PORTFOLIO 2O15
Gaurika Singhal
About Me I’m a second year undergrad student of Product Design at the National Institute of Design at Ahmedabad pursuing a Bachelor’s degree in Industrial Design. A research enthusiast, I am eager to pick up skills. Making connections between design and everyday life excites me. I am currently fascinated by User Centric Design and its application. I have the ability to learn quickly and understand thoroughly.
In this portfolio
I have included projects with the whole process to showcase my design capabilities. This is a collection of work done by me in and ouside design school.
Projects Sketches and Renders
Workshop Skills
(Replicating a Mechanical Pencil)
Technical Studies
Compleat
Sem 4, PD, 2015
DP, Sem 4, PD, 2015
(Studying the mechanisms of a typewriter)
Expressive Lettering (Open Elective) Sem 4, 2015
Sem 3, PD, 2014
Form Studies
Unfare
Sem 3, PD, 2014
Foundation, 2013
(From form to product Flo)
Human Centric Design (IDEO)
(Design Process, Stop Motion Animation)
Chitreka
(Game design)
(Online course) Feb, 2015
Before college, 2012
(Simple Product Design)
Sketches and ReNders This is a selection of sketches and renders done in my two years at the National Institute of Design. On the left are freehand sketches, some made using reference images and some made looking at objects. On the right are renders, made using ball point pens, alcohol markers, colour pencils and digitally.
Line Sketches
Alcohol Marker Renders Foundation Year Sketches
Workshop SKILLs 2 Weeks | Replicating a product As part of our worksop skills course, we were required to pick a product and replicate it in a smaller or larger scale. The aim of the course was to intoduce us to the machinery in the workshop, learn to make CAD drawings and disassemble simple products and understand manufacturing processes. I chose to replicate a mechanical pencil that I found very fascinating. It is a capsule mechanical pencil manufactured by the company Milan. Unlike regular mechanical pencils, The capsule pencil is elliptical and varies in thickness along its cross section. This made it very hard to find the right manufacturing process. Lathes can only make components if they have radial symmetry along their cross section. So I had to make most moulds by hand. I used polystyrene, PVC and mild steel springs along with pen refills and nibs during the process.
Step 1 I disassembled the capsule pencil. It had six outer body components and 5 inner body components. I started by making an AutoCAD model of the whole pencil with exact measurements. I then scaled it up by 1.4 times and took a print and started working on the mould for the whole outer body.
Step 3 Once I made the outer body in MDF, 1.4 times the original pencil, I had to vacuum form polystyrene, 2 mm thick around it to make the whole body. For this, I had to place the mould in the machine twice, to get both the horizontal cross sections. I cut the body out of the poystyrene sheets and glued them together to make the whole body. I then cut individual components like the cap, the main body and the nib out of it.
Step 2 I stuck the print of the CAD model on an MDF plank and cut out the main body. I then started hand sculpting the outer elliptical body by using a file. I had to make sure that it was symmetric across the horizonal and vertical cross section. I measured with a vernier caliper continuously and made rough ellipse stencils to help me.
Step 5 Once all the components were ready, I got them ready for putting primer and paint on. I had to leave them to dry for a day before assembling them.
Step 4 I made the sliding components with PVC rods and tubes. The inside of these components had a circular cross section, but the outside had an elliptical one. So I drilled holes and made the basic structure of these components on the lathe using the dimensions of the larger axis of the ellipse and then later hand sculpted the elliptical cross section. This took a lot of time because they had to slide into each other perfectly.
Step 6 Once all the parts were painted and ready, I fit the inner mechanism in and assembled the whole pencil.
The Final Model The final mechanical pencil was 1.4 times the original, made of Polystyrene, PVC and mild steel springs.
Form Studies 4 Weeks | Individual study
Form is the first visual perception we have of a product, it helps us assume the role of the product. We all relate to products because of the form of their outer body. We learnt to look at form from two different approaches. One was to build forms using attributes to describe them and the other was to build forms and then categorise them, place them on a graph according to their attributes. Both the approaches helped me develop a good form understanding. I became sensitive to how different volumes, edges, surface graphics, colours and textures help us perceive products around us.
Linear and Planar Form The linear forms are made along the attributes, Intersecting and Fluid. The idea was to create a volume using a one dimensional linear material suggestive of the attributes. The planar form was made along the attributes Energetic and Connected. The idea was to give the surface the abstract volume that indicated the attributes.
Solid Form After making moodboards for Mischievous, Futuristic, Minimalistic, they were used as inspiration to make solid forms defining the same attributes. The forms on the right were the final forms developed for each of the property. The idea was to understand the characteristics well and represent them with a three dimensial surface. These were made with thermocol and then coated in wall putty and sanded.
From Form to Product This exercise involved taking a form, assigning a function to it and developing it into a product concept. The aim of the exercise was to be able to visualise and represent the product concept well enough for a user to be able to understand the function, cost, material etc simply by looking at it. I picked up the minimalistic form I had made and decided to give it the function of a faucet. I made a sketch of the product, using the form as inspiration and then rendered it on a sink. I call it flo. The final panel is on the right.
Human Centered Design (IDEO) 7 Weeks | Online course The Course for Human-Centered Design is a seven-week curriculum that introduced us to the concepts of human-centered design and how this approach can be used to create innovative, effective, and sustainable solutions for social change. (https://novoed.com/hcd-acumen) We picked a precrafted challenge and adapted it to our environment, To Improve the educational experiences of the International exchange students coming to the National Institute of Design. Each week we explored the main human-centered design concepts through readings, case studies, and short videos. We met in-person to get our hands dirty practicing the relevant human-centered design methods. We completed the challenge and earned a certificate but were unable to implement it due to the time of the semester. We hope to work on it once the new batch of exchange students comes in. The doc is available at http://issuu.com/gaurikasinghal/docs/ideo_final This course was done in collaboration with Vishwanath Pasumarthi.
Mechanism Study 2 Weeks | Group Project As part of our technical studies course, we had to open up an existing machine (non electrical) and study all the inner components and mechanisms. We chose to open up a Typewriter, the Remington 2000. Slowly, over the course of two weeks, we took it apart and studied its various mechanisms in detail. It was a great learning experience as we had many moments of discovery along the way. The Remington 2000 has many components, some which we weren’t even able to name, some so minute that it was hard to keep track of. The main parts are the type basket, the ribbon feed, the type hammers, the keys, the platen, the clutch, the carraige return lever and all the gears that make it work. We mainly studied the Escapement Mechanism, the Ribbon feed mechanism, the Carraige Return Mechanism and the key lever mechanism. We chose to make a model showing the working of the Key Lever Mechanism in the end. This project was done in collaboration with Harshika Jain and Atin Bose.
The Key Lever Mechanism
The Remington 2000
When you press a key, a lever attached to it swings another lever called a type hammer up toward the paper. The type hammer has the slug of metal type on the end of it. Just as the type hammer is about to hit the page, a spool of inked cloth called a ribbon lifts up and sandwiches itself between the type and the paper, so the type makes a printed impression as it hits the page. When you release the key, a spring makes the type hammer fall back down to its original position.
4 Bar linkage The lever mechanism uses the the principles of force and stroke multipliers. The finger force is multiplied by a four bar linkage in series, thus producing a strong hammer action at the roller from a light touch. The four bar linkage is a mechanism that lies in a plane and consists of four bars connected by joints that allow rotation only in the plane of the mechanism. If we take four links and connect them with four joints, we get a simple four bar mecha- nism. To get it working, we just need to fix one link. This fixed link is usually called link 1. We then number the rest of the links 2-4. Link 2 is usually the input link, which is the link that you move to power our device. Either links 3 and 4 can be the output link. Depending on the lengths of the links, and what you consider the input and output, you get different types of motion from the same 4 bar mechanism.
A film of the disassembly process can be found here.
The first working hammer
Flimsy paper and thumb pin prototype
Wood
Acrylic, laser cut
Testing the spring with rubberbands at different distances
The most accurate positioning
The Prototyping Timeline It took us six attempts to get the placement of each lever right and to find the exact length of the springs required. We had to make sure that a small force on the key would allow the type hammer to make an arc of more than 20 cms.
The Movement When the key is pressed, The lever swings up just like the type hammer swings up in the type writer. When it is released, it falls back to its original position.
The Final Model The final model was laser cut and made in acrylic. The front oanel sealing the mechanism was made transparent so that anyone pressing the key could see the working of the key lever mechanism.
Espressive Lettering 2 Weeks | Open Elective In the second semester of product design, we were required to pick an elective. I chose to study Expressive Lettering with Kriti Monga, graphic designer and founder of Turmeric Design, Delhi. The course helped me understand the importance of graphic design and of lettering. I realised how each font had a meaning and was expressing a certain attribute. As a product designer, I realised the importance of presentation and of the effort that goes into making things look impeccable and emote exactly what they’re supposed to. We did multiple exercises, like learning a form of hand lettering, designing drop caps and of using type to express a phrase or a saying. It was a very exciting course and I made correlations to my course in form studies along the way.
2 Weeks | Stop Motion Animation Film I started working on this stop motion animation film as part of my Design project in my first year at National institute of Design, Ahmedabad. I chose to study about the meters used in Auto Rickshaws in Ahmedabad. I visited the RTO in Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar, spoke to lots of auto rickshaw drivers, users and studied the fare cards carefully. I found that the existing fare cards were all fake and issued by auto rickshaw communities. The users were unaware of the base fare and how they were being charged and were being cheated. So I decided to make a short animation film to help auto rickshaw users understand the system better. Since this was hurriedly done in two days, the film isn’t complete.
Click here to watch the film.
The Fare Card This is the fare card circulated in the rickshaw community. It gives the meter reading, distance and cost
Clips from the film
Chi t re k a! 3
Inspired by the great game Pictureka, my love for Indian Kitsch and my new illustrator skills, I decided to make the game Chitreka out of boredom after my 12th grade examinations. Find it fast! Find it first! Chitreka is an exciting game of visual hide & seek. Collect the most mission cards to win! Place the 9 game board tiles on the table in a 3 x 3 grid. Players than take turns rolling the dice, selecting a mission card and trying to find objects fast or first. Three different card decks keep the game exciting -- players either have to find a matching image or objects that fall into a category like “things that are noisy”. In this game its finders keepers: you get the card if you find the object fast or first. Collect enough cards to win, and you’re the Chitreka champ!
Action Cards There are actions on the back of some mission cards. The gameboard can change on any turn -special mission cards instruct players to turn over, rotate or switch one of the 9 gameboard tiles. It ensures that people don’t memorise the cards and the game stays interesting.
Contents There are nine game tiles, four decks of mission cards , an instruction card, two dice and a sandclock.
6 Weeks | Design Project As part of the final design project, Simple Product Design, of the second semester of product design, We were required to find a problem from our surroundings and solve it by making a simple working product. I chose the problem that most young indian girls face, Pleating of a Saree. We all our required to wear a saree at one point or another. Draping 6m of fabric on oneself flawlessly is an art and takes a lot of practice. I decided to make a tool to help make this task simpler and less time consuming. This is a documentation of the process followed to achieve this. The process involved problem validation, research, usability tests, user identification, market study, brainstorming, concept generation, refinement, selection, prototyping, renders, branding and final working usability tests and refinement.
Problem Identification It all started when I saw all the girls living at the hostel struggle and take out hours to drape sarees on themselves for our college cultural day. I observed many young women drape sarees and marked their struggle points. The key areas identified in the process of pleating are shown in the diagram above. I conducted a study to find out how such women cope. The most common practices include searching for you tube tutorials, buying prestitched sarees and getting someone else (a skilled person) to drape it.
Research I made a simple questionnaire and asked people about the frequency with which they wear a saree, the amount of time they spend for the actvity and what they find the hardest about draping a saree. The results are on the right in the form of infographs.
Market Research There were two existing products, Perfect pleats and Saree saheli.
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Task Analysis
2
I also conducted multiple task analyses From the top left, 1) A professional, a woman who drapes a saree regularly and spends less than 3 minutes to do so. 2) At a showroom, Nalli, Ahmedabad, how salesmen show customers sarees by draping it on them using a belt 3) A young girl who spends considerable time in the process
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Observation based study After observing many people drape sarees and by trying it myself, I understood the different factors that play a role in saree pleating and mapped out the oportunity area, made a user persona and framed the product brief.
Concept 1
Concept 2
Chosen Concept Concept 3
Concept 4
Form Exploration I made form explorations for individual units (pages) of the book tool. The idea was to allow the saree to get hooked in the negative comb like space so as to allow three lengths of pleats, small (4”), medium (5”) and large (6”). A little tab was incorporated on the side to turn the pages of the book easily and to make sure that the saree doesn’t shift.
Shortlisted Forms I drew out and refined the six forms that I thought matched the attributes, Feminine, Friendly, Organic and Harmless. Rough Mock ups were made to check size, feel and proportion
The Final Form
The form that worked best was picked and made in AutoCAD.
Colour Variants
The 3D Render This is a render of the final product in two colour variants. The Final Tool had 8-10 units. The book tool was made such that the pages turn from the side to make the usage more ergonomic and comfortable for the user. A rubber lining was added so that the saree wouldn’t get stuck or slip off.
The Final Prototype in Use It takes two - three minutes for a beginner to pleat a saree using Compleat. The user can use one of the three negative spaces provided to make pleats of three different lengths depending on preference. The tool reverses to allow the two different ways of draping the saree, seedha palla and ulta palla. So the user can make pleats from left to right and from right to left. The picture shows the edge of the tool being used to fold the saree in and the negative space being used to fold it back, to form a pleat. Each page of compleat makes one pleat. The tool is removed in the end with help of the tabs.
Contact Information
Gaurika Singhal
Product Design Student 2nd year, B.Des National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad
+919978841935 / +917507349622 gaurika_s@nid.edu