Directions
Idam Design works through a set of primary directions, each developed with its own depth and public presence.
Two related practices — Idam Heritage and Tabula Rasa — share the studio’s founding members and inform its work, while operating independently.
UX and Interface Design
UI and interface design has been part of the studio’s work from its earliest years. We design interfaces, systems, and digital products for startups and organisations.
Our approach begins with observation. We study how people actually use and understand systems, develop interface patterns grounded in behaviour, and build structures that are clear, scalable, and durable. Past work includes UI design patterns for new enterprise platforms such as JLL in the United States.
If you are looking for a UI/UX design partner, see our work here.
India Nearby
India Nearby is the studio’s primary self-initiated cultural initiative. It translates long-term field research, heritage documentation, and ecological study into forms that can be explored and owned — field guides, illustrated publications, curated journeys, and the Go Explore™ range.
The work begins with a simple premise: much of India’s ecological and cultural richness remains inaccessible to a general audience. Each project identifies a place, a species, or a moment of history, and gives it a form that can be carried, used, and returned to.
Launched in 2018, the initiative has completed multiple field journeys and developed its first body of work. It resumes its next phase in May 2026.
Secret of Kavaledurga
Secret of Kavaledurga is a narrative-driven interactive game set in and around the hill fort of Kavaledurga, Karnataka — a site the studio has documented extensively through fieldwork.
The game is built on primary research. Ecology, architecture, and sound are not treated as background, but as active elements within the experience. The player encounters the fort through exploration, gathering its history through movement rather than instruction.
The project is currently in development.
Related Practices
The following practices share the studio’s founders and research foundation, and operate under their own identities.
Idam Heritage
Idam Heritage is a heritage documentation and research practice, active since 2003. It forms the research base from which India Nearby and Secret of Kavaledurga have developed.
Work includes measured drawings of temples, stepwells, forts, and palaces across Gujarat, Rajasthan, and Karnataka; archaeological documentation for the Archaeological Survey of India and the Indian Archaeological Society; and museum design for institutions including ONGC, ASI, and the Indian Institute of Heritage (formerly National Museum Institute, New Delhi).
Tabula Rasa
Tabula Rasa is Hetal Pandya’s independent architectural practice, working across residential architecture, interiors, and landscape. Its work is developed through close attention to site, material, and use, often employing low-impact construction methods.
The practice operates independently, with occasional exchange of ideas within a shared studio environment.
Idam (इदम) — “this, here, the present.”
The studio’s work begins from immediate experience — observing carefully, designing thoughtfully, and building works that unfold over time.