The Design Jedi of First Order of The High Council of National Institute of Design Vijayawada Part 2

The next three Jedi have shared their work on instructables. These put their head and heart into making these objects.

Medzer

Wo_Le

Wo_Le

Wo_Le

Tuki

Tuki

Tuki

Tuki

Medzer

 

• Tanya’s Wo_Le

Making a laptop accessory box for yourself. Tanya was facing the issue of space in her laptop bag and the pouch which she used for keeping her laptop accessories. It is not only very bulky but also takes up a lot of horizontal space rather than vertical, hence making it difficult for her to carry all her stuff in bag. So, She decided to make a laptop accessory box which would use the vertical space of the bag as well as not be bulky. She used Leather and Teak Wood for making the box.

Wo_Le

Wo_Le

Wo_Le

• Rohan’s The Tuki Stand

The TUKI stand is a guitar stand inspired by the beak of the Toucan bird. It is portable and can fit inside a guitar cover easily. You can carry it with you whenever you want and can put your guitar on it instead of leaning it against a wall which might cause it to fall. It is made of scrap packaging wood (pine wood) which is easily available anywhere, but you can also make it in teak or any other hard wood. The design was inspired by the toucan bird to give the stand a character. The toucan bird’s beak shaped design signifies a strong and rigid structure.

The Tuki

The Tuki

The Tuki

The Tuki

• Saikat’s Medzer – Medicine Organizer

Medzer is a medicine organizer kit which aims to make the accessing and knowing about medicines when needed, a very easy task. Because many a times, it’s emergency, it’s important that your first aid kit is neatly organized and easily accessible to everyone. Medzer consists of clear slots so that you can know and see each items location in the kit instead of digging through a box of messy supplies. As easy to refill as to sort through, it’s very informative and portable too.

Medzer

Medzer

Medzer

Medzer

Medzer

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The Design Jedi of First Order of The High Council of National Institute of Design Vijayawada

After doing two intensive workshops with the crazy bunch at NID Paldi, I was asked if I would like to go and met the crazy folks at NID Vijayawada. After teaching at a design school with six decades of legacy, it seemed like an interesting opportunity and experiment.

National Institute of Design, Vijayawada is a design school in Vijayawada, India. The Institute started functioning on 7 September 2015. It is currently being run in its transit campus at Acharya Nagarjuna University, Guntur, Andhra Pradesh. The institute functions as an autonomous body under the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, Ministry of Commerce and Industry.

I was asked to facilitate the 1st Industrial Design batch of NID V, who are in their third year right now. So, before I started there was a bit of a pressure to be teaching the first ever batch of a design school, as these guys are going to set benchmarks for the institute and the future students. The workshop was on the basis of “Making for the Real World”, which was done at NID Paldi. I call them the The Design Jedi of First Order of The High Council of National Institute of Design Vijayawada

 

I had no clue about how the institute was, what sort of resources they have, how the students were, the skill level, the exposure and also what were they looking forward to. When you have to facilitate 18 people on a one to one basis, it’s important to know they ambitions and aspirations.

We started the two week workshop by informal introduction and then each one of them was asked to tell someone who’s work they appreciated and why. Some usual names were there and some unusual ones as well. Then I shared what was the intentions of the workshop, a basic introduction to making, open source and digital fabrication was given to them.

As the institute is working from a transit campus it didn’t make much sense to get these guys to make objects for the studio space only. I asked them to pick ten things they would like to work on. These could be things they need in their day to day life or something which is missing. Everyone put up their list on the softboards and we discussed as a what each student should be making. Once the domain was decided, these guys got down to do online research and look at similar objects and come up with a reference bank and then start ideating on the basic form factor.

Everyone had to come up with multiple concepts and then all the concepts were discussed collectively and changes were suggested. The next phase was to develop some of the concepts and make quick lo-fi prototypes and see how things look and feel.

While all this was happening we were discussing open source, making and consumerism etc whenever we got time. And we also screened Shenzhen: The Silicon Valley of Hardware by WIRED to give the students the idea of what is happening in the world in terms of manufacturing, engineering and design. This one documentary ends up opening a lot of people’s eyes about manufacturing, making and open source.

These guys were progressing by making more detailed plans and models of the objects they had picked and we also started talking about the materials and processes which we’ll be using in making. And while all this was going on we reached Friday.

We also planned a basic introductory electronics workshop for the students over the weekend. For this two special guests Jon Rogers and Jens Alexander arrived to NID V on Friday evening. We introduced them with Arduino boards and got them to tinker around with basic output components. Within a matter of three hours the students were making LEDs blink, servos move and buzzers beep. It was really impressive. We had a small demo party in the courtyard.

We spent the entire next day working with Arduino and also introduced other output and input components. They had to come up with different stories using the electronics and it was really nice to see these guys who had never worked with electronics coming up with brilliant ideas and stories. And on Sunday we had a small feedback session with Jon and Jens sharing what they could do in future. Everyone had a really nice and eventful time during the weekend.

 

The next week everyone shifted to workshop and got into making their objects. A lot of new tools, processes and techniques were introduced during the time spent in the workshop. Everyone was in a state of flow and doing really nice work. By the time the week got over, most of the prototypes had reached functional stage, they required some aesthetical tweaking like painting and finishing.

 

And on Friday evening we sat down to discuss the learning we had over the past two weeks and also to critique each others work. One thing which was common among everyone was that they knew what their friends were doing as they were sharing their work and progress with each other since beginning. A lot of people got to appreciate the scale of things, some got to learn how important and critical are measurements and dimensions. For some it was just a reinforcement of the idea that they need to make more.

I was really content by the end of the workshop as everyone had outdone themselves and put them in a spot where they gave their best to learn new things and from each other. That’s the point of design to an extent, to make people believe that they can change the world by taking small steps at a time.

 

I’ll share the work of few of these Design Jedi in this post and will write a few more posts with others work in future.

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• Doi’s X-Tool

The X-tool is a neat substitute for seating arrangements at social gatherings. Light weight makes it easy to move and re-arrange. Combine the Xtools and create a large table like structure for playing board games etc. The structure has been planned in such a way it creates minimum wastage and can been carved out from a single plank of wood. The three components have been ergonomically designed for 95 percentile.

X-Tool component layout

X-Tool details

X-Tool

 

• Udita’s Table Z

It is a sitting and standing table which involves various functionalities, that can accommodate 4-6 people to sit or stand.

Ready to activate classroom /office /workshop /dining, Table Z offers the core sit-stand features and functionality that help support positive performance, collaboration and a good posture.I liked the idea of a table with a metal base and a wooden top that would have two different heights making it a multipurpose table.

The main intention to make Table Z is to avoid back stress and add movement in the body by making the users standing and working as well making it different from the traditional working space.

Table Z

Table Z

Table Z being used

Table Z

Table Z

 

• Sanjeet’s POP Lamp

POP lamp made using Plaster of Paris and old plastic bottles. It provides a soft glow that blankets your space just enough for you to function without causing a harsh glare.

POP Lamp

POP Lamp

POP Lamp

POP Lamp

 

The Young Designers of PDUG’15 Part.2

An enthusiastic bunch with a lot of energy and some time super sleepy. This post shares the work of the next three young designers.

• Ramneek’s Mod Box

What do you think of a modular furniture that becomes a table or a personal seating space with one flip? Pieces and puzzles is what this box is inspired from. Take the modular piece, slide it in and it becomes a cushioned seating. To make it a table, simply slide it out, flip horizontally and settle it on the grooves. Cushion flips beneath as you flip the piece and you get a table to work on.

Ramneek’s Mod Box

Mod Box Detail

Mod Box in seat form

Ramneek’s Mod Box

Mod Box in table form

• Abhishek’s Material Box

A lot of materials gets wasted each time we make something. Instead of wasting these materials , what if we can reuse it ? Material Box is an easy to make box , to dump extra materials , so that you can reuse them again. Can be put in the workshop as well as studio.

Abhishek’s Material Box

Material Box

Material Box

• Kamal’s SleepTab

Ever felt like taking a power nap in the middle of the work but couldn’t find a proper place to straighten your back? Meet SleepTab.
It’s a two piece furniture specially made to take naps in the studio which when stacked becomes a low lying table and helps save space. The furniture looks like as if its stitched from the side view and has a quirky criss cross shoe lace weaving.

Kamal’s SleepTab in bed form

SleepTab

SleepTab

SleepTab

SleepTab in low table form

 

The Young Designers of PDUG’15

I got back to facilitating the product design students of National Institute of Design Paldi again for a two week long course on Making and Tinkering. This time the young designers were from sixth semester. An enthusiastic bunch with a lot of energy and some time super sleepy. In the course along with making, we discussed ideas about open design, digital fabrication, consumerism and the bigger role of a designer.

We took the product design studio as our context (Where), and started looking at things and objects (What) which we wanted to incorporate to make it with the intention behind (Why) picking the object. It took a while to figure out these things. Once a particular path was picked the ideation process started and which further led to making of small scale prototypes. We discussed everyones ideas and everyone critiqued each others work and added and subtracted a lot of details from the prototypes.

Next phase was to finalize the form factor and then getting to the workshop to start building 1:1 scale working prototypes of the objects. It took some time for the young designers to figure out things. And during the entire phase of prototyping a lot of new techniques, tools and processes were introduced.

Lasercutting foam pads

Cutting plywood on bandsaw

Pallavi’s planters frame pieces

Pallavi fixing the mesh on frames

Swayam cutting slots in box section metal tube

Rohit Routing the Panels

Slots in box section

Kamal cutting slots

Awanee making a slot in PVC tube

Swayam’s metal enclosure getting welded

After the prototyping got over then next phase was to work on the aesthetics and add colors and finishes. The next task was to put all the objects in the studio and start testing and using it. This leads to them getting real world feedback on their objects and also leads to validation whether their ideas work or not. If not then what do they need to do in order to make. They were also documenting there work and process and wrote instructables. I’ll be sharing their instructables in this post and the upcoming posts.

Check out the work of this crazy bunch.

• Pallavi’s Planter Frames

A little bit of greenery can liven up any room. But you may not really have the space for a few plants (or the time), so here’s an easy to make vertical frame to hold your plants and a simple watering bottle.

Watering system

Planters

Upcycled container

Some greens

• Awanee’s P(a)inless Board

Can’t find pins when you need them?

Do your sheets get damaged due to board pins and staple pins? Is making sure your paper is straight a pain? Do sheets keep slipping out of the board pins? If these things about your display board do bother you, ‘P(A)INLESS’ is your solution.

How to put paper

How to put paper

Awenee P(a)inless Board)

• Aishwarya’s Connector Furniture

Build a set of units which can be joined to create simple anywhere furniture. The individual units can be connected together to form stools, benches and small chairs for kids, etc.

Using the modular furniture

Aishwarya’ modular furniture system

Aishwarya’ modular furniture system in chair form

Aishwarya’ modular furniture system in stool form

Aishwarya’ modular furniture system

The Rainy Parasol Installation

Scenario two The Rainy Parasol, deals with Resource boundaries, which are related to the resources, because the resources can also create a divide among people, societies, regions and countries.

We propose a cosy place situated at the west tip of Buda Island providing a different use and experience of a rainy day. A place where you can enjoy nature at its best, among plants, breeze and the sound of water.

Scenario 2 seemed easy on paper but it took a lot of time and trials to get it done as it had a lot of component.

It rains a lot in Kortrijk and sometimes the rain makes the day seem very dull and grey. We wanted to use this rain and create a space from where people can appreciate this resource. We wanted this space to be a shelter during the rain and also be in an open space. We started looking at places which offer beautiful view of the city and found the vegetable garden maintained by VELT on the tip of the Buda Island to be an ideal place. We spoke to Frank and Peter from VELT about the idea of the parasol and they really liked the idea.

We wanted the Rainy Parasol to be a place where people can come and relax and enjoy nature among plants, the sound of the water.  We also asked people about what they would like to do on a rainy day, a lot of them wanted to watch movies, some of them wanted to be outside without getting wet and to feel a sense of warmth. Even on a non rainy day, just get your camping chair and enjoy the view. We also wanted to use the rainwater collected to be distributed to the plants. One more idea which we really wanted to incorporate was to give a feeling of warmth whenever it rained and to create a glow around the parasol. For that we thought of using lights which only work when it rains. And these lights needed to be off grid as there is no power source in the vegetable garden.

We started looking at ways to make the parasol, which was in simple terms, a funnel collecting water but at the same time big enough to provide shelter. We reached to Ronald from Industrial Design Center Howest to give us some leads on people making parasols, fabric structures etc. He gave us a few leads and we got down to writing to these people to help us or collaborate in making the parasol. One of the firms we got in touch with was Nomad Concept, an architecture firm building tensile fabric structure. We went to meet Amandus, an architect and head of Nomad in his Antwerp office. We saw some of the work he had done and it was really inspiring and nice. We hoped that he could make a structure for us but unfortunately the timing didn’t work out.

We thought that we’ll build the parasol on our own using metal tubes and sheets, but one day when we were out to buy material for the island we found a drying rack in Hubo, which was close to what we wanted to build as a structure. We started looking at ways to modify it according to our needs.

The installation had various sub assemblies. A brief description of them is given.

Drying Rack

The drying rack is like a giant inverted umbrella with 4 spokes made out of U shaped aluminum channel. The span of the spokes can be increased or decreased depending on where the central hub is on the pole.

Textile

The next crucial part of the build was to find a fabric which was waterproof and strong enough to withstand rain, sun and wind. We went to a lot of stores looking for fabric and had a really hard time finding one which met our size and colour constrains. In between we found plastic sheets used in shower curtains and tried to make a rough model of the water collecting part. Then after the prototype was done we got waterproof fabric from Euroshop, we cut the fabric to dimension and then got it stitched from Roos (Bolwerk). The water collector is composed of 4 pieces of waterproof textile stitched together and fixed to the parasol. The water collected by the textile is directed to a water storage mounted on the central pole.

Light

As the light system had to be off grid we thought of using a windmill along with solar panel, but it was turning out to be too costly and there were some practical issues with installations of the windmill. Then we thought of using solar lights which could be activated with a switch. For activating the lights we thought of various ways. Initially we thought that we can use water as a conductor to close the connection between two wires to activate the light. That idea didn’t work perfectly as the resistance of water was too high. Then we started looking at sensors and thought that it was too complicated to repair them in case something goes wrong.

Then we finally decide to use a mechanical switch which gets activated by a container which gets filled with rainwater. We got solar lights from Brico and modified the circuit to only work when it rains. Max a volunteer at BudaLab helped in hacking the circuit to work with the end-stop rather than switching on automatically when the ambient light gets low. All the lights were chained to a single end-stop switch. The solar panel wire was extended and the switch was also connected to the lamp with a long wire as they were mounted at different places. Everything was sealed with silicon and hotglue.

Water Storage

We needed storage also to collect the water which was being collected by the parasol and then divert that water into the containers through pipes. For the storage we found a waste bin in Brico which was fitting our size constrains. We also tried out various pipes but eventually settled on radiator pipes used in houses. We made a 6cm and three 1.5cm holes in the bin to fit the radiator pipe and the central pole. The good thing was that the pipes also come with brass connectors. So, it was easy to mount the pipes on the water storage.  Water storage and the pipes were painted white.

Water Containers

After a lot of searching in stores and online we finally found the containers which we wanted to use in the installation. We got the containers from a store in Paris. The containers have 3 holes on the top from which they can be suspended. We got white rope to tie the containers and also some pulleys to pass the rope and connect it with a counter weight and switch. A 2mm hole was made in the bottom of each container to let the water drain.

Central Pole

The height of drying rack was short. We got a new metal pipe in which the rack’s central pole could slide in and the two are locked in place using nut and bolt. The parasol will be put in the soil using a screw anchor. The pole and the screw was painted red.

Switch and Pulley

The end-stop was mounted on an L bracket along with a pulley. This pulley was connected to one of the buckets which when filled with water moves a counterweight up and triggers the end-stop and switches on the lights.

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The step by step process of assembling the parasol is explained using CAD sketches.

The four corners of textile container were punched and metal eyelets were put in them. Textile was connected to the rack’s U channels using nut and bolts.

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Next holes were made in the U channels for mounting lights. Lights and the solar panels were fixed to the channels using zip ties. The wire from all the lights had to go to the central pole where the switch was to be mounted. Again zip ties were used to attach the wires along the channels to the central pole.

The L bracket with the pulley system was mounted on the pole using a M10 hex head nut and bolt. The end-stop was fixed to the bracket using zip ties and hot glue. Two other pulleys were mounted on the pole 120 degree from each other using M10 nut and bolt.

 

The water storage along with the containers was slid into the pole and ropes were passed over the pulleys and connected to counter weights. The L bracket had two holes from which the rope passes. One end was connected to the container and the other was connected to the counterweight. The end-stop was mounted in such a way that when the counterweight go up because of the bucket getting filled with rainwater it pushes the end-stop and the lights go on. The other two containers were also passed over individual pulleys and then connected to a single counterweight.

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This entire assembly was then inserted into the 6cm central pole. The water storage was fixed to the pole using a ring fastener and silicon was put to make it waterproof.

The assembled parasol can be put in a garden using a screw attachment which can be driven into the soil and then the central pole can be inserted into it and fixed into position using a bolt.

 

 

The Talking Bridge Installation

Scenario one deals with Individual boundaries, which are related to the way we humans conduct ourselves, the way we interact with others. Sometimes all one needs is a way to communicate or cross barriers to go from point A to point B. We create bridges as a way to do this.

To us “Bridge” is an object that represents a way to communicate. You don’t necessarily need to actually cross a physical bridge to communicate. Since Leie divides the city into three parts and bridges are an important and  prominent objects in the city of Kortrijk, we wanted to create an installation that could be a reinterpretation of a bridge, “A Communication Bridge” on the commercial side of the river, which is being used by bikers, joggers, walkers and school students.

This installation proposes a way to connect people and to let them communicate in a playful way.

There are a lot of bridges in Kortrijk, some are old, some are new and some are in the pipeline. Some of the new ones have been made using advance engineering and manufacturing. So, when we started looking at individual boundaries, we started thinking of how to transfer information or matter from one end to another. We thought of making an actual bridge initially, it’s good that we changed the plan; otherwise the residency would’ve never got over. Next we started looking at things metaphorically and in an analogous way.

Deborah had seen an acoustic mirror (they are like dish antenna) in the Science Museum of Paris. So we thought why not create a playful installation which explores the idea of communication. And this was in contrast to all the advance technology which was used in the bridges. Acoustic mirrors are analog objects which can transmit sound from point A to point B in a concentrated manner. No technology is involved in them, it’s just physics.

Deborah and the Mirror

Maria and the Mirror

This was only the foundation of the installation. We went to Paris to try them out and also some other installations associated with sound. The experience was very fascinating and fun and the most critical thing in this was that you cannot see the person to whom you are talking. There is an element of mystery and fun involved when you talk through these mirrors. It’s a playful interpretation of a talking bridge.

There was also a thought behind this installation, it was to trigger in people the curiosity to try something which doesn’t fit in their usual surroundings and be anonymous.

You could use the bridge to beam a song to the other side, or tell a story or to simply say Hi! How not to have preconceived notions about the person on the other side! They could be old/young, rich/poor, white/black/brown, tall/short, thin/fat or anything.

The most difficult part of this installation was to actually make it. As the mirrors are in particular geometry (parabol) and are big in size it was difficult for us to make them on our own. We started looking at websites which were selling dish antennas. We found a lot of them but most of them were not the size we wanted. We met Ronald again for help regarding this and he suggested that we meet Matthieu, an alumus of Howest who works with composites and has a small company called MAT2 Composites. We met him in his setup and explained the idea of the acoustic mirrors to him. He told us that he can try but they are going to be expensive.

In the meanwhile we started looking at other companies outside Belgium selling parabols. We found a few and started writing to them. Most of them didn’t have the geometry (prime focus) we were looking for. Things with Matthieu didn’t work out because of his prior work. We found a seller in south France who had two 180cm diameter prime focus parabols. We made the order and had to wait a more than a week to get them delivered.

Once it arrived, we realized how big they were, we were really scared that they might not work. And once we put them to test and they worked, Maria and Deborah started jumping with joy!

We got hardware for making the stand for them and also some paint to make it blend with our theme. The step by step process of assembling the Talking Bridges is explained using CAD sketches.

The first step was to make a stand for the Talking bridge. For this two 80cm long 1.5cmx3cm rectangular iron profile were welded to create a cross as the base.

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Next a 120cm long 6cm diameter metal pipe was welded to the cross. Two 1.2cm through holes 10 cm apart were drilled near the top to on which the parabols mounts were to be bolted.

Next we put a 15 kg weight through the pipe and onto the cross to add stability. This weight is used for putting garden parasols. a 6cm hole was drilled through the weight to make it go through the pipe.

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Then we mounted the parabol mount on to the pipe with help of hex head M12 nut, bolt and washer. We added washer as the internal diameter of the mount was 9cm and the pipe dia was 6cm.

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Then using 8 round headed M5 nut and bolts we mounted the parabol to the mount. The bolts were all painted white and the nuts were all painted red to match the colors.

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Making the Structure of Another Island

Getting the pontoon from Nieuwpoort was one thing and making an island (or dock) is another thing. As mentioned in the previous post, the idea of the island was to provide a cosy and intimate setting and not something huge. The pontoon which we got from Nieuwpoort was 8 meter x 1.7 meter, which frankly speaking is a bit difficult to handle and we needed a crane and then a form lift to maneuver it. And as it’s made using a super dense tropical wood, it’s really sturdy and heavy. We had to think hard in how to use the pontoon to its full potential.

Pontoon

Nieuwpoort Boat Dock

Friends from Nieuwpoort

Friends from Nieuwpoort

Initially the size we decide was to be approximately 2.5 meter x 2.5 meter. But the pontoon was no where close to the dimensions. We thought that we can use the two sections of 1.7 meter x 3.4 meter to make a square, but that was too big and difficult to manage. On inspecting the pontoon further we found that there is a way to get the original dimension of 2.5m x2.5m, the underside of the deck had three long wood beams running across the lenght. If we use one section of 1.7m x 2.5m and we cut the other section into half and still use the two beams we would have a section of 0.8m x2.5m. So, finally we got something close to the 2.5m x 2.5m dimension.

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We laid down the two sections together and used oblong metal connector plates and Hex head M10 screws to bolt down the two sections. We used 5 pairs of connectors and 5 Hex bolts to connect the two sections.

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After the two sections were connected, to strengthen the platform we added transverse wooden beams using reinforced angle connector and Hex head M10 nuts and bolts.

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The structure was further reinforced using the C section metal cross from the pontoon.

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Then we flipped over the platform and sanded the side wooden beams and transverse panels and unscrewed the decking alternatively and planned them using a power planer. The planed decking was realigned and re-screwed to the wooden beams.

We made 4 custom T Section support braces for metal cube structure by welding a square cross section tube to a 3 cm metal pipe. Two through holes were drilled to mount these braces on the decking.

We drilled a hole 10 cm apart from the edges in each of the corner decking. Then these deckings were unscrewed and the T section support braces were inserted through the holes and were fastened to the decking using two Hex head M10 bolts. The Decking with the braces was re-screwed to the platform.

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We started assembling the metal pipe cube structure on the side. We used 2.5m long metal tubes to make the structure. We made a square frame with a plus using metal pipe connectors which had bolts which can be fastened with an allen key.

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We put four 2.5m long metal pipes in the four braces on the corner decking.

Using long ladders we mounted the pre-assembled metal square frame on the four pipes and using a mallet we drove the pipes in the connectors on the square frame and fastened it using an allen key.

The next part was the most scariest part during the build. We had to lift the entire platform with the metal cube structure and put it on top of the floater. As we couldn’t just slide the fork lift under the platform and then put it on top of the floater. We clamped the decking of the platform to the forks and then maneuvered it on top of the floater. The platform is heavy and to do it in this was really nerve wrecking. The platform was bolted to the floater using angle connectors and Hex head M10 nuts and bolts.

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Stevan and Steven at Bolwerk really helped us a lot with moving the sections and bigger bits of the island and also with the fork lift. And because of some really heavy duty tools in Bolwerk, we were able to put the structure of the island together. Planing and sanding of the decking and side was one of the most physically demanding thing we did. At one point of time it was difficult to push the wood through the planer as it was really dense, we didn’t have the energy left to do it. But somehow we managed to do it.

You can see some of the timelapse of the various stages on our instagram handle.

This is how the basic structure of Another Island was done. There are a few final details to be added. More on the island in the coming posts.

Making for the Real World: Harshali’s Laser-cut QuickAccess Storage Unit

Harshali is an enthusiastically inquisitive designer. The way the world works and its intricacies fascinate her and she wants to contribute to its betterment in a meaningful way.  She believes in the collective power of people and that people are the ultimate source of knowledge, and books are the best companions. Writing is her fondest way of expression, Link to her blog. Harshali wanted to make a Lasercut Modular Storage Unit for the Recreational Space which was being set up in the studio. Everyone had to share their objects in the form of an Instructable. Harshali’s insturctable got featured as well, which means that the documentation was done in a very precise and easy to understand way, supplemented by a lot of images, sketches and dimensional diagrams. Detailed information about the storage units can be found at Harshali’s Featured Instructable. This is what she has to say about the objects she made.

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With every new approach to design that I try, I am left feeling like the oblivious, fresh out of high school child that I was before I got into NID.

What if we all started making everything we use? 
With designs and instructions available on the internet, one could be empowered to make absolutely anything! In that case, the role of product designers would be to simplify the process of making for everyone and demystify everyday objects such that they are easily makeable.

Keeping this in mind, I set out to make a storage unit which was modular, easy, and aesthetic. One that was fun to make and would fit in any given space.
I wanted to keep it simple, such that it could be a project taken up by anyone without any help- and yet keep the process engaging.

Selection of material- MDF- was on the basis of lightness and durability. The joinery- interlocked nodes- allowed ease of assembly. Documentation was the most important part of the whole process- it wasn’t just about getting to the final product, but about the audience being able to understand how to make it. Compilation of all the images and text was quite a task, but the excitement of sharing with the web kept me going. Publishing the instructable gave a sense of completion to the project.

All in all, Making for The Real World was a wonderful exercise that got one thinking about an alternate approach to design.

Kudos to Sahil and Praveen for having made this workshop possible.

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Working on this with Harshali was fun, initially we had spend some amount of time to figure out the detailing of the ways to join two modules but once that was figured out, the making was easy. I see a smart designer in the making, who will fit well in design advocacy and education.

 

Making for the Real World: Archana’s Multi-functional Space Dividers

Archana Valecha is a super talented chilled designer who is into solar cooking, music, collage art and a lot of interesting conversations. She wanted to make a Multi-functional space divider for the Recreational Space which was being set up in the studio. Everyone had to share their objects in the form of an Instructable. And the one Archana wrote got featured as well, which means that the documentation was done in a very precise and easy to understand way, supplemented by a lot of images, sketches and dimensional diagrams. Detailed information about the divider can be found at Archana’s Featured Instructable. This is what she has to say about the objects she made.

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The need for the space dividers was simply to create a space within a space, a demarcation. A sort of enclosure which would give the sub space a different feel. Since these space dividers were for a semi formal work space I wanted them to have a professional feel, still not letting go of the element of fun.

The use of panels for my design simply helped in blending this sub space into the larger space as it wasn’t a complete block out from what was outside of the sub space. It would let some amount of information and light pass through when inside the sub space. The use of panels also gave the design a feel of lightness which would otherwise not come across if an entire opaque material was used. the pop colours used was purely to introduce a fun element, a visual stimulant.

Multi functionality came with the fact that the dividers could not only be used to demarcate but could also be used to do other things like putting up of sheets, posit notes and other little bits on the white panels, one of which is a magnetic board. This feature gave the dividers an interactive element.

The making of these dividers was a new experience for me as I had never worked on such a large scale before. It also gave me a chance to get my hands on some new materials and understand the way they behave. The design turned out the way it is because of the underlying thought that it could be replicated by anyone at any corner of the world. Sharing to let the idea grow further was an interesting takeaway from the course.

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Working on this with Archana was super fun and meaningful. I see an amazing designer in the making, who cares about people and things at a deeper level and is dedicated to the core.

Making for the Real World: Recreational Space

A team of 8 product designer started ideating on a recreational space which they could setup in the product design studio (or anywhere else). After a few hours of questioning the needs of the space, we started looking at the objects which were required in this space. And emphasis was laid on the fact that all of the objects made should be simple and easy to replicate. There were few objects which we came up with:

• Storage
• Space Dividers
• Floor Seating
• Chairs/Stools for using when ideating in space
• Table
• Lighting (Artificial/Natural)

The next phase was to figure out the materials, color and finish. And all this was to be done keeping in the mind that at the end of making the objects would share the same design language. Some of the materials which we shortlisted to work with were:

• Fabric
• Ropes
• Wood
• Metal Channels/Sheets
• MDF/Plywood
• Leather/Rexine
• Foam

After this shortlisting we started looking at various objects for inspiration and created a common moodboard for the group with various details, material finish, colors, geometry. And eventually we realized that the 8 of them wanted to create geometric objects. Objects were democratically assigned to everyone and finally we had 8 objects

• Aniket: Stool
• Archana: Multi functional Space Divider
• Binayak: Table for 3 People
• Shubrajit: Natural Light Controller
• Harshali: Storage/Organizer
• Shilpa: Floor Seating
• Vyoma: Divider/Display Unit

Once the objects were known the ideation started and all of them came up with various concepts and a display and discussion was done on each and every idea and eventually a few approaches were picked up and they begun the phase of making detailed sketches and started thinking about the material, making processes, colors, finishes etc.

After having a certain level of clarity about the objects, materials were procured from the local market and hence began their journey towards making their objects. While making, all of them came across something new (processes, techniques, materials, systems). Some of them employed traditional methods, some of them used digital fabrication tools.

These 8 guys were brilliant and it was an enriching experience working with them. Being with them was being back to the school again when I was 17. I’ll be posting their individual work and their instructables in the coming posts.