Socially Responsible Design Folio by David Moorhead

ARTISAN DESIGN KALA RAKSHA COLLABORATION HDID693 SOCIALLY RESPONSIBLE DESIGN SWINBURNE UNIVERSITY

DESIGN JOURNAL+FOLIO DAVID MOORHEAD, 1756036 20 NOVEMBER 2013

HDID693 SOCIALLY RESPONSIBLE DESIGN DAVID MOORHEAD 1756036

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CONTENTS

Introduction Gujarat Deep Dive Research Worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Best Practice Research Ten Ideas Sacrificial Concept #1 Feedback From Kala Raksha #1 Sacrificial Concept #2 Context Map Product User Return Brief Concept Review Feedback From Saara and Wenhao Concept Sent To Kala Raksha Feedback From Kala Raksha #2 Prototype Plan Prototype #1 Sizing, Stiffness and Functional Elements Prototype #2 Pockets, Details and User Research Prototype #3 Final, Construction Style and Details Feedback from Saara and Wenhao #2 Insights and Lessons Learnt from Rough Prototyping Production and Demonstration Prototype How-to-Build Instructions User Experience Story Business Model Canvas Social Impact Map Environmental Impact Canvas Visual Business Plan Conclusion

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Contents

This journal and folio maps my workings, research, prototyping, learning and experience of HDID693 Socially Responsible Design. The subject is focused on exploring Socially Responsible Design through the frame of a collaboration with an Indian Artisan Design and Advocacy organisation called Kala Raksha.

Kala Raksha seek to preserve the embroidery and textile arts of the Kutch region of Gujarat Western India. Kala Raksha is more than a museum it seeks to empower the local artisans who through education and opportunities to use Artisanal craft skills to earn money.

Through this collaboration Swinburne University masters of design students get the opportunist to codesign products with Kala Raksha to get a real taste of the highs, lows and complexities facing these types of Socially Responsible enterprises.

HDID693 SOCIALLY RESPONSIBLE DESIGN

This document is a reflective journal and folio that documents my design journey in this subject in collaboration with Kala Raksha.

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CONTENTS

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Introduction

RESEARCH

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Gujarat Deep Dive Research The Place

The state encompasses major sites of the ancient Indus Valley Civilisation, such as Lothal and Dholavira. Lothal is believed to be one of the world’s first seaports. Gujarat’s coastal cities, chiefly Bharuch and Khambhat, served as ports and trading centres in the Maurya and Gupta empires, and during the succession of royal Saka dynasties from advent of the Western Satraps era, whose geographical territories included Saurashtra and Malwa: modern Gujarat, South Sindh, Rajasthan, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh.1 Gujarat has a highly diverse set of landscapes and ecosystems from sandy coastal beaches; to coral reefs and mangrove forests; to flood plains and vast estuarine deltas; to salt plains and extensive semi arid and desert regions; and, finally to forested and mountainous regions.

The History

Gujaratta. This period of Gujarat’s history was a time of significant cultural richness that saw the development of architecture and art that created works that recognised still today as some the best masterpieces in India’s history.

The time of the Solanki’s also saw the start of the influence of Islam in the region. With the end of the Solanki era being the result of invasion by the Islamic forces of Mahmud of Ghazni who subjected the region to widespread destruction and massacre. The next 5 centuries were presided over by a series of Islamic sultanates set up through invasion by the Arabs, Turks and Afghans.

The 16th and 17th centuries were a time of great development and prosperity for the region under the control of the Murhgal Empire. It was in this time that the region became well known around the known world for its silk and cotton textiles. Sarkhej becoming the main centre for indigo dyeing.

Gujarat has a very long and rich history of being populated that stretches tens of thousands of years. Its geographic position and the richness of its landscape has meant that it has been a centre of sophisticated merchant/ trader culture along with agricultural and industrial culture over this time.

Perhaps the most significant of the ancient civilisations in the region was the Indus Valley Civilisation also known as the Harappan Civilization circa 2500 BC. More than 2500 Harappan cities and towns have been unearthed, of which a few dozen are in Gujarat. Of note are the settlements of Dholavira in Kachchh and Lothal near Ahmedabad. (Desai, 2011). Over the centuries part or all of what is now called Gujarat was conquered, destroyed and rebuilt by internal forces and external ones numerous times. Perhaps the most significant time in its history, its Golden Age, was the Solanki era (942-1304 AD). The Solankis were a Rajput clan from Gurjur and the name “Gujarat” is derived from their home territory which was called 1 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gujarat

Towards the end of the 17th century the Dutch arrived and a presence in Surat including factories. It wasn’t long after this that he British and French arrived.

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Gujarat has traditionally been split into four regions with distinct social and cultural differences. They are: mainland Gujarat which stretches from the southern end of the Aravali Mountains to the northern tip of the Western Ghats; Saurashtra; Kachchh (or Kutch); and the eastern tribal belt. (Desai, 2011)

The British had the most impact in last few centuries through the aggressive actions of the British East Indies company.

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Gujarat is a province in the west of India on its Arabian Sea coast. It shares a border with Pakistan and the other Indian provinces of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra. (Desai, 2011)

Amreli

Official Languages Gujarati and Hindi

Bhuj

Religious Diversity

Hindu 89.1%

Jain 1%

Muslim 9.1% Other 1%

Rajkot

Major Crops

Groundnut Cotton

Tobacco Major Industries

Surat

Chemicals and Petrochemicals

Pharmaceuticals Textiles

Diamonds

Consumer goods

Literacy Rate 69%

The People

The Gujarat region of India has a very rich range of cultural groups that are most distinct in the more rural areas where a majority of the population live their lives. It is from this cultural richness and long history of textile production that the many techniques, motifs and styles of textiles and textile creation comes from.

So to understand the artisans and their craft is to first understand the people groups they come from. Given the incredible diversity of people groups and individual cultures I cannot possibly cover them all in any sort of depth in this document. So I will draw together a summary style overview of some of the key people groups, in particular focusing on the groups that are key to the myriad of textile techniques and other artisanal products or trades. The content of this section is drawn from two key locations: Desai, 2011 and the Shrujan Organisation website2.

2 http://www.shrujan.org/

Jath 17

Jath 18

Found spread across Panchmahal, Dahod, Vadodara, Narmada, The Dangs, Valsad and Navsari. The name can be traced from the Dravidian word Bilu meaning “Bow” which is a characteristic weapon of the tribe. Largely agriculturists they depend on the forests they live amongst, in particular bamboo, for resources to support their lives.

Mutwa 19

Meghwal 20

Rabari 21

Rathwa 22

Harijan 23

Sodha 24

The Bhils strong relationship with nature is reflected in their art forms like, totems and terracotta figures and masks. They also have a rich tradition of folk music, instruments and dancing.

Jath

Found in almost exclusively in the Kachchh region they are believed to have originated from Aleppo in Turkey. This semi-nomadic people, who are generally based on both banks of the Indus River, are divided into three main groups, the Garasias (agriculturists), Dhanetas (herdsman) and Fakiranis (previously holy men and now landowners).

The women wear ‘aabhos’ or long gowns embellished with a beautiful embroidered yoke. A distinctive feature of the Dhaneta women is the large gold nose ring they wear, which is held up by a bundle of black threads pinned to their hair just above the forehead. Jath embroidery is intricate, rich in colour and texture and is well known and regarded as one of the finest in India.

Mutwa

HDID693 SOCIALLY RESPONSIBLE DESIGN

Towns 242

Forested Area 7.6%

They have a rich tradition of folk songs, instruments and dance. The women from each sub-community dress in variations of bright tops and black gaghra. They are reputed for their torans and wall hangings embellished by the women using embroidery.

Bhil

Cities 27

Villages 18,618

Bhil 16

The Mutwas are a small group of Muslim cowherds who live in a small cluster of eleven villages in the Banni district of Kutch. It is said that a ‘hijra’ (eunuch) led the Mutwas from Arabia to Kachchh via Sindh about 500 years ago. They still follow the Bedouin culture and practice Islam. Despite predominantly cattle breeders, the Mutwas are also exceptional artisans who create beautiful mud work with ‘lipan’ and mirrors. The women are known for their extremely fine embroidery patterend around tiny mirrors. Like many communities in Gujarat, the wedding trousseau is extensive among the Mutwas and includes silver and gold ornaments, embroidered pieces, dozens of hand made quilts and large metal vessels. As Muslims, the iconography for the Mutwa is mainly geometric with some small floral motifs.

Meghwal

Found in the Kachchh region the Meghwals, a Hindu community, migrated from Marwad in Rajasthan to Sindh in Pakistan in the 17th century, and then on to Kutch in 1971 after the Indo-Pak war. Their settlements are usually found on the periphery of villages inhabited by Muslim animal herders, this proximity fosters a social synthesis between the two groups, where the Meghwals, expert tanners and wool weavers, depend on the by products of the their neighbours. Many of the Meghwal men are wood carvers, a technique which they use to embellish furniture and other

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Population 51 million (approx. 5% of India’s population) Urban Population 19 million

Ahir 15

Found mostly in the Kachchh, Bhavnagar and Rajkot areas these people were the least nomadic and have in many cases switched culturally to business in transport, salt production and carpentry.

The following is a snapshot of some of the statistics and characteristics of Gujarat today, taken from Desai, 2011 and based on 2001 Census of India Data: Rural Population 32 million

Ahir (Aahir)

RESEARCH

Ahmadabad

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Gujarat Today

Many of the Rabari are semi-nomadic, the men travel with a caravan of sheep and camels based on a seasonal cycle, returning home just before monsoon breaks. The women manage the home and sell clarified butter and wool to generate income. Married women wear black woolen dupattas with red dots, black heavily-pleated skirts called ‘gaghra’ and an open back blouse that they embellish with handiwork. Heavy coiled earrings known as ‘nagla’ hang from their ears, stretching their loves. Tattoos, believed to hold magic powers, often cover their hands and neck. The men dress in all white, from their turbans and kediyun (double breasted top that fans out just below the chest) to a dhoti like bottom. They sometimes throw an embroidered wool shawl over the shoulder. The men also wear heavy earrings known as toliya, pierced through the hard part of the ear. Interestingly at some point in history the traditional dowry embroidery requirements for Dhebaria Rabari girls became so onerous that it was causing serious social and marital problems within the community. To rectify this, some years back the community elders banned all embroidery and embroidered dowry. This also means that many young Dhebaria Rabari women now have no knowledge of their own traditional embroidery.

Rathwa

Found spread across Vadodara, Panchmahal and Dahod the Rathwas are an agricultural community, many of whom supplement their income through wage labour and animal husbandry. They depend on the forest for farm land, wild animals for food and wood for fuel. The Rathwas celebrate a number of festivals linked to the harvest cycle, including the colourful Kawant Mela, which welcomes the arrival of spring. They consider tattoos, especially the snake and scorpion motifs, a form of beautification and protection.

Sodha

Sodhas are traditionally Khshtriya, Rajput warriors and nobles. Their oral histories contain two stories relating to their origins. The first story originates from Madya Pradesh: when Brahma created human kind, he created four warriors, one of whom was Parmar from whom the Sodha are descended. The second story is that they are descended from Sodho the ruler of Ratakoti and Umarkot in present day Pakistan. The Sodha continue very strict and conservative family and societal traditions, some of which may have developed because of living in a predominantly Muslim area for many centuries. Sodha women are not allowed to leave their villages.

Artisans of Gujarat

So far in this deep dive summary I have given an overview of the context and culture of the artisans of Gjarat. I’ve described the place they live in and its history, I’ve provided a snapshot of its current socio-economic characteristics and an insight to the people who populate this important region of India.

This section seeks to now narrow the focus to zoom in on the artisans that this land and its history of being a melting pot of cultural influences, trade, invasion and civilisation has created. This section will explore these artisans by considering each technique or industry that these artisans traditionally served, starting with the most famous of all for Gujarat - The Textile Industry. There are many types of artisan crafts and trade still alive and prevalent in Gujarat, I can’t possibly fit them all into this section so I’ve sought to cover a variety of crafts or trades that are very different to the textile craft and ones that as a designer interest me.

Textiles

To understand the special place that textiles hold in the human psyche its important to first consider the way textiles meet: functional needs for coverings, bags, clothing shoes etc; the need to make beautiful whether in the home or on the body; the need to communicate identity whether as a community or as an individual; and, the desire to communicate artistic narrative, form and motif. The following quote give a sense of this place and importance that textiles hold for us: “Cloth spans many categories of human want and need. Modern machine-manufacturers distinguish apparel for the body form the coverings of walls and furniture, and from such “industrial” products as storage bags and filters. Hand-made cloth supplies equally varied domains. Within each domain, moreover, some fabrics meet practical exigencies while others communicate meanings or express artistic taste. In historical complex societies, several cloth traditions coexisted, from the domestic weaving of rural populations to court and urban Industries. Contemporary complex societies show a similar range as home workers and cooperatives coexist with factories.” Schnieder, J. (1987).

This idea of textiles holding a multi-faceted position in a society is very helpful when considering the tradition of textile artisans in Gujarat, but is only one half of the equation. The other half is the human need to find a way to demonstrate or imbue identity, meaning and narrative into our made artefacts. This need is played out in all societies in some form or another, but in the context of the textile artisans of Gujarat, it is played out in the amazing textiles that they create. These textiles are often amongst the most valuable things they have and intrinsically linked to community and individual identity, pride and belonging. They are also an ongoing three way conversation between the lives they lead, the place they live them in and the influences of the people they live with. The following quote teases this idea out when considering textiles from all parts of India:

Harijan

There are many different communities of Harijan’s living throughout Kutch, including Meghwals. Harijans are Hindu. They sometimes live in their own villages, or alongside other castes and communities, such as the Mutwas and Sodhas. Harijan embroidery tends to reflect the other communities with whom they are co-existing. Thus, Meghwal Harijan’s living with Sodha make Pakko, Kharek, and Soof embroidery, whereas Harijan’s living with Mutwas make the same Kambira and Khudi Tebha quilting as they do. As well as embroidery, Harijan’s practice a range of crafts including weaving. The Harijan village of Bhujodi is famous for weaving and is considered the

HDID693 SOCIALLY RESPONSIBLE DESIGN

The Rabari can be found spread across Kachchh, Saurashtra, Patan, Mahesana and Sabarkantha. The Rabari are primarily a pastoral community who originate from Marwar in Rajasthan who, according to folklore, are said to be the descendants of a group of Rajput men who decided to marry celestial damsels. The name Rabari derives from this event and means “those who leave the path”.

best weaving centre in Kutch. Harijan are also proficient in relief clay and mirror work on the interior walls of buildings and storage units and grain holders. Their weaving and clay designs are highly geometric.

“Several factors facilitated the production of quality textiles, one of the most important being the structure of India’s ancient caste system and the traditional joint family, which bound people to specific occupations and thus ensured the continuity of the textile craft, like all other crafts. Besides the social structure, the religious sentiments, rituals, ceremonies and festivals, also helped in the manufacture of certain textiles for specific occasions. Practically every social group has its own preferences and norms in colour, design and fabric. Colours always had a special place in India’s weaves. Besides decoration, they are suffused with emotional meaning and also richly associated with customs. For creating the variety of designs, motifs, weavers were always inspired by their environment. This is reflected in the creation of fish and flowing streams in Orissan weaving, chinar tree in Kashmir, parrot in Gujarat, and court scenes, boats and steam engines in Bengal weaving. The textile craftsmen had always adopted several techniques to enrich their art and craft. They adopted these vivid patterns in their weaving or in a specialized form of dyeing; as a result, there were a great variety of textiles available in India, often with a long continuous tradition behind them. Interestingly, sometimes the same techniques were followed in different states of India with slightly changed forms. For instance, ikat techniques, which were used in Gujarat, Orissa and Andhra Pradesh, differ from each other, only in terms of material, dyes, colours and patterns.” Bhatnagar, P. (2011)

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Rabari

RESEARCH

This symbiotic relationship means that the Meghwals often live and travel with the Sodhas, with whom they share common embroidery styles and stitches. Some of their stitching and iconography bears a strong resemblance to embroidery done in Afghanistan, and the Hazara and Kandhar regions of Pakistan, suggesting that influences came from the north as well as the east.

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woodwork. The women excel in embroidery and clay relief work, both designed around small pieces of mirror. Married women wear bare-back blouses called ‘kanjaris’, with the front entirely covered in bold embroidery designs. On special occasions, the women wear an elaborate gold nose ring called ‘velado’ that hangs over the mouth.

Namda(h) - Felted Rugs

In Gujarat it has been tradition to sit on the floor to relax, share a meal or just to be with each other as a family. Comfort and protection have often been provided by a felted rug made in the style of Namda. The name Namdah is an Urdu word, the name and technique are originally Kashmiri and was adopted by the artisans in Kuchchh (Randani, 2011). Felting is a non woven material made generally from wool that is worked into a refined tangle of fibres, its a textile technique that predates all other forms of textile production. This technique is practiced by the Pinjara and Mansuri communities of the eastern Kachchh and is used make rugs (Namdah) and horse rugs (Daddi). (Ranjan et al, 2009)

It should be noted that up to this point in this consideration of ‘Textile Artisans’ they have been considered as an individual who creates textile pieces. This, however, is not correct the creation of many pieces of textile requires many steps and multiple trades e.g. weavers of the base material, pattern makers, tooling makers, pattern markers, dyers, thread producers, dye manufacturers etc etc. A traditional approach to textile making in an Indian context involves many people and trades. The last 100 to 150 years of modernisation, whilst not spelling the end of the techniques handed down through the generations, has had a significantly negative impact on the traditional markets that the artisan could sell their textiles in. Who have had to increasingly compete with modern high efficiency high output alternatives. In recent times a shift in thinking and an increasing concern for sustainability, a desire for products that are one of a kind and for products that have ‘narrative’ offer the greatest opportunity to not only perpetuate these textile techniques but also provide for the artisans, their families and their industry. (Wood, S. 2011)

Clay Relief Work

‘Bhunga’ are the traditional mud brick and clay round houses that are prevalent throughout the Kuchch region. These huts are made of clay, sometimes with bamboo reinforcement, and are plastered on the inside with ‘lipan’ which is a mixture of clay and dung. The have wooden framed roofs with thatch coverings. (Ranjan et al, 2009)

The ‘lipan’ on the inside and sometimes the outside of the dwelling is often decorated with intricate bass relief patterns etched and formed into it. The forms are created mostly by a pinching and forming using fingers and palms in combination with sticks and brushes and inset with little pieces of mirror. The form of this patterning is very similar to some of the popular embroidery styles both in motif and in use of the small mirrors. (Ranjan et al, 2009) 28

The lipan and the bass relief patterning is applied by the women once the

Leather Work

The Meghwali people are famous their leather work. They work closely with Maldhari Muslim cattle herders from whom they obtain the hide of dead animals. The mean create the leather works and the women embellish them in the bold Meghwali style. The leather is also decorated using shaped leather punches. The forms, patterns and motifs are in keeping with other local craft techniques such as reverse applique and felt making. (Ranjan et al, 2009)

Wood Carving

Wood is a very important and regularly used source material in Gujarat from fuelling cooking fires, to providing structures for houses or for carts, to highly refined carved idols and reliefs for buildings or furniture. Intricate, detailed and accurate wood carving techniques and skills are also very important to the textile industry, particularly the block printing 33 sector. This is because the block printing pattern tools are carved from wood and need to be accurate so that an appropriately sized pattern can be consistently repeated. Block print carving requires a high degree of expertise as the making of a quality block print tool requires that it making accurate colour separations, registration marks and air vents in the back of the block. The blocks are normally carved from a special wood called ‘saag’ that is seasoned and prepared prior to carving. (Ranjan et al, 2009)

Another form of wood working is called ‘Wood and Lac Turnery’. This technique is used by the Wada Kohlis, Meghwals and Maniars to create turned utensils, vases or components for larger furniture projects. The Kharadi artisans in Sankheda are

HDID693 SOCIALLY RESPONSIBLE DESIGN

The felted and died sheets of wool are then decorated with embroidery and applique techniques to create the final product.

3 http://www.craftofgujarat.com/showpage.aspx

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With this understanding we can now paint a picture of these artisans, they are predominantly rural peoples of a lower caste, they have a long tradition of textile production as an income generator but also as a practical means of combining statements of community identity and clothing. They use techniques, colours, patterns and motifs that are, in general, traditional and consistent within a community and these techniques, colours, patterns and motifs are taught to the young in a process of handing down the community narrative but also a process of training the next generation for the role their caste and tradition dictates for them.

This form of decoration is predominately utilised by Rabari and Meghwali people groups and is often finished in a plaster of limestone to give it a clean bright finish. The walls and areas around the living space are regularly resurfaced by the women with a mixture of mud and clay. Mud or clay is considered to be a great absorbent of dirt and negative energy because of its porous quality, whereas dung is revered for the cleansing properties of uric acid an inherent property of cow compost.3

RESEARCH

It is within this context of tradition, identity, small rural village life and a still predominant caste system that we find the richness of Gujarats textile artisan culture. The many people groups imbue their history and tradition into the very clothe that they create, and some of these are famous around the nation and the world for the incredible beauty and quality of the textiles they produce. Some of these people groups were described in the last section of this deep dive and the details of some the amazing textiles that they create will be considered in detail in the next section.

infrastructure of the house is set.

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The start of the above quote hits on a point that is at once quite distasteful (particularly to people in modern western countries) but also important in partly understanding why so many of these artisans are still practicing their art forms in an ever modernising India, that is, India’s tradition of the caste system. This unfortunate cultural effect has in some ways protected the more traditional ways of making very labour intensive textiles since, through social classes, enforces people groups to only be able to do certain sorts of work.

The Copper Bell is made from iron sheets and then coated in a copper alloy (more akin to brass) and is a craft practised most notably by the Muslim Lohars in the Nirona and Zura villages of Banni. The bells come in a range of sizes from 2 cm high to 30 cm. The bells are best known for being attached to animals, in particular cattle. Interestingly each bell is tuned by the maker to refine its sound, which is mostly the result of the size of the bell the material thickness and the size and shape of the wooden striker that hangs inside it.

The bells are mostly formed and finished by men but they are embellished by the women and children in the bell making families.

Textiles of Gujarat

I will finish this deep dive research into the artisans of Gujurat with a summarised presentation of all the important textile production techniques. This will be a useful exercise that will support the rest of this project which will seek to design products that are a collaboration between us (Swinburne University Students) and Kala Raksha4 which is an originations that seeks to preserve the textile techniques unique to Gujarat; whilst supporting, training and helping the artisans find new markets and opportunities for their textiles which ultimately help the artisan and their family survive.

The information in this summary is sourced from Bhatnagar, P. (2012); Ranjan et al(2009); Shealy, S. (2011); the Kala Raksha website4; and, the website5 of another organisation with similar goals to Kala Raksha called Shrujan.

Aari (Ari)

Aahir

4 http://www.kala-raksha.org/index.htm

Aari embroidery is done by the Mochi, or cobbler community. It is a minute chain stitch done by a hook which is an adaptation of the cobbler’s awl. This is a very delicate and floral style of embroidery, influenced by Moghul designs. By using subtle gradations of colour the figures and motifs in the designs can be highly representational.

Aahir embroidery, is a flowing, curvilinear style, that uses motifs such as peacocks, parrots, scorpions, elephants, the milk maid and flowers. The outlines of the design are done in a chain stitch called ‘sankali, filled in with a herringbone stitch called ‘vana’. Mirrors, called ‘abhla’ are used frequently. The outermost detailed stitch is called ‘kanta’ because of 41 its resemblance to the commonly found babool tree, The ‘bakhiya’ stitch is a detail stitch which looks like

Jat

Mutwa embroidery is a very highly prized style practised by Muslim herders who live in only 11 villages of the Banni District of Kutch. There are sub styles of Mutwa: Mukko, Chikan, Chopat, Katri, & Gotanv. Often minute renderings of other local styles they use combinations of chain, square chain, reverse chain, Romanian, knot, satin, double 43 running, lazy daisy, herringbone, and hemming stitches. Mirrors are frequently used and held in place with an interlace stitch. Mukko embroidery uses metallic threads couched on to a high quality fabric, such as silk.

There are two styles done by different Jat communities. Garasia Jat embroidery is predominantly cross stitch with heavy use of small mirrors. The outline is usually done in white before being filled in. Embroidery done by the Dhaneta/ Fakirani Jat are tiny bars of tight, padded satin stitch with radiating circles of a couched stitch. 45 Designs for Jat embroidery are geometric, not representational and must be done on loose weave fabrics. The design cannot be pre-drawn and the craftswoman must make decisions regarding the geometry of each piece before she begins Traditionally, all of the fabric given is covered and the base fabric cannot be seen at all. Consequently, this is the most labour intensive, and expensive form of embroidery.

Kambira & Khuditebha

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Gotanv

Copper bell manufacture is one little part of a wider range of metal working techniques and artisans that exist in Gujarat. The techniques include intricate silver work for jewellery and high class kitchen wares to industrial metal work for farming implements and components of machines.

RESEARCH

Copper Bell

ants walking in a row and the ‘dana’ stitch can appear anywhere on the design, just like ‘grains thrown on a map’. Designs are drawn freehand and transferred to the cloth by stencil. Contemporary Aahir artisans have added to this style, using signature elements such as a frequent use of teardrop shapes. Aahir women are the most prolific of Shrujan artisans and have been proactive in sharing their skills with non embroidery communities.

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particularly famous for their furniture that uses this technique, they have such a monopoly that the furniture style is named after the town.

Kambira & Khudi Tebha embroideries are done by the Harijan communities living on the Banni grassland tract, on the edge of The Great Rann. Kambira embroidery is a stepped running stitch style, with an end result similar to some Muslim architectural motifs. Khudi Tebha is a simple running stitch, which is interspersed at regular intervals with a small diamond shape which may or may not be filled. Both styles ore used mainly for quilting although there are other applications

5 http://www.shrujan.org/

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Pakko (Paako)

Rabari

Pakko embroidery is done by the Sodha, Rajput & Megwar communities. Pakko literally means solid. The designs and motifs are very similar to Aahir, but slightly more geometric. The outline is done with a square chain stitch, but the filling is a dense variation of buttonhole stitch, which gives a raised appearance. Mirrors are used frequently. Like Aahir, the original design is drawn freehand and then transferred to the cloth by a stencil.

Rabari embroidery is very vigorous, with bold shapes. Designs are taken from mythology and from their desert surroundings. They use glass mirrors in various shapes: round, lozenge, rectangular, square, triangular, and beak shaped. The stitches are square chain interlaced with buttonhole for mirror work, single chain, knot, Romanian, blanket interlaced with herringbone, running, and double running.

Patchwork and Applique

Patchwork and applique traditions exist among most communities. For many embroidery styles, master craftwork depends on keen eyesight. By middle age, women can no longer see as well and they naturally turn their skills and repertoire of patterns to patchwork, a tradition that was originally devised to make use of old fabrics.

Rogan art was one of the first methods of textile printing, and now employs only a handful of artisans in Kutch, in the town of Nirona, who handprint cloth for wall-hangings and saris. In the first step of creating Rogan art, artists mix pigment with castor oil to get a sticky paint. They apply the paint to cloth with a tiny iron stick called a kalam. The 61 Castor plant is grown in large yields throughout Kutch due to its high tolerance for drought. Artists use the kalam to draw an outline of a shape, and then press the outline against fabric to create a mirror image. The original outline is replicated in a geometric pattern of simple shapes and intricate motifs. Since Rogan artists are Muslim, they refrain from depicting human or animal forms in their art. Most of their motifs are floral.

Rogan Painting

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Kharek embroidery is done by the Sodha, Rajput & Megwar communities. Kharek embroidery is first counted out in black double running stitch, and then filled in with satin stitch; the end result is of clusters of bar like shapes. Artisans who do Kharek work understand embroidery, stitch, and motif as one cohesive and indivisible unit.

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Kharek (Khaarek)

Soof embroidery is also done by the Sodha, Rajput and Megwar communities. It is a counted thread styles using only one stitch also called soof, meaning ‘neat and clean’. The designs are highly geometric, with a predominance of a chevron design called ‘leher’ or ‘waves’. Any representational motifs are highly stylized. The surface satin stitch is worked from the back of the fabric by counting the weave of the fabric and inserting the needle of regular and designated intervals The designs for Soof embroidery cannot be pre drawn and are left to the discretion of the individual craftswomen, who need a good grasp of geometry to work out their designs.

RESEARCH

Mutwa embroidery is a very highly prized style practised by Muslim herders who live in only 11 villages of the Banni District of Kutch. There are sub styles of Mutwa: Mukko, Chikan, Chopat, Katri, & Gotanv. Often minute renderings of other local styles they use combinations of chain, square chain, reverse chain, Romanian, knot, satin, double running, 49 lazy daisy, herringbone, and hemming stitches. Mirrors are frequently used and held in place with an interlace stitch. Mukko embroidery uses metallic threads couched on to a high quality fabric, such as silk.

Soof (Suf)

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Katri

References

Bhatnagar, P. (2011). Costumes and Textiles of India. Suraj Publishers. Bhatnagar, P. (2012). Traditional Textiles of India - An Artistic Evaluation. Suraj Publishers. Desai, A. (2011). India Guide Gujarat. 2nd Edition. India Guide Publications.

2. http://centreright.in/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/gujarat-government6862t2.jpg 3. http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7096/7389560186_2ff0923ae8_o.jpg

4. http://murmeli.files.wordpress.com/2007/03/boat-in-the-desert.jpg

5. http://photographyenthusiasts.files.wordpress.com/2012/09/dsc00488.jpg

6. http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/18/Street_in_Dharampur,_Gujarat.jpg

7. http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/33/Sun_Temple,_Modhera,_Gujarat,_India.JPG 8. http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m23knwNB2K1qiy0txo1_500.jpg 9. Excerpt from Desai, 2011.

10. http://cdn2.vtourist.com/4/4228283-Traffic_in_Ahmadabad_Ahmadabad.jpg 11. http://notaryassociationamreli.com/Admin/userfiles/Image/tower_road.jpg 12. http://i1.trekearth.com/photos/27661/bhuj.jpg

13. http://www.vii.in/Images/R/Housing-Companies-Rajkot-1.jpg

14. http://ds-lands.com/data_images/top_cityes/surat/surat-02.jpg 15. http://www.flickr.com/photos/rudiroels/5063013574/ 16. http://www.flickr.com/photos/lestans/8351645296/

17. http://www.flickr.com/photos/rudiroels/4767891425/

18. http://www.flickr.com/photos/rudiroels/4767908605/

19. http://www.flickr.com/photos/84942480@N03/8756871447/

20. http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8473/8107897671_28b227414d_b.jpg 21. http://www.flickr.com/photos/bag_lady/8658716060/

22. http://www.flickr.com/photos/waltercallens/3218439624/ 23. http://www.flickr.com/photos/waltercallens/3370113129/

24. http://www.flickr.com/photos/waltercallens/3356531872/ 25. http://cdn.cultureunplugged.com/thumbnails/lg/4618.jpg

26. http://juliehall.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/kala-raksha-13.jpg 27. http://www.nripulse.com/April12/KalaRaksha2.jpg

28. http://farm1.staticflickr.com/32/43319036_9ef3374ab4_z.jpg

29. http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4108/5438849954_d676a0585e.jpg

Rindani, A. (2011, November 18). Feel the Felted! [Web log post]. Retrieved from http://aditirindani.wordpress.com/2011/11/18/feel-the-felted/

30. http://traveholic.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/12.jpg?w=593&h=395

Ranjan, A., & Ranjan, M. P. (2009). Handmade in India: Crafts of India. New York: Abbeville.

32. http://gaatha.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/leather-work-kutchh-960x498.jpg

Schneider, J. (1987). The anthropology of cloth. Annual Review of Anthropology, 16, 409-448. Shealy, S. (2011, October 1o). Photo Essay: The artisans of Kutch, India [Web log post]. Retrieved from http://matadornetwork.com/abroad/photo-essay-the-artisans-of-kutch-india/ Wood, S. (2011). Sustaining crafts and livelihoods: handmade in India. craft+ design enquiry, 3.

HDID693 SOCIALLY RESPONSIBLE DESIGN

Printed on both sides in the dominant shades of indigo and madder, and characterized by their use of mordanting and multiple dyeing techniques, the ajrakh textiles derive their name from the Arabic word azrak, meaning blue. The richly printed surface of ajrakh fabrics is achieved through a highly evolved process of scouring, mordanting, printing, 65 lime resist printing, multiple dyeing in indigo and majistha (red) and washing. This elaborate procedure facilitates selective dyeing with the aid of resists and an exploration of the potential permutations created through the reaction of the mordants with natural colours. Dyed and printed with vegetable and mineral colours, the properties of the cloth exceed the merely aesthetic; the colours of the ajrakh are believed to be such that they are cooling in the heat and warming in the cold.

1. http://mapsof.net/uploads/static-maps/gujarat_road_map.png

31. http://aditirindani.files.wordpress.com/2011/11/colorsofgujarat.jpg

33. http://media.tumblr.com/edfaa6b46ffa7564486a8991155be952/tumblr_inline_ml3w5sNo3W1qz4rgp.jpg 34. http://www.cohands.in/handmadepages/images/414-2.jpg

35. http://www.poojahandicraft.com/images/sankheda/diwan-big.jpg

36. http://photos.travellerspoint.com/319416/2India2012..01_0042.jpg

37. http://lifeisavacation.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/bell8-bell-collection.jpg

ALA RAKSHA COLLABORATION

Ajarkh

Picture Sources

RESEARCH

The term bandhani refers to the technique of creating patterned textiles by resisting parts of a fabric by tying knots on it before it is dyed. This ancient craft is believed to have travelled from Sindh to Gujarat via Rajasthan, and from Gujarat further on to Madhya Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. The Kachchhi bandhani, traditionally practiced by the Khatri 63 community, is renowned for its extremely fine dots and sophisticated sense of composition.

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Bandhani - Tie Resist Dyeing

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ALA RAKSHA COLLABORATION

40. http://24.media.tumblr.com/9d520ffcae3389835433cab7f03458dc/tumblr_mnnwsaQK1J1srprijo1_400.jpg 41. http://www.alamy.com/thumbs/6/%7B28D70BC7-36AF-418F-96E8-60245E97F294%7D/A50GYA.jpg

RESEARCH

39. http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-WhwbJsctyWA/TsFCnm44IDI/AAAAAAAAAOw/j_JQyXaygw4/s1600/1.jpg

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38. http://www.shrujan.org/images/Embroidery/aari160x120/aari1.jpg

42. http://www.shrujan.org/images/Embroidery/gotanv160x120/gotanv1.jpg http://www.shrujan.org/images/Embroidery/gotanv160x120/gotanv2.jpg 43. http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/71iNNG0JAtL.jpg

44. http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_exn3ZJOTWXc/S25o97jA34I/AAAAAAAABKE/cpm2k4MOJhc/s400/kr8.jpg 45. http://www.shrujan.org/images/embroidery/kambiro&khuditebha160x120/k_1.jpg

46. http://www.shrujan.org/images/embroidery/kambiro&khuditebha160x120/k_2.jpg 47. http://www.shrujan.org/images/embroidery/katri160x120/k_1.jpg

48. http://www.shrujan.org/images/embroidery/katri160x120/k_3.jpg

49. http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wrFY6oVJUZE/UYg84c3y6OI/AAAAAAAAAe8/o7gbXc3sicM/s640/DSC_0404.JPG 50. http://www.shrujan.org/images/embroidery/kharek160x120/kh2.jpg

51. https://www.clothroads.com/browse/images/16221/?478,478,,100,66,483749864

52. http://www.indianartisansonline.com/asset/cmsimage/product/IATR025_2_209_460_432.jpg

53. http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-h71Eu-v-Axw/UPbwAUkjHEI/AAAAAAAAMgo/BLlzE8G7b_Q/s640/deba.jpg 54. http://textiletrails.files.wordpress.com/2011/12/r-49-det-1.jpg

55. http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_2pm4MQ5nD64/S7SoS2QR1OI/AAAAAAAAAFA/vOeJruMu_D4/s1600/ DSC05552+copy.jpg 56. http://www.flickr.com/photos/citlali/3029296373/

57. http://product-images.highwire.com/3843421/sq5-8.jpg

58. http://rugrabbit.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/big/kutch_arts/09-2013/more_images/dsc04080.jpg 59. http://cdn1.matadornetwork.com/blogs/1/2011/10/IMG_6926-940x1410.jpg

60. http://sparklemousse.com/gujarat/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/rogan-work3.jpg 61. http://textiletrails.files.wordpress.com/2011/12/img_8036.jpg

HDID693 SOCIALLY RESPONSIBLE DESIGN

62. http://flextiles.files.wordpress.com/2011/06/shibori-samples-004.jpg

63. http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_TUbKffibEkM/TT5dJIbf8mI/AAAAAAAAALo/97zwMiI6olQ/s1600/138.JPG

64. http://travelsintextiles.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/DSCF2641.jpg

DAVID MOORHEAD 1756036

The ultimate life philosophy? A naive Dream? or...something to strive for and learn from as a balance to consumerism?

Counter to measuring GNP, GNH seeks to measure the success of a nation in four general areas: sustainable and equitable economical development; conservation of the environment; preservation and promotion of culture; and, good governance. These four general areas are broken down further into nine domains, which each domain being further broken down into indicators (33 in total). These indicators are used as survey tools or questions whose answers are combine, weighted and combined to generate the measure of GNH. The nine domains are as follows:

For me the subject elected was entitled ‘Gross National Happiness’ or GNH. Harking form the small Himalayan nation state of Bhutan, one of the poorest and smallest countries in world, GNH could be described as a perspective on how to live your life and be content, but it also is researched, considered and detailed metric for the measurement of a country’s performance in terms of its happiness. This measurement was researched, developed and implemented by an Bhutanese government organisation of the same name.

So what is this GNH? Is it the ultimate in life philosophies, a naive dream or something that may be worth striving for, something we can all learn from as a balance to consumerism? This section will explore these questions and seek to answer them as well as considering what import this GNH could have for the practice of Socially Responsible Design.

Time Use.

6. 7.

8. 9. 2

Health.

Education.

Cultural Diversity and Resilience. Good Governance.

Community Vitality.

Ecological Diversity and Resilience. Living Standards.

Origins

There are some variations in the literature about the exact origins of GNH. But it seems that the term itself was coined by the 4th King of Bhutan in the 1970’s as he took the reigns of a country that was in dire need of committed leadership to help it modernise and develop to a point that would enable its people climb out of crippling poverty. It is said that the King, when discussing the development needs of his country, quipped that “... Gross National Happiness is more important than Gross National Product...”.

The ‘Centre for Bhutan Studies6’ offers several publications they have produced that seek to explain the idea of GNH and its use as a metric for society in Bhutan. The report entitled ‘A Short Guide to Gross National Happiness’, which amusingly is 96 pages long, offers this attempt at defining GNH in terms of its place as a metric:

In short GNH is a measure of a countries performance in ‘holistic’ wellbeing or

GNH is a concept that on first consideration seems simple to define, perhaps even a little pretentious in the same way a friend who has just ‘converted’ to Bhuddism can be.

“Gross National Happiness (GNH) measures the quality of a country in a more holistic way [than GNP] and believes that the beneficial development of human society takes place when material and spiritual development occurs side by side to complement and reinforce each other” (Ura K. et al, 2012)

Physiological Wellbeing.

Definition

However, the deeper you delve into this idea the harder it is to fully define. This is because its simplicity is actually incredibly elegant, in that, the idea of GNH adapts itself to the context it is being considered in and has the capacity to help you reframe your previous understanding of that context. Despite this difficulty in pinning down GNH, I will try to give an overview of its basics and I hope as I continue to explore it in this section that you as the reader will start to get a sense for some of its depths.

According to Ura K. et al, 2012 the concept of GNH has a deeper resonance in the history of Bhutan. This quote from the Bhutanese legal code written in 1729 is offered as proof of this resonance: “if the government cannot create happiness for its people, there is no purpose for the government to exist” (Ura K. et al, 2012)

HDID693 SOCIALLY RESPONSIBLE DESIGN

The intention of this section is to explore, through research, an organisation or philosophy that has relevance to the consideration of what it means to practice Socially Responsible Design.

contentment and is considered in contention to the West’s obsession with Gross Domestic or National Product (GDP or GNP). GDP is a measure of a nations ability to produce and consume products, this measure of performance can indicate a nation that is wealthy or is working towards a better monetary quality of life but it cannot indicate the health, happiness or environmental impact of that nation.

ALA RAKSHA COLLABORATION

RESEARCH

GROSS NATIONAL HAPPINESS

Introduction

6 http://www.bhutanstudies.org.bt/

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World’s Best Practice Research

DAVID MOORHEAD 1756036

Setting aside cynicism for a moment, there are, many people who, with some consideration of a balance of arguments for and against, believe that this concept has a great potential to help the world, in particular the west, have greater perspective on what it means to be successful. The following quotes provide some insight to this perspective:

can, our negative impact on any of the elements and perhaps even seek to build some of them up through thoughtful, ethical and self sacrificial compromises.

My Thoughts

I think the idea of GNH is powerful and useful in both a personal context and national context, for me it reflects the principles and belief’s I hold and the approach I seek in life as a result of my Christian faith. I particularly liked the quote: “He [Karma Tshiteem, Bhutan’s Secretary of GNH] says any movement to adopt GNH has to be realistic and focus more on quality of life than on the subjective nature of happiness [that is] “Happiness is really fleeting and very individual”” (Napoli L., 2010)

Karma Tshiteem

I’ve found this brief exploration of GNH to be very useful in trying to align my goals as a designer trying to practice ethical and sensitive Socially Responsible Design with an understanding of the things in life that can build up to contentment or happiness. Equally it is useful in understanding what areas can have a large impact in improving a persons quality of life.

“[Karma Tshiteem, Bhutan’s Secretary of GNH] Everything is interdependent, and we cannot pursue things in our own narrow way. GNH is to show we are more focused on creating the right conditions to help people lead focused, fulfilling lives” (Napoli L., 2010) “Last year the UN adopted Bhutan’s call for a holistic approach to development, a move endorsed by 68 countries. A UN panel now considering ways that Bhutan’s GNH model can be replicated across the globe.” (Kelley A., 2010)

References

“It [Bhutan] has banned export logging and has even instigated a monthly pedestrian day that bans all private vehicles from its roads.” (Kelley A., 2010)

Equally there more negative views of the concept of GNH and in particular the reference to it being billed as the a pathway to the redemption of our troubled societies. The following quotes give a sense of some of the negatives that are perhaps overlooked in all the positive rhetoric surrounding GNH:

BBC News Asia (2013, August 2). Bhutan PM casts doubts over Gross National Happiness. BBC News. Retrieved from http://www.bbc.co.uk 4 A typical Bhutanese family with a weeks worth of food

“They [those who promote GNH in the west] have to understand that GNH is a practical daily way of life not just an economic measure that would have real and significant impacts that are “negative” as well as positive” (Luechauer D., 2012)

GNH and Socially Responsible Design

So now that we have an understanding of the definition of GNH, its origins and a smattering of opinions for and against it, its time to consider what this concept has to offer the pursuit of Socially Responsible Design. I believe that GNH, if applied with care and knowledge of its limitations, its blindspots and a perspective that doesn’t see it as ‘ulitmate answer to all our problems’ has a lot to offer the designer hoping to practice Socially Responsible Design. A couple of these thoughts, in the context of collaborating with Indian artisans, are as follows:

• I believe it can give perspective and understanding to the happiness and joy that the artisans could get from activities we would consider ‘boring’ or overly labour intensive. Further it could help us understand the happiness and contentment and their source in a society that is significantly poorer in money and goods compared to us.

Karma, U., & Centre for Bhutan Studies. (2012). A short guide to gross national happiness index. Napoli, L. (2010, June 14). Beyond GDP. Harvard Business Review. Retrieved from http://www.blogs.hbr.org

“The real issue is not what we measure or how we measure it, the real issue is how people behave” and “Moreover, as a percent of population, Bhutan already is showing higher rates of social dysfunction than many countries who measure GDP” (Luechauer D., 2012) “Mr Topgay [New Bhutanese PM], 47, said that while he supported the notion that “economic growth is no the be-all and end-all of development”, GNH should not distract from tackling Bhutan’s pressing problems, including chronic unemployment, poverty and corruption” (BBC News Asia, 2 August 2013)

Kelly, A. (2012, December 2). Gross National Happiness in Bhutan: the big idea from a tiny state that could change the world. The Guardian. Retrieved from http://www. theguardian.com

Luechauer, L. (2012, September 7). A critical view on GNH. The Bhutanese. Retrieved from http://www.thebhutanese.bt 5

Tobgay T, Dophu U, Torres CE, Na-Bangchang K, & Tobgay, Tashi. (2011). Health and Gross National Happiness: review of current status in Bhutan. Dove Press.

HDID693 SOCIALLY RESPONSIBLE DESIGN

ALA RAKSHA COLLABORATION

Like many of these philosophies there are many people with very little knowledge of Bhutan; the context and origins of GNH; or, the possible limitations of GNH, who sing its praises with the fervour of those searching for easy answers or a new pseudo religious bandwagon to jump onto.

RESEARCH

The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

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Additionally, whilst GNH is defined and applied without religious reference or language, the concept has strong parallels with many of the tenants of Buddhism.

Picture Sources

1. http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3f/Bhutan_Gross_National_Happiness.jpg 2. http://www.visittobhutan.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/bhutan-childrean.jpg 3. http://limkimtong.files.wordpress.com/2012/10/gross-national-happiness2.jpg 4. http://i1.ytimg.com/vi/DtzHsOnQA6M/maxresdefault.jpg

5. http://bp2.blogger.com/_OVC8tM3HXbQ/R7DDLeUnk_I/AAAAAAAAASQ/DAw3VYO5FMA/s1600-h/a_003. jpg

• I also believe that it can help us align our approach to collaborating to seek to minimise, as much as we

DAVID MOORHEAD 1756036

TEN IDEAS

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ALA RAKSHA COLLABORATION

Ten Ideas Ten Ideas:

1. Textile Wall Hangings (Embroidery)

2. Multi-Textile Canvas (Block Print, Embroidery and Patchwork) 3. Table Runner and Mats (Block Print and/or Embroidery) 4. Expandable Bag (Embroidery and Patchwork)

5. Simple Musette Bag (Embroidery and Patchwork) 6. Memories Bag (Embroidery and Block Print)

7. Copper Bell Phone Ringer (Copper Bell and Wood Carving) 8. Copper Bell Bicycle Bell (Copper Bell and Leather Work) 9. Block Print Carved Business Card Artwork

1 Wall Hangings

My vision would be for long thin hangings where I as designer design the sizing and hanging structure and then corroboratively design a series of narratives that represent stories of the artisan, their traditions and cultural designs in addition to new interpretations. In this way the creation is a piece of art that celebrates the artisanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s skill and design abilities.

10. Block Print Carved Jewellery

2 Multi-Textile Canvas

HDID693 SOCIALLY RESPONSIBLE DESIGN

The approach in this case would be one of developing some designs with the artisans in embroidery and block print and then splicing them together in a fresh and different manner. In this way the development of textile as art would involve collaboration at a textile level and at the level of combining the textiles into a finished canvas.

3 Table Runner and Mats

Through collaboration with the artisan a combination of Block Print and Embroidery designs would be developed to create a table runner and table mat set.

DAVID MOORHEAD 1756036

The bag would be made using a mixture of patchwork and embroidery.

The intention would be for a casual but good looking bag that expands from a handbag size when you need a bit of extra space.

The idea of the memories bag is that it would be a vehicle to collect and store those important mementos in a bag that could be handed down over the generations.

5 Simple Musette Bag

Its form would be simple but beautifully made with motifs and embroidery that are based in the themes of the memories to be kept and the cultural interpretation of those themes by the Kala Raksha artisans.

A musette is a bag used in cycling as a feed bag, but they have become synonymous with the whole cycling cool set.

HDID693 SOCIALLY RESPONSIBLE DESIGN

As a bag they are very simply designed and simple to make. The challenge in this case would be to use carefully designed patchwork, embroidery or even block print materials to create a powerful and yet beautiful design that is simply implemented into the very useful musette design.

ALA RAKSHA COLLABORATION

I was struck when doing some of the readings and watching the Rheese Jones documentary that a lot of the beauty and depth of the embroidery was in its purpose and meaning to the people making it and receiving it as a gift. I wanted an idea that would translate that experience into our culture and thought that events like weddings or a childâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s birth were times that we seek to remember through collections of mementos.

TEN IDEAS

6 Memories Bag

The idea of this design is to create a medium to large sized handbag or satchel that has a roll away lower pocket that when deployed transforms the handbag into a small backpack.

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4 Expandable Bag

DAVID MOORHEAD 1756036

TEN IDEAS

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7 Copper Bell Phone Ringer

ALA RAKSHA COLLABORATION

The copper bells in Gujarat are made for all sorts of purposes, often for attachment to animals. They are tuned by the artisans to specific tones and are made in a variety of sizes. This idea of them being tuned gave me the idea that perhaps they could be used to create an analogue ‘ringer’ for a mobile phone. That is, a stand that you could put your phone on, leaving it in silent/ vibrate mode and when a call or alarm went off the bells would chime.

8 Copper Bell Bicycle Bell

In a similar vein to the Phone Ringer the bicycle bell makes use of the interesting hand made nature of the copper bells and their tuned chime to create a quirky bicycle bell. There is a reasonable market for handmade quirky bicycle components with many people wanting to find ways to personalise their bikes.

10 Block Print Carved Jewellery

HDID693 SOCIALLY RESPONSIBLE DESIGN

9 Block Print Carved Business Card Artwork

Again the beauty of the carving used in creating the block print tooling made me think that perhaps the same process could be used to make some very interesting wooden jewellery like rings, necklaces, earrings and bangles. I’m not sure what happens to worn block print tools but it would be great if they could be repurposed into beautiful pieces of jewellery.

I was really struck by the beauty and accuracy of the carving used to create the Block Print tooling. I was as interested in the beauty of the tools as I was in the beauty of the textiles created with them. This led me to think that it would be really cool to capture some of those designs and use them as stamps to create amazing business card or wedding card (or other) art that was really individual and different. The business model could include some form of collaborative motif design aspect where the final design is a mixture of the customers input, the artisans motif design input and the artisans technical input as to what can be carved and what can’t.

DAVID MOORHEAD 1756036

Hello from Australia!

Hello, my name is David Moorhead and I’m a Masters of Industrial design student from Swinburne University. As part of my Socially Responsible Design Subject I get the opportunity to design products in collaboration with you at Kala Raksha and your network of artisans.

We are a team

HDID693 SOCIALLY RESPONSIBLE DESIGN

I am very excited and honoured to have the opportunity to work with Kala Raksha to create some new products that hopefully transcend this 12 week project I’m working on to give you some ideas to pursue in your future product offerings.

Your Thoughts, Ideas and Opinions

As collaborators in design your thoughts, ideas and opinions are vitally important to our success. I’ve put these slides together to ask you some questions and start our collaboration of ideas and visions for design.

ALA RAKSHA COLLABORATION

SACRIFICIAL CONCEPT 1

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Sacrificial Concept #1

DAVID MOORHEAD 1756036

Copper Bell and Metal Work

What do you think?

My vision and intention in this project is to work as closely with you as I practically can to develop designs that are innovative, different, fun to make, fun to use and will generate an honest profit to the benefit of us all. With that in mind I would really value your thoughts, opinions and perspectives initially on:

1. HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT COMBINING YOUR AMAZING TEXTILE TECHNIQUES AND DESIGNS WITH WOODCARVING AND COPPER BELL/ METAL WORK TECHNIQUES IN A SINGLE PRODUCT?

Wood Carving Block Print Motifs

2. ARE WOODCARVING AND/OR COPPER BELL/METAL WORK ARTISANS ACCESSIBLE TO YOU IN THE LOCAL BHUJ AREA?

HDID693 SOCIALLY RESPONSIBLE DESIGN

3. IF THERE ARE LOCALLY AVAILABLE WOODCARVING AND/OR COPPER BELL/METAL WORK ARTISANS DO YOU THINK THAT THEY WOULD LIKE TO COLLABORATE WITH US IN A SMALL PROJECT LIKE THIS?

THANK YOU & DON’T HESITATE TO CONTACT ME

Thank you in advance for your time and very valuable opinions! Your responses will guide my process of design refinement and will ensure that whatever designs I create maximize the value of our collaboration. I look forward to your responses. If you would like to contact me directly you can email me on moorhead.david@gmail.com. Dave Moorhead.

ALA RAKSHA COLLABORATION

SACRIFICIAL CONCEPT 1

I’ve developed a series of ideas that make use of some the craft and artisan techniques that I have found in my research of Gujarat and in particular the Kuutch region where you are based. The craft and artisan techniques that feature most in my initial brainstorming are presented in the pictures to the right >>

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Ideas, Techniques and Themes

DAVID MOORHEAD 1756036

David Moorhead

Combine textiles with copper bells, wood carving Copper bells are made here

The blocks for printing that you have shown are mostly made in Pethapur, near Ahmedabad, though occasionally printers do carve their own blocks.

I am a purist, and my focus is on raising the value of hand embroidery- with which we work. I feel that if you were to combine embroidery with either of these “hard” materials it would devalue it to a value addition- a strap to hang the bell or something like that, rather that encourage the client to appreciate the painstaking work that goes into embroidery and the quality of the fabric. Thank you!

HDID693 SOCIALLY RESPONSIBLE DESIGN

Judy Frater

ALA RAKSHA COLLABORATION

SACRIFICIAL CONCEPT 1

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Feedback From Kala Raksha #1

DAVID MOORHEAD 1756036

I sorta suspected that may be your answer so have been taking my next steps in the design development assuming the use of textiles only.

I’d like to get some more feedback, but this time with more focus on a concept that I think is strong and could have the potential to be something that Kala Raksha would be keen to collaborate in.

The Concept

The concept revolves around the idea of storing memories, in particular memories related to key events in a couple’s or a families life. The events I’m thinking of are things like marriages or the birth and growth of a child or a family adventure - like moving to another country to live for a number of years.

Scrap Booking Examples

The product I’m seeking to develop is one that helps with the collecting, protecting, storing, sharing and remembering of these important life events and times.

The concept is a product that would be, broadly, a combination of scrapbook and soft container. I’m picturing a form that would a variety of pocket sizes, at least one large one and a series of smaller ones. It would be be designed such that opening it would be almost like unwrapping a present or some very special book that has been wrapped up in a beautiful cover to protect it in storage.

I picture this product being brought out to tell the ‘story’ of these events with pictures and artefacts that have been stored in the product. Further that at some point in a families life this beautiful container of memories might be handed down to the next generation.

I picture patterns, motifs and colours being those found in Rabari, Ari, Pakko, Kharek and Ahir style embroidery. Perhaps mixed with elements of applique or patchwork to make it more cost, time and labour efficient.

Japanese Soft Roll-up Storage

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I suspect these ideas of remembrance, joint history and family narrative resonate across cultures and that product made of intricately hand embroidered fabrics from Kutch would add to this sense of wonder and preciousness.

What do you think?

Specifically I interested in your thoughts on the following things:

1. WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT THE GENERAL CONCEPT? 2. WHAT ARE THE LOCAL PHILOSOPHIES AND TRADITIONS AROUND STORING AND SHARING FAMILY MEMORIES AND STORIES? 3. WHICH TEXTILE TECHNIQUES DO YOU THINK ARE MOST APPROPRIATE FOR THIS TYPE OF PRODUCT? WHY?

ALA RAKSHA COLLABORATION

Thanks for your initial feedback. I can completely understand where you are coming from in terms of wanting to maintain the purity and consistency of your organisations purpose by maintaining your focus on textiles.

SACRIFICIAL CONCEPT 2

Hello Judy et al,

20/11/2013

Sacrificial Concept #2

Thanks for the Initial Feedback

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Present

I want to study to get a job...

I want to travel to experience new places and new cultures...

I’m scared but excited...

Future

I want to remember the special days...

The way I live my life will change...

I want to look back but also ahead...

Will I be a good wife? Will I be a good mum?

I need to work hard to build my career...

They don’t understand how important it is to have something to remember with, something to hang onto...

We need to prepare for the change... I want to have fun with my friends...

Its not all about me anymore...

I want to live in another country...

CONSIDERING THE RECORDING OF EXPERIENCES

Time Impact 1

I want to give them something when they are old enough...

I don’t want to forget these moments...

Party or Night Out

Small Trip

1-2 days, a weekend away

People Impact 1

a few hours or a night at most friends and colleagues

Identity Impact 1

negligible

friends and fellow travellers negligible

Responsibility Impact 1

negligible

What do people maybe a mobile phone photo, a FB post or a tweet record?

A few photos, FB posts and maybe a video

Time goes by so quickly...

Large Trip

4-5 weeks to 2 months, low impact 1 friends and fellow travellers 2 some influences and experiences 2 some consideration for home and abroad Many photos, ticket stubs, passport stamps, nic nacks

Life Adventure

12 months in a situation that is very different 3 new friendship groups and networks 4 new experiences modify identity 3 some consideration for home and abroad Photos, a journal, presents from new friends, art and mementos

INDEX: 1 Very Low; 2 Low; 3 Medium; 4 High; 5 Very High

Getting Married

30-60 years (assuming no divorce) 4 joining new family to yours, new sets of friends 4 identity is partially tied to another persons 4 you’re a responsible part of a life partnership professional pictures, letters, flowers, dress, cards etc

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I only need to worry about myself...

Having Children

30-70 years depending on your age at death 4 new life who creates new networks and relationships 5 you’re now a parent, a large change in identity 5 protecting, nurturing and guiding a new life photos and markers of events, lock of hair, awards etc

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Past

In this context map I’m defining the ‘Past’ as a general sense of a persons state before the initiation of the

events that are to be recorded in the ‘Memories Bag’; the ‘Present’ to be the initiating event or experience that starts the memory collection; and the ‘Future’ to be the users expectation of the ongoing use of the ‘Memories Bag’ and perhaps its purpose beyond themselves.

CONTEXT MAPS

The idea of the ‘Memories Bag’ is that it would be

a product that a user purchases to be a long term container for the physical artefacts that are precious to recording not just ‘a’ memory but a narrative of memories that describe changes and fleeting moments relating to something or someone that has a high impact on your life experience and identity.

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Context Map Product User

The product I feel is strongest in terms of its ability to be viable, to have cross cultural impact and provide the most interest for both the user and the artisan is the ‘Memories Bag’. This context map is an exploration of the user who I will assume to be female from a western country and context. The validity of these assumptions can be explored at a later date.

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Why women? Well it is my experience that women are far more sensitive to the need and desire to collect memories, particularly family memories, to the benefit of the whole family. Its not that men don’t care they just don’t tend to react to the desire to remember by collecting, keeping and storing artefacts for the express reason of remembrance. These gut feelings and assumptions need to be better tested during the research and development of this product.

precious memories

The inspiration for this design is the celebration of memories of elements of life that are precious and life changing like marriage, children, or a family life change.

Return Brief

To remember is to have identity, to have community and to have connection. As an increasingly information soaked society who documents their every move but assigns little value to these digital trails, we as humans are still drawn to the intuitive sense that things, objects and artefacts are key to triggering and hence storing our memories and stories. This intuition and desire to store important objects or keepsakes of our past for the sake of remembering, recording and identity is one that crosses cultural boundaries.

Three priorities Through research, desire and commitment this product will:

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To be human is to seek to record important memories, feelings and events for the sake of personal and communal remembrance.

Ongoing Research The research that I will pursue to develop this product will focus on the following areas:

• Protect and serve artisans by working through Kala Raksha

•

Narratives and stories that are meaningful to the intent of the product, are relevant to the artisans and the customers.

•

Motifs, colours and construction.

• Minimise the impact on the environment by design

•

User research focused on what the web says about memories; scrap booking forums and sites; and, friends and family.

• Maximise the sustainable profit made both by the artisan and designer

•

Practical design elements like what type of pockets, dividers, how strong and how big.

•

Manufacturing elements like construction style, robustness, linings etc.

ALA RAKSHA COLLABORATION

The most obvious target market is women, nominally between the ages of 20 and 50. However, I believe women of all ages from early teens to the end of life could find this product attractive.

RETURN BRIEF

20/11/2013

precious memories keepsafe

Target Market

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This intuition and desire to store important objects or keepsakes of our past for the sake of remembering, recording and identity is one that crosses cultural boundaries. To be human is to seek to record important memories, feelings and events for the sake of personal and communal remembrance.

Made using a mixture of Rabari, Ari, Pakko, Kharek and Ahir embroidery in multiple panels, motifs, colours and designs.

Collect Protect Share Remember

Think scrap booking...

...mixed with Japanese soft roll-up bags.

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Concept Review

le tip ures ts l u M clos cke en d po an ow e f all r th g o t fo vin ren sa iffe d zed cts ir tion si bje the iza o d or an teg ca

The inspiration for this design is the celebration of memories of elements of life that are precious and life changing like marriage, children, or a family life change.

Collect your memories together in one place so that it can be brought out and shared and then passed onto the next generation

ALA RAKSHA COLLABORATION

precious memories

CONCEPT REVIEW

Made using simple but beautiful closures fastened using carved wood or silver buttons.

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precious memories keepsafe

Keep your memories safe in a au be tiful soft container made with the care and knowledge of an artisan who has been practicing her art all her life.

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CONCEPT REVIEW

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Feedback From Saara and Wenhao

le s p i e t ul sur kets t M clo c en o r n p e e d iff n d w a lo e f al r th g o fo vin sa zed cts ir tion si je the iza ob nd or a teg ca

The intention is to use Rabari, Ari, Pakko, Kharek or Ahir embroidery. Either in by itself or as a mix if that is possible.

Collect Protect Share Remember

Think scrap booking...

...mixed with Japanese soft roll-up bags.

HDID693 SOCIALLY RESPONSIBLE DESIGN

Intended to unfold like the unwrapping of a present

ALA RAKSHA COLLABORATION

The inspiration for this design is the celebration of memories of elements of life that are precious and life changing like marriage, children, or a family life change.

CONCEPT REVIEW

Purpose

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Made using simple closures fastened using carved wood or silver buttons.

The amount of sewing in the design will be kept to a minimum

Concept Sent To Kala Raksha

precious memories keepsafe

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David Moorhead

Memory pockets Hello David,

Your concept development has come a long way! I am excited by this idea. I think it is both viable to produce and marketable. And it is appropriate to Kutch embroidery work! I think the product could be a great gift, is more or less gender-neutral, and will speak to people. You have also done a lot of work toward a marketing strategy. Nice layout and visual details! (but please make the type a bit larger and darker; it is hard to read). Since you are working on a unique gift product and concepts of value, I hope the product will not be too price-sensitive. It is also not too large, so I think that you wonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have to worry about making it cost, time and labour efficient. Did you get to see the previous samples, with the costs? You asked WHAT ARE THE LOCAL PHILOSOPHIES AND TRADITIONS AROUND STORING AND SHARING FAMILY MEMORIES AND STORIES? Village people here do save and store precious things- such as dowry pieces. They cover them in cloth- different bags or fabrics. I even heard recently that there are special coloured cloths for storing valued textiles. There was not originally a tradition of having written records in the home, but professional record keepers/ genealogists (Barots or Charans) kept wonderful big leather bound books with family trees, stories and even paintings in them. The Barot would be called for weddings, births, deaths, and would record and recite family histories. In some regions, Barots sang. Today people keep photo albums. They are very fond of wedding albums and the current ones are all digitally produced and hard bound, like books!

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WHICH TEXTILE TECHNIQUES DO YOU THINK ARE MOST APPROPRIATE? I suggest Rabari embroidery. It has a great range, is appealing and decorative as well as evocative, and our Rabari artisans are really adept at interpreting a theme like family history. Let me know if you want them to do that, or just make it decorative and precious. Thank you!

Judy Frater

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CONCEPT REVIEW

20/11/2013

Feedback From Kala Raksha #2

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ALA RAKSHA COLLABORATION

PROTOTYPING

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Prototype Plan Hi David, you have a good plan here, especially the user testing and interviewing. Even photos of some of the things they have collected ( if not too personal my be of use here). See if you can find a couple of people in each of the age group you had in your context map as that would link nicely to that piece of work. For the first prototype try a few different proportions and configurations so that you can compare them and find the best solution.

Understanding the materials you are working with is imperative, you may also want to explore interfacing and or padding. Start thinking about the order of sewing, the embroidery is done first and then the bag will be sewn up later probably by a different person.

The brief for the artisan will be very important, so start drafting this up too!

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regards Kate

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PROTOTYPING

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Prototype #1 Sizing, Stiffness and Functional Elements

Rough sizing and details

To start my first prototype I sketched out the details that would enable me to make something that was rough but close. I put emphasise on fast and dirty prototyping and this meant fast and messy sketches. Despite being rough these sketches allowed the swift transition from vague conceptual sketches to sizing details that I was happy to modify as I made my prototype.

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PROTOTYPING

The sketches gave me sizes and a general guess at how things should go together but on the whole within the constraints of the sketched out sizing I made up the construction style as I went.

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Making the Prototype

This process taught me a lot about the details required for clean quality looking sewn products and construction sequences.

I used old materials I had in the garage for painting drop sheets and was focused on the â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;feelâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; of the design elements to guide decisions on number of layers and attachment details. The prototype was full size and had a big pocket but not the little pockets. I figured I could use paper models or little purses to model these and was focused on the overall sizing.

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I changed the main bag style thinking that a roll top enclosure would make it more secure.

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PROTOTYPING

I added the straps I had visualized in my concept sketches and added a button to model how useful this attachment style was.

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Finishing the Prototype

I decided to have a quick go at a small pocket to get an idea of the construction problems I would have trying to make them in future prototypes.

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I ended up using this prototype to aid my second prototyping activity that was focused on user feedback by adding a series of little bags and purses that could be rearranged by the person I was interviewing.

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PROTOTYPING

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Prototype #2 Pockets, Details and User Research Process

The format for my user research is an informal discussion style interaction where I will present my concept and ask some questions around the ideas of collecting memories.

My first goal is to find out how women in different age groups and interests view the act of remembrance and storing memories through artefacts. I want to find out what sorts of things they have saved from important times in their lives, what those events or times in life were and then what the habits and rituals are around pulling these things out to remember. My second goal is to find out what the target groups feel about concept form, colours, sizing and functional arrangement of pockets and enclosures. This process will enable a sort of collaborative and exploratory interaction through the use of my rough prototype and initial sketches I developed of my product set up in Photoshop to have different elements ‘painted’ in different colours (the base models are shown to the left). Using these tools the person I’m interviewing can feel the product and get a sense of its size whilst thinking about how they might use it and then playing with the colours of the final product. I will direct them to some examples of Rabari embroidery so they get a sense of the embroidery elements of the design.

Questions

What occupies most of your time in the week?

Name a few of your interests and pursuits outside of work, study etc. Do you save mementos to remember different events or times in life?

What sort of things do you save? (Could I see some and maybe take a picture?) What times in life or events do think are important enough to save mementos?

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How would you like to remember those times? Do you pull out your mementos and remember on your own or do you share them with others, or both? Are there things from your life that you’d like to store and pass on to someone when you pass on?

Looking at the sketches and the prototype talk out loud about what you like and don’t like and how you would make it better? More pockets?

Removable pockets?

Pockets with different colours?

Ways of categorising things (by colour or labels)? Fabric feel, stiffness?

Straps, ribbon, buttons?

How would you use the big pocket?

Use the Photoshop files of the closed concept and open concept to play with general colours, what combination of colours do you think work best?

How stiff should the outer layer be?

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ALA RAKSHA COLLABORATION

PROTOTYPING

Sharon?

20/11/2013

Sharon Moorhead, 59 Sharon is 59 and has recently been made redundant so isn’t working at the moment. She loves going for walks, spending time with family and friends and creating sewn craft (clothing, couch covers, curtains etc).

On the Topic of Memories:

Sharon saves some things but not everything. She saves things like:

Significant cards (birthdays, christmas, anniversaries)

Things from each child throughout their life (awards, report cards, some school work, toys etc)

Things from sons wedding (invitations, candle holders etc)

Bookmarks Pictures

Important Postcards and Letters

Things from her mum and grandma

How does she save these things now? In different places around the house: boxes, draws, containers and bags. There is no real order to it and they only really get moved or looked at when moving or cleaning. However, she would like to store them better and organise them more but “...life gets in the way...” and she is “...time poor...” and suffers “... procrastination...”. Events and times Sharon like to save things from (or would like to) are: Weddings, Birthdays, Engagements, Death, Work, Children’s important events, her mums and grandmas heirlooms.

On the Topic of the Product:

Sharon felt the PMK should come in multiple sizes and thought small, medium and large would be adequate. She didn’t like the idea of removable pockets but did like the idea of being able to either have multiple options for pocket arrangements or the ability to order bespoke arrangements of little pockets.

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She felt that different sized pockets should be offered and there should be ones that could fit CD’s and DVDs; Postcards and Letters; and, things like bookmarks. All pockets should be able to be sealed so things don’t fall out.

Sharon felt that the main bag and folding flaps should be made stiffer with interface. She didn’t like the main pocket style and when we brainstormed different options felt most positive about a form where the pocket opens almost like a box so you can easily see everything in it. She also mentioned that she would put big things like books and photo albums in it.

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PROTOTYPING

Danielle?

20/11/2013

Danielle Moorhead, 37 Danielle is 37 and is a web producer/project/team leader for web based design and systems. At the moment she is working in a freelance capacity as she explores a passion for finding ways to communicate and educate people in environmental change and action. She has a love for travel, new places, people and new cultures along with passions for culinary excellence and permaculture.

On the Topic of Memories:

Danielle has saved the following kinds of things:

Travel mementos i.e. ticket stubs, bruchures or pamphlets, souvenirs or trinkets, pictures Cards, letters

Photos

Favourite pieces of clothing

Jewellery in particular bespoke and interesting new pieces

Music CDs even if not listened too

The times or events that Danielle likes to save mementos of are: Travel

Birthdays, Weddings, Deaths and other such significant social events

Danielle made mention of a couple of interesting habits or traits that surround the remembrance of events through the artefacts she has saved. These are ‘time’ and ‘serendipity’. Time in the sense that she doesn’t generally pull these artefacts out to remember these events every week or every month or even every year, no she feels that the sense of enjoying that remembrance is often most powerful when a significant amount of time has elapsed since the artefacts were last looked at or from the event(s) that the artefacts are saved from have transpired. Tied closely then to this idea of ‘Time’ is the joy that serendipity brings to the remembrance process, that is often it will not be a deliberate intention to pull the artefacts out to remember events but a chance event more connected to cleaning or moving house. This serendipity adds to the intensity of the remembrance and often the original task that caused the act of remembrance is set aside for a while whilst pouring over those artefacts and remembering those times.

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On the Topic of the Product:

Danielle’s first thoughts on brainstorming the PMK was that the central large bag or enclosure should be made significantly stiffer than the rest of the bag. Her words were “...it needs to feel like your memories are safe...being protected...”. She felt that this big middle bag should at least be A4 sized and she would likely put photo albums or diary like artefacts in it. She also felt that this pocket should open in a manner that allowed you to easily see what was in it, more like a box. Like Sharon, Danielle felt that there should be multiple pocket sizes available and that the selection of the arrangement, colour and size of the pockets should be part of an online interactive customer interaction. Danielle also felt that there should be a place left for a bespoke message to be embroidered, this way the product could be made more special for herself, or could be categorised or could be made more special as a wedding present or similar.

Danielle was also keen to maintain a clear interaction or awareness of the artisan and felt that the purchasing process, branding, customer interaction design and packaging should seek to reflect this element powerfully.

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ALA RAKSHA COLLABORATION

PROTOTYPING

Rebecca?

20/11/2013

Rebecca Moorhead, 25 Rebecca is 25 and is studying to be a Social Worker. She loves photography, spending time with friends and family and making things. Most recently she has taught herself how to crochet and has been making all sorts of crocheted goods.

On the Topic of Memories:

Rebecca has saved the following kinds of things:

Travel trinkets and photos Cards, letters

Photos

Favourite pieces of clothing

Travel (big trips)

The times or events that Rebecca likes to save mementos of are:

Birthdays, Weddings, Deaths and other such significant social events

Rebecca likes to exhibit her travel trinkets where she can see them day to day and be reminded of her trips. She also likes to look back over photos of trips and other important times, this is mostly done digitally.

Most other artefacts Rebecca stores away and doesn’t really seek them out in an intentional act of remembrance but they are important and worthy of being saved.

On the Topic of the Product:

Rebecca quite liked the overall concept and her initial thoughts were of how more than one bag could be purchased to save and look after bits and pieces from different events. Rebecca thought that the whole process of purchasing a bag should be a web based interactive one where colour combinations; pocket numbers and sizes; embroidery motif styles and patterns; and overall size should be easily selectable and interactive. Rebecca really enjoyed the process of colouring and designing her own bag.

Much like Danielle, Rebecca felt that it would be good to have a designated location where a bespoke message could be embroidered.

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Rebecca felt that the central pocket should be stiffer than the rest of the bag and made to open out so that all the contents could be viewed. Rebecca didn’t like the straps and felt that the product would look better if they weren’t included.

Finally, Rebecca was keen that in some way either on the product or in the packaging that the ‘story’ of the design, collaboration and details of the Artisan and their cultural perspective and input into the design be told. She felt that it would be powerful to describe the artisan(s) in more detail so that the purchaser of the bag understood in some way their context, perspective and the important place they had in the production of the product.

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ALA RAKSHA COLLABORATION

PROTOTYPING

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Prototype #3 Final, Construction Style and Details

Developing Small Pocket Designs For the third round of prototyping I focused on testing pocket geometries and construction styles. I started with the small pockets.

I wanted the pockets to look really clean when finished, so have minimal exposed seams. I also wanted the pockets to have an inner and outer fabric that could be different to add some interesting detail to them.

The large photo to the right shows the generations of designs as I refined the process to make them look better, enable them to be constructed easier and attach to the inside of the main flap better. I started with an origami approach where I worked out a size and then started folding to explore what shapes different arrangements of folds could achieve. Once I had a working series of folds I cut away the excess and made a flat pattern. I used the flat pattern with old material to sew the first iteration.

Next I took the pattern and digitised it in Solidworks so that I could easily adapt it and have repeatability when sewing. Using the new flat pattern I made another pocket with two layers of fabric and worked out the details necessary to make that work.

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Finally I tweaked the flat pattern and made another pocket to model the final product and to test the way I would attach it to the flap. This result of this process was a well refined pocket design and attachment approach ready for the final prototype.

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ALA RAKSHA COLLABORATION

PROTOTYPING

Developing the centre bag was challenging. The prototype #1 style bag had shown me that from a user experience point of view the centre bag should be simple to look into and show off its contents. This was backed up by the user feedback using prototype #1 as a guide and visualisation tool.

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Developing the Centre Bag Design

The problem was to have that experience of opening up the bag for easy visibility of the bags contents whilst not making the bag overly complex to make or unsightly. I felt the design should be consistent with the whole ‘roll up bag’ aesthetic that was a key influence on the design as a whole. After some thought and experimentation I decided to go with a folding design that would enable the user to put large heavy things in the centre bag securely without the need for complex ‘box’ style constructions. If people wanted to keep small loose trinkets or delicate things they could put them into boxes that would provide protection and then be securely held by the folding sides. I felt that this design was a good balance of function, ease of manufacture and consistency with the overall design influences.

With some of the knowledge gained from the small pocket prototyping process and the simplicity of my design idea I was able to achieve a resolved design somewhat quicker than for the small pockets. I built one full prototype before being confident enough to use the techniques and knowledge in producing a high quality final prototype. This prototype was a useful test bed for testing the enclosure details I wanted for the final design.

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I tested buttons and toggles and concluded that buttons would function best whilst maintaining a nice look and consistent design language for the whole product.

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ALA RAKSHA COLLABORATION

PROTOTYPING

20/11/2013

Feedback from Saara and Wenhao #2

Scaled Pockets.

The final prototype will be a medium size.

Different pocket sizes.

A common theme in the user interviews was the desire for different pocket sizes to be provided.

Story Panel.

Another common theme and request in the user interviews was for some sort of message or communication from the artisan as well as some way to have a bespoke message embroidered on the bag. These ideas were compelling and so included a story panel in the main flap structure of the keepsafe. On the story panel the artisan will embroider some information and words and the customer can have a bespoke message embroidered.

It was also a common theme that people wanted to save letters, CD’s and DVD’s as well as smaller things. The final prototype will have a series of small pockets, a CD sized pocket and a Letter sized pocket.

Whilst making the small pocket prototypes and digitising the pattern, I realised that the pattern could be simply arranged so that it scaled to its contents. This would simplify production and would give the pockets a consistent design that could be varied through the careful selection of fabrics and colours.

Straps are annoying.

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Prototype #1 was made of 3 folding panels each 400 mm by 400 mm square. When interacting with the prototype it was clear that the product should be no larger than this size.

Whilst interviewing potential users and showing them the first prototype with the straps I realised that the closure of the bag using those straps was annoying. Annoying for me and annoying for the interviewee. Whilst a they look good in the concept pictures I felt that these straps did not match up in reality. There were multiple ways I could have changed them so they were less annoying, but in the end I decided the product would benefit from having a cleaner simpler look. So I decided to remove them from the design.

ALA RAKSHA COLLABORATION

However some of the insights and lessons learnt had a very significant effect on the configuration of the final prototype. These are worth highlighting and are summarised on this page.

400 mm by 400 mm is large!

Further that the product should be offered in at least three sizes large (400 mm x 400 mm), medium (300 mm x 300 mm) and small (200 mm x 200 mm).

PROTOTYPING

Much of this learning was fluid and didn’t need to be recorded or written down, it simply enabled me to make a new prototype in a more efficient and refined manner.

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Insights and Lessons Learnt from Rough Prototyping

The process of prototyping was a rich learning ground that generated new understanding and ideas to inform the next iteration of design or prototyping.

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PROTOTYPING

These pictures are of the finished prototype ready to be sent to Kala Raksha as a production sample.

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Production and Demonstration Prototype

The final prototype was created using all the knowledge gained from the rough prototyping process. I documented the whole process in very defined steps for use in the ‘How to Make’ documentation.

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PROTOTYPING

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PROTOTYPING

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PROTOTYPING

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ALA RAKSHA COLLABORATION

PROTOTYPING

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How-to-Build Instructions

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PROTOTYPING

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PROTOTYPING

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HDID693 SOCIALLY RESPONSIBLE DESIGN

ALA RAKSHA COLLABORATION

PROTOTYPING

20/11/2013

DAVID MOORHEAD 1756036

HDID693 SOCIALLY RESPONSIBLE DESIGN

ALA RAKSHA COLLABORATION

PROTOTYPING

20/11/2013

DAVID MOORHEAD 1756036

HDID693 SOCIALLY RESPONSIBLE DESIGN

ALA RAKSHA COLLABORATION

PROTOTYPING

20/11/2013

DAVID MOORHEAD 1756036

HDID693 SOCIALLY RESPONSIBLE DESIGN

ALA RAKSHA COLLABORATION

PROTOTYPING

20/11/2013

DAVID MOORHEAD 1756036

HDID693 SOCIALLY RESPONSIBLE DESIGN

ALA RAKSHA COLLABORATION

USER EXPERIENCE STORY

20/11/2013

User Experience Story

• Web Development and Support • Kala Raksha - Artisans for design and embroidery

• Tailoring - Subcontracted from Kala Raksha • Fowarding and Shipping - Agent in Rajkot and arrangement with India Post

• Cotton Supplier - Fair trade organic cotton supplier • Cotton Processor - Subcontracted by Kala Raksha to ensure high quality low impact processing and where possible natural dies

• Quick, clear and helpful customer support

• Base Fabric Production

• Embroidery Design and Production • Tailoring • QA

• A product that has no peer

• Hand made, intricate, unique and beautiful fabrics

• Packaging

• Shipping and Delivery

• Lifetime Repair Service

• A window into the world of the Artisan via the product

• An interactive purchasing process that allows the customer to take part in the design of their keepsafe • A product thoughtfully and deliberately designed to be for lifetime+ use.

• Kala Raksha

• Artisan Co-Design

• Artisan Embroidery

• Fairtrade organic low impact raw materials

• Lifetime repair support.

• Design Leadership

• Social media style celebration of customer ‘designs’

• Predominantly women with a leaning towards hand made, crafty style one off products • Men buying presents for women • Some men for themselves

• Social media style communication with the artisans space for bios, comments and support • Fun community interactions like ‘what’s in your keepsafe?’

• Social Media - Pininterest, FB, Twitter

• Blogs, Handmade Community Involvement, Craft Events

• Partnerships and joint events with other Artisan-Designer outfits

HDID693 SOCIALLY RESPONSIBLE DESIGN

• Web Support

• Customer Support • Web design and ongoing support • Design leadership • Raw materials

• Artisan time and effort

relationship management.

• R&D

• Accounts, records, customer support

• Keepsafe purchases

• Licensing of designs

• Tailoring • QA

• Packaging/labelling

• Advertising, partnerships and

ALA RAKSHA COLLABORATION

• Fun, clear and easy online interactions

• Design

BUSINESS AND IMPACT

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Business Model Canvas

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Creation of new jobs 6

on Environment

Ownership of intellectural property

Cultural Heritage

4 3

Connection with Global Business Partners

Equal rights and fair trade

Education of Global Consumers

HDID693 SOCIALLY RESPONSIBLE DESIGN

Ecconomic Empowerment

Create New Niche Market

Independence through Education

Sustainable Local (Business) Ecconomy Local Materials Feed Local Ecconomy

Local Skills

MPACT ITY I UN MM CO

GLOBAL IMP AC T

Other

IM P

T AC

ALA RAKSHA COLLABORATION

INDIV IDU AL

BUSINESS AND IMPACT

20/11/2013

Social Impact Map

(where 1 is low impact and 6 is high impact)

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Biodiversity and habitat protection • Cotton production is traditional agriculture so yes it destroys natural habitat but has been in use for centuries so the farms are well established and the cotton required for this product is unlikely to require the establishment of new farms. • The cotton processing can utilise quite harmful chemicals and processing in a developing world context means that there is unlikely to be significant actions taken to reduce chemical spillage and waste getting into the local habitat.

Production Environmental Impact Energy Use (minimize waste) Water use, pollution and waste • The most impactful element of production is the raw material production with its reliance on large amounts of water and chemicals in the many stages of production.

Carbon Miles and gas emissions for Distribution to Retail Outlet or consume • Each keepsafe will have high carbon miles due to it being a global product that is shipped from India individually anywhere in the world.

• Care will be taken to minimise these impacts through careful supply chain contracts, arrangements, education and design choices in the design details like colours and types of basic cotton materials offered.

• The manner of purchasing and producing means that the carbon miles of these elements is relatively low.

• Only organic cotton will be used via agreements with suppliers this minimizes the use of pesticides. Organic fairtrade cotton is grown in Gujarat so this is feasible Production of product • The production of the design, embroidery and tailoring will have a very small impact. • The production of raw materials has the largest impact followed by shipping.

• Careful supplier relationship building, education and incentives will be used to reduce the need, where possible, for damaging chemicals and dies in cotton processing.

Use of local materials, minimize transportation • Cotton is a long established crop in Gujarat along with processing, raw textile production, embroidery and tailoring. This means the transport of materials is minimised up until the point of shipping the final product. • As a global web based business the worldwide transportation of the product, in this case single products, is inefficient and has a high relative carbon use and hence negative environmental impact.

Re- Use and/or Recycle • The design philosophy of this product is that it is to be kept for life, the business will offer life time repairs and support to encourage this. • Cotton is biodegradable (depending on the chemical treatments utilised)

• The product can be repurposed into other fabric products by the user or can be downcycled into rags or other.

Use of local skills • The creation of each product is 90% the result of local businesses in supplying cotton, Artisan design and embroidery, tailoring and shipping.

HDID693 SOCIALLY RESPONSIBLE DESIGN

Obtaining and processing Raw materials into usable form, Consider waste reduction and minimizing chemical usage Re- Use and/or Recycle • Only organic cotton will be used via agreements with suppliers this minimizes the use of pesticides. Organic fairtrade cotton is grown in Gujarat so this is feasible

Retail Store, Packaging, Advertising and/or Website • The product will be wrapped in recycled butchers paper and then sewn into a recycled cloth (nice left overs or patchwork) package with a branding embroidered patch attached • Advertising will be online

• Purchasing and shopfront will all be online • Customer support will be online

ALA RAKSHA COLLABORATION

Raw Materials Impact (Cradle)

Distribution, Use Phase and End of Life Environmental Impact (Grave or Cradle)

BUSINESS AND IMPACT

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Environmental Impact Canvas

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Des

ipp Sh i

lbou r n e Me

HDID693 SOCIALLY RESPONSIBLE DESIGN

Repa

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3 1 4

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ALA RAKSHA COLLABORATION

PERPET UA LU S

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Visual Business Plan

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How fast? 0 - Slow >> 5 - Fast

D san e

Good for people and communities? 0 - Harmful >> 5 - Inspiring

Good for business? 0 - Not feasible >> 5 - Cost Effective

Use

AL DYES TUR NA

Good for the environment? 0 - Very Harmful >> 5 - Harmless

Desig

ND A D 5 ISE M TO S CU , D E S I

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precious memories keepsafe

the life and times of a...

t r al i a Po Au s st

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Store

BUSINESS AND IMPACT

n Proc

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Thread

PRODUCT HAND MA DE F ROM

20/11/2013

C ign re

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DAVID MOORHEAD 1756036

I wasn’t going to write a conclusion but it felt wrong to have travelled this little HDID693 Socially Responsible Design journey without penning some words of reflection to round it out.

I have learnt a lot throughout this process: I’ve learnt about Gujarat, I’ve learnt about Indian embroidery, I’ve learnt about what it means to try to pick through the tricky ethics of modern first world design trying to collaborate with 3rd world designers and I’ve learnt things about me as a designer and creator of products. Ultimately this is the joy of design: to learn and to create, to open ones mind to the possibilities of the unknown and revel in not knowing where you will end up. This process of designing the Precious Memories Keepsafe has been important to me as a learning experience but also as a social interaction that has made this experience more than just a university subject.

HDID693 SOCIALLY RESPONSIBLE DESIGN

Thank you Kate Bissett-Johnson for your guidance, facilitation, care and passion in helping me and my classmates learn and grow through this subject.

ALA RAKSHA COLLABORATION

CONCLUSION

20/11/2013

Conclusion

DAVID MOORHEAD 1756036