Earth. Root. Thread.
All-dyed Handloom Textiles of Central India

Earth. Root. Thread. is a coffee table book dedicated to Aal dyeing — a centuries-old natural dyeing tradition practised by the Panika weavers of Kotpad, Odisha, and the Bastar region of Chhattisgarh. Aal, derived from the roots of Morinda citrifolia — the Indian mulberry tree — produces the deep terracottas, reds, and chocolate browns that are the unmistakable signature of this tradition. A single lot of yarn takes 25 to 30 days to dye, passing through castor oil, cow dung, and ash water before it ever meets the dye bath. The book documents not just the technique, but the lives of the artisans who carry it, the landscape that sustains them, and the contemporary designers who have brought this ancient material into modern clothing.

We were commissioned to design the layouts for the book — tasked with finding a visual language that could hold the weight of the subject without overwhelming it. The entire colour palette was drawn directly from the dye itself: the warm terracottas, deep reds, and earthy browns that Aal yields across its various stages and applications. The footer running through the book's pages was derived from the handwoven border patterns found at the ends of traditional Pata saris from the region — a quiet but deliberate gesture that brings the textile's own geometry into the design of the pages that document it.

The challenge of designing a book about material culture is that the design must earn its place — present enough to set a tone, invisible enough to let the subject breathe. Here, every typographic and layout decision was anchored in the textiles themselves: the irregularity of handwoven cloth, the rhythm of the loom, the depth of a dye that takes weeks to fully realise. The book moves from earth to root to thread — from landscape to process to finished garment — and the design follows that same unhurried progression.