer collections—Knurl, a serveware and drinkware collection, and Sienna, a bakeware collection; in addition to a ceramic one called Rustic Sage. “I was determined to use this period to my advantage so that when we did open for business, our customers would have something distinct to look forward to,” says 24-year-old Baid, whose two-year-old Jaipur-based brand has made a big name for itself in a short period of time.
While Sienna is inspired from things such as an earthen chulha (hearth), mud huts, in addition to the overall aesthetic of The Golden Cit, Jaisalmer, Knurl is spurred by a minimalist Scandinavian design form, accented with elements of Japanese craft. “Rustic Sage, on the other hand, is inspired by nature’s graceful ageing process, and the greens and browns that mark every stage in a plant’s life,” he explains.
The artistry of the brand lies in the simple, the subtle and the basic. It’s about making small things beautiful. “We also believe in being vocal about local, like the art of handmade craft. Every piece you see here is made by adroit professionals who care about what they do,” shares Baid. Using wood, eco-mix, glass, terracotta, brass, ceramic, cane and more, sustainability lies at the core of this brand. “The Sienna collection is conceptualised from the iron-rich soil of the ancient city of Sienna, once used as a yellowish-brown colour. One of our wooden collections, Frangipani, is an ode to the beautiful flower that our artisans have hand-painted on wood,” he says.
In the quickly changing design world, Baid has realised something important. It’s that a deeper, empathetic understanding of how people experience a space or product has become more important now. It’s that first rush of feeling that one experiences when they pick up a product that makes all the difference. “It must make them feel happy for them to include it into their home space/office space, otherwise it’ll just be another object lying in the corner,” he says.
There are a few more things that the brand has included in its list of responsible branding. The large window panels at their headquarters in Jaipur, allow sunlight to trickle in, thereby reducing the mindless consumption of electricity. “The earthen pots insulation system is used to reduce the heat further,” he says, adding, “Another feature is our active sustainable design wherein we’ve implemented high-efficiency electrical, plumbing, HVAC, and other systems, designed to have minimal environmental footprints while creating energy and comfort.”
Add to that the renewable energy system that Ellementry has put in place. Eighty percent of their energy requirement is fulfilled by solar panels. They’ve also used eco-friendly building material such as fly ash bricks and reclaimed industrial wood. For packing, they use eco-friendly honeycomb material.
How did Baid come to be in the business of product design? He studied data analytics and nuances of e-commerce from the University College of London. In the beginning, he promoted his father, the award-winning Indian handicraft products exporter, Dileep Baid’s B2B business but later decided to tap into the B2C market for handmade home products, especially in the niche kitchenware category. That’s how Ellementry was born.With a strong inclination towards value-based branding, Ellementry has chiselled its way into being what one can call a modern brand with firm roots in the ground, ready to grow into something worthwhile.
The artistry of the brand lies in the subtle and the basic. It’s about making small things beautiful by using natural materials such as eco-mix, terracotta, brass, ceramic, cane and more.