On Stage Design Indaba 2016: Naresh Ramchandani

Naresh Ramchandani, communications and advertising partner at Pentagram’s London offices, is a self-confessed logophile and language geek. Ramchandani has realised something that many of us fail to – that words have immense power to change our moods, add rhythm and music to our everyday, and, in only a few simple sentences, trigger changes in mindset and behaviour that can alter our reality.

For his Design Indaba Conference Talk, Ramchandani created an ode to his eight favourite words, complete with short bespoke animations for each.

Ping pong
A joyful and unintellectual word that embodies not only the sound of the game but also the spirit of it too. It’s onomatopoeic, incredibly physical and reversible – “ping pong the name, just as ping pong the game, goes backwards and forwards”. Gnop-gnip would is every bit as ping pongy as ping pong itself.