Ravishankar Design

This is in the context of design education where one is getting carried away by the florescent, gimmicky technology confused notions of innovation and design, etc….fiddling and enticed, start-ups, customized manufacturing, programmable objects, etc… ...in the meanwhile there is lots more to be done, we all know what we mean!! The country needs ants. Design professionals who are experts in providing solutions by: following a systemic process, are contextual in problem solving and giving useful, usable, desirable and empathetic solutions (opportunity vs problem is a business-friendly term agreed and needed!!). The curriculum and pedagogy of design education needs to focus on and train the ants who will sustain growth and the grasshoppers who will reveal the ‘change’ in time. We need the ants, more of them, who have the ability and are trained in the said skill sets above, while letting the grasshoppers of the lot freewheel in design :)  Ants are the support system, the ‘sth...

In one of the recent design conferences in Chennai, the gentleman from Yanko Design asked, “tell me what is Indian design, like you have Italian Design, German Design and others who have distinct terms or adjectives associated”. I said to him, “now this is a big question or rather intriguing thought!!” While starting to write this article for Paperworld 2013, Germany, of which this is an extract, it was Diwali time in India, the festival of lights and New Year for the business community in India. The flavour of ‘Indianess’ if I call it can be seen in traditionally made products such as the accounts book for Diwali. It’s called Chopda Puja, a practise of opening a new accounts book on this festival day and making the first entry. The use of cloth on the cover is centuries old, typical to many ritual texts and books.  Like in any other culture, textile the most visible and used product would I believe reveal the attributes of design in its variety of forms and context. Design in ...

This July, Nijoo Dubey my faculty colleague at the National Institute of Design and I took the FORM course for the PG Furniture Design students. They were asked to concieve a stool in MDF material with an expression, emotion or a metaphor thereby giving it a character. They visualised and constructed seats with overall form and details with characters such as 'Vagabond', 'Anthropod', 'State of Mind', 'Anti Matter', 'Tactile', etc. They were immersed in it during the entire course and the outcomes were amazing. This was truly my most gratifying times of my teaching career. They made it happen.    

Sustainability, the word, phrase, label of the century: Overused, over-talked, lifesaver of all, spoken on many podia over coffee, breakfast, lunch and slept over cocktails. The nearby pan shop/petty shop lets you light your cigarette free even if you have not bought it from there. The value of one free strike is the gratification of the first puff. It is the bonding, a symbiotic understanding between the two and the eventual friendship. You are stranded in the rain late in the evening and the auto rickshaw driver drops you home which is some 15 km away. He asks for extra money over the meter or a flat amount, you argue, negotiate, etc , finally give in and you are home, what a relief you feel when you step in and then forget everything. The auto rickshaw driver has reached you ‘home’ with maybe a little extra. The value he offers is immeasurable. He has no insurance of any sort, no medical claim, no reduction in children school fee, etc and he has to follow the Govt. stipulated str...

As a student of design when I would show my design concept to my teachers each had a view: Teacher 1 Looks at the work and says “maybe…I don’t know..yes! hmmm.. maybe possible…” and smiles. Dealing with Intangibles & Ambiguity Teacher2 “where are the lines defining the form going?”…stretching his arms spanning the view in the window says, “everything is a composition”. Design Principles Teacher3 “how will a left handed person use it!” Empathy, Usability Teacher4 Look at the work and would instantly start drawing 10 variations of a specific detail in the design (in your orientation across the table) Creativity, Exploration, Multiple Options Teacher5 With only a glance” how will it be made?” Manufacturability, Cost Teacher6 “Who and why will somebody buy this?” Customer definition, Value Perception Teacher7 “Some how it doesn’t justify…why!” Context & Need

When I talk to people about Universal Design… the questions I have encountered and the answers I had for them, sample a few: Q: It is Idealist A: It is good to be idealist in inception to achieve a solution which is close to it. Q: Will it work in India A: Everything works in India Q: You cannot bring any change in this country A: UD is about bringing Incremental Change Q: Is UD for disabled people A: UD is about inclusion and harnessing assistive technology for all Q: Isn’t UD fundamental to design thinking and practice A: Yes UD is fundamental design process which business needs to align with because design most often is driven by popular needs and audience. Q: Ok what is it then A: It’s a Practice Q: We (India) are condemned to be Universal (!) A: Let there be the syrup bottle cap that is easy to open Q: People are indifferent, undisciplined A: Design to Discipline will be an attribute of UD Q: It cannot be applied to all products A: Maybe, but 50% of users are ...