In India, design has always been a part of everyday life. Indian Festive Decoration is very diverse and rich in terms of its graphical elements and patterns. Its found everywhere, on objects, artifacts, environments, religion, occasions and events. Decoration has evolved through centuries with the influence of new materials and techniques.
For example, Rangoli was used to decorate the entrances of homes, a floor-painting which provided a warm welcome to visitors. Every region in India has its own interpretation of Rangoli. With the help of technology, this art has been reproduced in the form of stickers. Though the technology has helped to reproduce the traditional art form, but because of mass production, the creative variations of forms that were inherent to these art forms have been lost.
Here is an attempt to document decorations that are readily available in the market, with varied forms and patterns. The main area where almost all kinds of decoration material is available in Mumbai is around Dadar station. Before every festival the area has lanes filled with decorations, which come from different parts of the country. The festivals covered were - Ganesh Chathurthi, Navratri, Durga Pooja, Dassera and Diwali.
The documentation consisted of lamps, lanterns, torans, pots, rangoli stickers, garlands. These were then visually analysed on the basis of shape, colour, level of intricacy, repeated patterns and motifs. The major recurring decorative elements were graphically reduced to basic elements. These were further used for creating patterns of various kinds.