The designer, Jhunjhun, with a degree in object design from Singapore, majored in 3D design from Britain and launched Outlin'd in 2017 at The London Design Festival.
Outlin'd has worked on a range of placemats, coasters, wine trays and holders, bookmarks, etc. The studio doesn't print, emboss or engrave on cork but has found a way to burn the material to mark its products to render permanency to the products.
All cork; on wine bottles, for furniture, and other items; can be recycled multiple times. Doesn't this make cork invincible? Maybe!
Outlin'd has worked on a range of placemats, coasters, wine trays and holders, bookmarks, etc. Most of the products that are made in wood, can be created in cork.
"The idea here is to embed ideas and imagery that we want to preserve into everyday products; like Indian architecture," – Jhunjhun.
The studio doesn't print, emboss or engrave on cork but has found a way to burn the material to mark its products to render permanency to the products. The other challenge is the fact that Jhunjhun's designs and line-drawings are too intricate to be engraved.
Outlin'd, launched in September 2017 at the London Design Festival, is a studio that works with cork. They create utilitarian cork products and burn them to imprint outlines derived from various concepts. The first being the forts and palaces of India, followed by 'Jaalis' and 'Jharokas' from Mughal architecture. CQ engaged in a candid conversation with Jhunjhun Jain on the material, the practice and their endeavours towards sustainability.
Delhi-based Outlin`d imports cork from Spain and burns its surface to create designs on it. Would you call them eco-friendly? You bet! Jhunjhun Jain, the designer was introduced to the material during her Masters' of Product Design at the Loughborough University, Leicestershire, England. She reminisces, "In college we experimented with materials; strengths, limitations and what new we could do with them. Once my seniors tried working with cork and things didn't work out as anticipated and we had much material left. I got interested and when I looked it up, I realised that cork can replace wood almost 80% of the time." And she was hooked!
Cut to 2019, Outlin'd is working on researching and developing products made from cork. Cork is derived from the outer bark of the Cork tree, found in Spain and Portugal. The bark is harvested and processed into flat workable pieces. And the tree grows its bark back! No trees are cut and there is zero resource deficit. The embodied energy consumption is high but since the Asian belt cannot grow cork, Outlin'd is left with no option given the plethora of advantages that cork holds. "All cork; on wine bottles, for furniture, and other items; can be recycled multiple times", says Jhunjhun. Does this makes cork invincible? "You can bury cork and it will disperse into the earth," Jhunhjun replies.
"The idea here is to embed ideas and imagery that we want to preserve into everyday products; like Indian architecture," quips Jhunjhun.
Secondly, the studio does not create an inventory. They produce limited pieces to showcase the brand's capabilities and ideas. Jhunjhun elaborates, "Even if your material is 100% eco-friendly and you make hundreds of them and there's no buyer or if takes a long time to sell, it's still not sustainable." Outlin'd has worked on a range of placemats, coasters, wine trays and holders, bookmarks, etc. The studio doesn't print, emboss or engrave on cork but has found a way to burn the material to mark its products to render permanency to the products. The other challenge is the fact that Jhunjhun's designs and line-drawings are too intricate to be engraved. "The idea here is to embed ideas and imagery that we want to preserve into everyday products; like Indian architecture," quips Jhunjhun.
Outlin'd is currently working on a range of diaries with cork covers. The covers are being burnt to imprint colloquial phrases and sentences. The diary series with colloquial phrases will begin with Chennai city and Tamil quotes. Post Chennai, the studio is looking to travel to other places and explore languages. CQ is surely following!
For more on Outlin'd, go here!