The last stalwart of Radeus Advertising has passed away. Eustace Fernandes was the creator of the now famous 'Amul Girl' - the little adorable moppet who charms us from prominent hoarding sites. He used to call her his beloved 'Little Girl'.
How does one describe Eustace? Innovative, creative, generous, always ready to reach out to the needy, humorous. One runs out of words to describe a multi-talented person like Eustace. He not only created the the 'Amul moppet' but also the famous 'Limca waves' giving one a feeling of freshness.
It all began in an agency called Radeus Advertising. Advertising professionals today may not even have heard of it. Few know that its founder Mr K Kurian was the brain behind the so called quickies - the 10 seconder TV commercial. When Mr K Kurian realised that Parle Soft Drinks did not have a big enough budget to create awareness for their Limca brand, he came out with the solution of using quick 10 seconder TV commercials to create the right impact. During those days only 30 seconder TV commercials where in vogue as the medium was still virgin. To make the commercial stand out in the clutter of other commercials something memorable had to be incorporated into the commercial that customer would recall. So who did he ask to come to his aid - Eustace Fernandes of course! The then famous art director of Radeus Advertising.
In fact Radeus was coined from two names - Radhika, the copywriter and Eustace, the art director. Eustace always rose to any challenging situations. Not only coming up with innovative and path breaking ideas but executing them as well to perfection. As a creative person he was humble with no ballerina tactics. Eustace always delivered. There never was an occasion when he failed to come up with not just one brilliant concept but with options too.
Radeus was a place where future geniuses were created. It all began at ASP, but the culture moved on to Radeus thanks to Mr K Kurian and Eustace Fernandes. Living legends like Shyam Benegal and Prahlad Kakkar began their careers at Radeus. It was a great place to build a great future. The grounding was thorough. You did not require an MBA to hone your skills. Kurian and Eustace were the masters you could learn from.
Unfortunately for me I met Eustace towards the fag end of his glorious career. But I am grateful that I got an opportunity to get to know him. He brought joy, happiness and wit in my life. He not only adopted me as his dear friend but my entire family. My mother - though she never met him - used to fondly call him 'my beloved son'. His cards on all occasions were a joy to receive. Each of my family members used to eagerly await his cards either on birthdays, or on Christmas or New Year or Easter.
One particular card stands out in our memory. Caroline, my younger sister whom we fondly call Carol had delivered a little beautiful baby girl. It was such a joyous occasion and Eustace captured it well by creating a unique card.
He had managed to capture Carol's curly hair and her impish smile on the cover of the card. A wonderful graphic description of Carol.
Inside it simply said:
"We always had a Carol in our home. Now we have a chorus."
Thats creativity. That was Eustace! How does one say a farewell to a guy like Eustace? He will always be with us.
Read more:
Jameel Gulrays' tribute to Eustace Fernandes
A journalist remembers: Saurabh Turakhia's tribute to Eustace Fernandes.
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