HarperCollins Publishers India is proud to announce the launch of a new imprint HarperDesign

10 December 2021

At Harper Design, we believe that design should be an inclusive playground of ideas, stories, and creative expression. Designers are storytellers who try to make sense of the world through their work, evolving intellectual and aesthetic trends that influence and reflect the attitudes of society at large.

Harper Design in India will be led by Bonita Vaz-Shimray, Art Director and Publisher of the imprint. ‘The books to be published under this imprint span a wide range of innovation across the field, and foreground design thinking and its convergence with the everyday. The goal is to make design accessible. With a dedicated imprint, we intend to publish a curated list that reflects the legacy of the tremendous work done by artists and designers in the subcontinent, which will make visible their role in shaping our future.’

‘In India, within our ten imprints, we publish a diverse catalogue of books across genres, languages, age groups and subjects. With the launch of the Harper Design imprint, our programme will now also publish the rich diversity of talent in arts and aesthetics.’ Ananth Padmanabhan, CEO, HarperCollins India

In its launch list, beginning in January 2022, Harper Design will publish three distinct voices. A Full Circle, an exquisitely illustrated book by artist and writer Namrita Bachchan, describes the magic of childhood and what the world looks like through the curious eyes of her free-spirited five-year-old as she explores the wonder of reading. An ode to the power of poetry, this is a book that will resonate with readers of all ages.

Mumbai: A City through Objects is in collaboration with the Bhau Daji Lad Museum, Mumbai—the erstwhile Victoria & Albert Museum in India—established in 1855 and one of the oldest museums in the subcontinent. The book chronicles the making of the city through object stories, that in turn reflect the history and evolution of the museum. The narrative, meticulously researched and woven by the director, Tasneem Zakaria Mehta, equally tells the story of Bombay’s impact in shaping the country.
JayaFlava is the story of Sri Lanka told through its diverse food history. With a hundred recipes representing various Sri Lankan communities and their rich traditions, and also including a sumptuous array of the country’s street food, this is a cookbook with a difference. Author Tasha Marikkar works in the field of advertising and events in London and Colombo, and is passionate about bringing her home cuisine to the world.
For later in the year, we have Influential Dining, that brings together a selection of the finest dining experiences in India. It has been curated by the brothers Ayaz and Zameer Basrai who have conceived and conceptualized some of the best restaurant spaces in India, such as The Bombay Canteen and Blue Frog.
To put the spotlight on the ever-expanding nature of user-centred design, there is Kiran Bir Sethi’s Human by Chance, Humane by Design, a unique book on design philosophy in education. Sethi is credited for an initiative to make our cities more child-friendly, and for ‘design for change’, a global movement to empower children.
Also joining the list is a co-publication with the Alkazi Foundation for the Arts, that highlights photography in the subcontinent through a social, historical, and political lens via seminal essays and works.

About HarperDesign
The HarperDesign imprint was launched in the 1980s in the US and has published under its banner a gorgeous range of illustrated books, including the bestselling classics series designed by Minalima with interactive elements. Iconic books include Maira Kalman’s My Favorite Things; Legendary Artists and The Clothes They Wore; Iris Apfel: Accidental Icon; Look, Cook, Eat and Heirloom Kitchen; the lifestyle guides Wabi Sabi and Lagom; the 150 ideas series; and a range of adult colouring books.

About HarperCollins
HarperCollins India publishes some of the finest writers from the Indian Subcontinent and around the world, publishing approximately 200 new books every year, with a print and digital catalogue of more than 2,000 titles across 10 imprints. Its authors have won almost every major literary award including the Man Booker Prize, JCB Prize, DSC Prize, New India Foundation Award, Atta Galatta Prize, Shakti Bhatt Prize, Gourmand Cookbook Award, Publishing Next Awards, Tata Literature Live! Award, Gaja Capital Business Book
Prize, BICW Award, Sushila Devi Award, the Sahitya Akademi Award and the Crossword Book Award. HarperCollins India also represents some of the finest publishers in the world including Harvard University Press, Gallup Press, OneWorld, Bonnier Zaffre, Usborne, National Geographic, Dover and Lonely Planet. HarperCollins India has been awarded the Publisher of the Year Award four times: at Publishing Next in 2015, and at Tata Literature Live! in 2016, 2018 and 2021.
HarperCollins India is a subsidiary of HarperCollins Publishers.

For more information, please reach out to: Jaseya Fazili | Jaseya.Fazili@harpercollins.co.in