GHRA

Honoring Your Transitions

Ryan Gross

KEYWORDS

Project

Ghra is fragrance inspired by aromatic functionality and built alongside mindful leaders and shamans from around the globe. It’s an ephemeral tool to help guide and
awaken a sense of ritual in you. The word Ghra is a Sanskrit route related to smell within the word jighrati which means to ‘perceive by smell.’ The brand is mindful, whole and label-less as Ghra is crafted to inspire the connection to the present in order to reestablish transition. This is achieved by our fragrance ritual sets where each fragrance set has instructions for ritual initiation in order to cleanse and invite grounding through our essences and guided rituals.

challenge

This was a project that came to me before my senior year in a class Beyond the Visual, then moved with me through the beginning of the pandemic into Capstone 1 and then ending here in Capstone 2. Last semester I spent the time thinking about the way I interact in my home while also talking to members of the community to better understand the importance of space. I found that the more I was able to create moments for myself or find ways to separate work from play, the easier It was for me to connect to the present and move through my day. With that, I noticed the impact of the routine that I have created with my personal fragrances. The way that I blend different scents that allows me to trigger memory or a sense of calm—or any feeling—in order to connect to myself. This semester, I built out the embodiment of that research and recognition—which is Ghra. The challenges I faced were simplicity, flexibility, respect and allowance—helping me guide the brand throughout a pandemic landscape.

Outcome

GHRA has been an amazing journey. I have got the incredible opportunity to connect with topics I cherish and respect along with talking to people that have amazing insights on life and our global community. Given the pandemic, Ghra took on a few different shapes and I met with prototyping challenges due to accessibility, but my original hypothesis that creating more space for ourselves, and using tools for connection is beneficial, and that remained the thread behind the brand—shaping the offering of Ghra:
Ghra is the moment that you take for yourself. The symbolic offering that enables us to create the time for ourselves—to recognize. To enjoy the little things. Take deep breaths. Move from one thing to the next seamlessly. Find the joy in smelling things, in dancing like nobody's watching, in experiment, play, and imagination. Accept the process.