Nov. 10-25
A conversation with the award-winning Founder & Chief Creative Director of Lopez Design, on design as a reflection of culture, the importance of clarity, and authentic expression.
As part of our Indian Design in Focus series, we recently caught up with award-winning designer Anthony Lopez, Founder and Chief Designer of Lopez Design, a strategic design consultancy that helps organizations define their identity and build clear, cohesive branding systems.
Founded in 1997, Lopez Design has evolved into a multidisciplinary practice focused on strategy, branding, and experience design. The firm’s work spans brand, product, spatial, and service design—each shaped by a thoughtful, human-centered approach that blends creativity with purpose.
Guided by the philosophy of ‘Dare to be authentic,’ the studio’s design process emphasizes clarity, collaboration, and cultural relevance. Over the years, the studio has helped shape the identities of brands and organizations, including the Murugappa Group, Ayushman Bharat, Accel Atoms, and the Kartavya Path initiative.
Over the course of our conversation, Lopez reflects on what defines Indian design, how traditional craft informs modern practice, and why authenticity, clarity, and discernment remain central to meaningful design in an era shaped by technology and change.
Indian design doesn’t emerge from a single aesthetic. It comes from navigating complexity. What sets it apart is its instinct to synthesise the ancient with the modern, the spiritual with the functional, and the handmade with the engineered. At its best, Indian design is layered, adaptive, and alive.
Our work draws deeply from traditional Indian craft. Not through motifs or surface language, but through systems thinking embedded in temple architecture, the user-oriented logic of Indian streets, and the ritual design of how space and symbolism evolve.
Indian design doesn’t emerge from a single aesthetic. It comes from navigating complexity.
We’re shaped by global influences too, but we don’t borrow. We distill. The goal is to uncover what is true and essential in each context.
That line is central to our philosophy. Design isn’t about invention. It’s about stripping noise away to reveal something enduring. At LOPEZ, we work to uncover the essential truth of an organisation, its irreducible purpose. Once that’s found, everything else aligns.
Form follows truth. That’s our method.
We applied this in projects like Ayushman Bharat, where we weren’t just branding a healthcare program but reshaping how millions experience trust and dignity.
Or with Nestaway, where the identity system needed to feel deeply personal yet flexible enough to grow with young urban migrants.
Yes. But boldness doesn’t always mean louder or riskier; it means more honest. The best clients today are seeking clarity, not gimmicks. They understand that enduring design builds alignment and preference, not just impressions.
Boldness doesn’t always mean louder or riskier; it means more honest.
We encourage bold decisions by showing clients how design can simplify complexity and build lasting trust. Our work on Accel Atoms is a strong example of clarity at the pre-seed stage, designed to scale with founder conviction.
AI is flooding the world with solutions, but not with judgment. The real opportunity for Indian design lies in discernment. In the digital age, design must become a framework for responsible decision-making.
Our edge isn’t in tools, it’s in how we think. The wisdom economy is arriving. Design must become the filter.
Design education in India still straddles the space between craft and conceptual thinking. While there are strong institutions, we need more rigorous inquiry and less mimicry. The opportunity today is enormous; students have global access to tools, ideas, and networks.
Design education in India still straddles the space between craft and conceptual thinking.
But in a world of infinite inputs, the real challenge is knowing how to edit, refine, and build systems that solve for complexity. This is where exceptional designers stand out and where design education should concentrate its efforts.
(As an ambidextrous studio, we shape value and drive meaningful impact in diverse fields.)
Ayushman Bharat, part of the National Health Mission, represents India’s largest healthcare initiative. The identity system we developed challenged us to design at the intersection of governance, trust, and social dignity.
For the Bihar Museum, we created branding, communication, and behaviour-shaping systems rooted in cultural sensitivity and intuitive design.
With Accel Atoms, we created a dynamic brand system that evolves, scales, and embodies the spirit of a founder’s journey.
Kartavya Path, within the Central Vista redevelopment, involved a wayfinding and signage project of national importance, bringing coherence, accessibility, and respect to a public space that holds deep meaning for India.
From the pashmina shawls of Kashmir to the Durga Puja pandals of Kolkata, from the mirror work of Kutch to the stepwells of Gujarat and the temple geometry of Tamil Nadu, Indian design manifests in diverse forms across regions.
Each region reflects a distinct synthesis of craft, thinking, and ritual, demonstrating how design is deeply integrated with climate, culture, and everyday life.
Dashrath Patel, Ashoke Chatterjee, and M.P. Ranjan – all thinkers and doers who shaped the foundation of design in India.
Ahmedabad’s Manek Chowk by night, Delhi’s Chandni Chowk by day – the streets of India are where improvisation, diversity, and instinct collide. Innovation here is born from necessity, shaped by context, and carried through generations.
Intelligence and inspiration are woven into every corner of India’s cities, where the urban fabric is unparalleled in richness.
To learn more, visit thisislopez.com
All images provided by Lopez
