Course critique

When this course began, I learnt all the basic tools that one could use to analyze a business. Whether it be a mapping tool to identify your target customer and his / her needs, or just basic research tools, each thing added to it and helped me learn a little something.
The assignment in which we went out selling products was difficult, and it was HARD to sell things to people and convince them. It contrasted strongly with later, when we sold things at our exhibition. Being in Srishti made a difference, but we also had a lot more to show. Had we gone with the same content to sell our final products again, we would surely have made better sales and been way more convincing.
The enhancement we had to pln for someones business was a complete succes, because it was carried on by the business man. The rice selelr loved the paper bags for selling goods in, and has even started making his own, with newspaper.
This project has been useful and a lot of fun executing, with all the travelling, interactions, and experimentation. Our final products were much appreciated, and I honestly felt proud of them.

Poster for the exhibition

This is the poster design made to advertise our project for the exhibition

Logo

This is the art village logo-

Pretty package

We came up with packaging ideas for the art village products

This box is made out of arracca leaf bowls, corrogated cardboard and jute rope.
the top of the box can open out along the rope.
This box is extremely sturdy and provides complete protection to the products inside. It can also be easily stacked over one another.

They are also quite cheap to make-
for one box:

aracca leaf bowls- re 1 each - Rs 2
corrugated cardboard- re 1
jute rope- 25p
ohp sheet- rs 2 1tag- 50p
printing tag- 50p
glue- re 1
total- Rs 5.25

We have also made a brown paper bag with bamboo discs as eyelets.

Older finished product images

floating candle holder

floating candle holder

Laughing Buddha door bell

Display shelf lit from below

Pen Stand

Buttons

Candle

Soap Dish

More product sketches

Sorry! I know this is old...

Display shelf lit from below.


















Fork / spoon holder made fom wastage pieces of the above shelf

















Wind chime



















Torch









curtain rod holder








Soap Dish









Candle






kaleidoscope

Tradition meets technology

speakers and circuitry for ipod stand/ speaker unit














laughing buddha door bell
















croc lamp stand


















Suresh Sir working on the tree spirit lamp

Contextual product images

Split Bamboo Stand
















Bamboo Soap Dish
















Cutout Bamboo Shelf

















Warli Pen Stand


















Bamboo Filigree Pendant


















IPod Portable Speakers






















Floating candle holder

















Burnt Bamboo CD Stand
















Bamboo Buttons
















Laughing Buddha Doorbell

Prospective retailer

Malacca spice is a restaurant in Pune having southeast asian food. They are opening an art/crafts shop just at the entrance of the restaurant, where tourists and their customers could buy products. Every 2 weeks an artist is featured, and a table card is placed on every table with information about the artist and some images of his work.
They are interested in Devrai Art Village, and we spoke to them about keeping some items in their shop. They are willing, and we need to send them some sample images so they can decide. We will be in touch with them and hope this arrangement will work out.
More on this topic later.

Locking system

One of the biggest problems that the craftsmen face, is that they don't have a proper locking system that they can use in their products. For eg. when they make a product which requires to be closed or locked, like the battery opening of a torch, they dont know how to make it. Thus, we devised a locking system that would be possible for them to make in bamboo (could be translated to metal if needed).













This locking system is based on that of a bulb fitting into a bulb holder. An L-shaped channel needs to be cut into the inside of a hollow bamboo (considering 2 bamboo pieces of the same size need to fit into each other) and it needs to be filed to make the opening slightly larger. On the other piece, a rim needs to be created, for which, the outer side of the bamboo needs to be filed to fit exactly into the other bamboo opening, leaving one small circular extension (to fit into the L- shaped groove).

Hope the description is comprehendable!

Heat treatment

Green Bamboo requires some time to dry. We researched and found that the drying can happen instantly by heat treating the bamboo. The craftsmen used the kerosene blow torch for burning the bamboo for the blackish effect, but had never used it on green bamboo. If they had, they would have discovered that the bamboo can be dried quickly using that method.

In order to dry the bamboo earlier, all you have to do is use the kerosene blowtorch on it. The trick lies in drying without burning. If the amount of heat applied is not controlled properly, the bamboo gets burnt and turns black.



This new process will help the craftsmen, specially in the high moisture(rainy) season as the bamboo takes very long to dry under such conditions. They will be able to work faster and more as they will have the dry bamboo whenever they want. In case of emergencies, when no dry bamboo is available, even in another season, they could also make use of this method to dry bamboo faster.

Metal casting process

1. First the is made with beeswax (For larger models, the product is filled with clay on the inside, creating a hollow).

2. This is then packed with a layer of fine wet mud and is then coated with another layer of thick mud, thus creating a mold.










3. These moulds are then heated in a kiln, so the bees wax melts out, leaving a hollow space for the metal to be filled in.













4. The brass pieces are then melted and poured into the empty mould using an iron spoon. It solidifies almost immediately












5. When it cools down, the clay mould is broken to expose the freshly cast product inside.

6. The final finishing is done by sandpapering it to smoothen out the surface.

Finished product samples

This cd stand is made of a hollow bamboo (approx 1 foot), and can hold 10 cds. It was made by cutting equally spaced slanting grooves into the bamboo, which were filed till they were smooth. It was burnt before cutting and melamined in the end.





























This Spiral Floating Candle Holder was made by cutting a foot long bamboo piece into around 2" thick rings. The rings were then fitten with a base (plywood) and then nailed to one another in the spiral form. Finally a coat of melamine was put.

Bamboo: the processes involved

Here are the basic processes involved in making bamboo products:

-Get dry bamboo (it MUST be dry because otherwise, it cracks later and cuts, smoothening, sandpapering, etc, do not happen as neatly) according to the width, type and size of the product.
-First, the bamboo is stripped (sort of like peeling a vegetable) and then smoothened (with sandpaper).
-If it needs to be burnt, it is done now. Burning is done using a kerosene torch. Then it is sandpapered again to remove soot.
-Now, the bamboo is marked and cut according to the design, and if wanted, the sharp edges are smoothened with a file and sandpaper.
-The next step depends on the product. The assembling takes place, where marking is done and the parts are neatly joined (usually with a mixture of fevicol and sawdust) and left to dry for a while.
-Next, the product is carved if needed.
-Finally, it is sandpapered once more and one or more coats of touchwood or melamine is applied. The product is left to dry.

Another step is going to be added by us at the end of this, consisting of attaching tags and packaging.

We are also looking into the process of 'heat treatment' by using a blowtorch to dry green bamboo quickly so that production may be quicker.