Gaurika Singhal
PORTFOLIO 2O16
Gaurika Singhal
About Me I’m a third year undergraduate 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 at National Institute of Design and during my exchange at Holon Institute of Technology, Israel.
Projects Sustainable Packaging
Chitreka
Sem 4, PD, 2015
Exchange Semester, HIT, 2016
Before college, 2012
Fixperts
Wisdom Machine
Neonatal Care
Exchange Semester, HIT, 2016
Work in Progress, 2016
Compleat
Simple Product Design
(Game design)
Sandisk Cruzer Blade
One handed wallet Exchange Semester, HIT, 2015
Arduino +Processing
Stitch
Workshop Skills
Exchange Semester, HIT, 2015
Sem 3, PD, 2014
Smart TV Interface
Behavioural Analysis
Laws of Finger Tapping Exchange Semester, HIT, 2015
(Replicating a Mechanical Pencil)
Human Centric Design (IDEO) (Online course) Feb, 2015
Technically Complex Product Design
Polypropylene plate
Silicon Rim that makes sure that the tool doesn’t damage the saree.
Tab that helps you turn the pages of the tool
Negative spaces for three different sizes of pleats, small (4”), medium (5”), large (6”)
compleat 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. Compleat is a compact tool that simplifies the task of pleating a saree (A traditional Indian dress worn by women) and makes neat and uniform pleats in three different sizes. It is light and easy to carry and makes the process of saree pleating quick and simple. Just tuck the saree in a negative space
Rings that hold all the plates together and allow them to turn.
Task Analysis and Problem Identification
The need to move hand skillfully.
compleat
The need to hold pleats in place while continuing to make more.
The need to arrange and tuck pleats after the making them.
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.
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.
Form Exploration
The Final Tool
I made form explorations for individual units (pages) of the book like 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.
After a final form was selected and tested, I got plates laser cut and bound them with rubber tubes and added a tucker.
Colour Variants
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
compleat
2 Weeks | Fixperts Exchange Semester, Holon Institute of Technology, Israel As part of a module called Fixperts during my exchange at Holon Institute of Technology, Israel, I worked on a simple product, aimed at alleviating the distress faced by Boaz, our Fix Partner who has minimal functioning abilities in his right hand, in using his regular leather wallet. We made a wallet that utilises his non functioning right hand as support and his good hand for removing and putting back bills and cards. This project was done in collaboration with Mandy Klein Loshinsky and Tim Oder.
Watch the video here!
Features Straps that clasp your money safely. Simply place the bills on top of the straps and close your wallet, to find it tucked in safely the next time you open it. Allows you to keep upto 8 cards Back Strap to allow Boaz to hold the wallet with his non functional hand and access with his left hand. Compact and Slim, fits in pocket easily
Materials Tyvek, Synthetic Leather, Ribbon, Transparent PP, Velcro
4 Weeks | Interface, Experience Design Exchange Semester, Holon Institute of Technology, Israel
TV Tailored to you
As part of a module called Laboratory TV during my exchange at Holon Institute of Technology, Israel, I worked on an interface for Samsung Smart TVs. The aim was to consider the needs of a large audience and work on the way content is delivered to them through the medium of television. This project was done in collaboration with Oishee Sen
The Dashboard Scroll through the For You section to find everything on TV that interests you. The layout of the grid allows you to access all your favourite shows with ease.
User Personas Stitch is aimed to cater to people who want content they like delivered to them quickly.
Home Screen Stitch is programmed to recognise you and then tailor your dashboard to your needs. It also stays connected with your devices and through social media.
Information Select the show you want to watch and choose to play, read more, record, remind Read more to know rating, genre, more shows like this one and a summary of the episode.
Trending It shows you everything that your friends and people your age are watching. The trending section follows the same grid as the For you section.
Your Stitch Cloud The Stitch Cloud section gives you a visualisation of all your interactions with stitch and a summary of your activity according to viewing patterns with the help of mictrotags. You can interact with this web of information and relook at anything.
The user can click on a bubble to view past interactions with that subject. The size of the bubble determines how frequently you interact with the subject.
Stitch Boards You can choose to cut and stitch sections of your TV shows to create your own boards by simply asking Stitch to. The Stitch Boards are in the Your Stitches section and can be modified by the user.
Behavioural Analysis 2 Weeks | Electronics Exchange Semester, Holon Institute of Technology, Israel As part of a module called Tangible User Interface during my exchange at Holon Institute of Technology, Israel, I worked on a glove with an electronic circuit which would illuminate different lights when the user would tap their fingers. We made 4 users put on the glove and analysed the tapping patterns from the colours that lit up and made our own laws of finger tapping. This project was done in collaboration with Oishee Sen
The Laws of Finger Tapping After mapping out the lights, we analysed them to find clear patterns and devised 4 laws.
Watch the video here!
Sustainable Packaging 3 Weeks | Packaging Design Exchange Semester, Holon Institute of Technology, Israel The aim of the assignment was to look at a product and its current packaging waste and make it smarter and more sustainable. I decided to use corrugated cardboard. In contrast to other low cost and low weight solutions such as plastic blister packs, corrugated cardboard packaging offers the potential to be made, used, reused and ultimately disposed of sustainably. The proposed packaging is almost 25% of the original packaging with 3 layers of thin corrugated sheet.
The Original Packaging The original packaging is 4 times the size of the proposed packaging and uses plastic.
The Working The pen drive locks into the corrugated cardboard, protecting it from dust and environmental factors. A rice paper sheet with the branding and serration allows the pen drive to pop easily, using the piece used to hang it as a lever.
The locking mechanism
Corrugated Card Sheet
Hanger, lever Rice Paper
The Wisdom Machine 2 Weeks | Arduino Exchange Semester, Holon Institute of Technology, Israel As part of a module called Tangible User Interface during my exchange at Holon Institute of Technology, Israel, I worked on an interactive project that would encourage people to donate by giving them an incentive. We made a wisdom machine, which would invite you to put in a coin and trigger an interesting video and eventually give you a bit of wisdom. This project was done in collaboration with Oishee Sen.
Watch the video here!
The Working Put in a coin and watch your coin travel through different worlds and eventually deliver the ultimate truth. The circuit was made to work with a simple light sensor and Arduino along with Processing.
The Paper cut out Stop Motion Film The paper stop motion film was done with cut outs. It tells the story of the coin as it transforms and makes its way through machinery in imagination land till it becomes the ultimate truth that is delivered to you.
The Set and the Cut outs Hand made paper cut outs used for the stop motion film. Bright visuals used to engage and appeal to the users.
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.
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.
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.
Neonatal Care Work in Progress Click here to read our blog!
Currently working on a project to improve the transport of neonates in India in an efficient and frugal way.
Gaurika Singhal Product Design Student 3rd year, B.Des National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad
+919978841935 / +917507349622 gaurika_s@nid.edu