1890 to 1910

Design Timeline -Art Nouveau
use 'design timeline' as search on top, to get all Timeline posts.

Art Nouveau was in many ways a response to industrial revolution. many artists embraced technological developments and welcomes the aesthetic possiblities of new materials and processes. Others, however, deplored the grammer of mass produced objects. Art Nouveau was a deliberate attempt to create a new style. It aimed to apply highest standards of craftsmanship to everyday objects. Proponents of the style also believed that all art to work in harmony to create a 'total work of art' that would include buildins, furniture, clothes, jewelry and other objects, all confirming to principles of Art Nouveau.
The distinguishing ornamental characteristic of Art Nouveau is its undulating, asymmetrical line, often taking the form of flower stalk and buds, vine tendrils, insect wings and other delicate and sinuous natural objects. The 'whiplash' curve was often employed.

examples of Art Nouveau work

Primer on Running a Design Practice in India !
A note on setting up product design practice


First things first... you need a space. Residential premises are a favorite with designers. It's good for some lazy moments... or you may have ample of it too ! In either case Residential is good. The legal position is also clear... or as clear as it can get. You can't run a practice from residential property if you are located in Delhi. Anywhere else in India you can, as long as it is a consultancy (Doctors, Designers, Chartered Accountants and a few others), you don't carry out manufacturing and you do not have more than 10 visitors per day. 10 might be a problem, or may not be in fact !! On second thoughts you'll be lucky if you have any visitors at all ! 

Ok, visitors, or lack of it is not the issue...'caus it's not a foot-fall business. people don't locate a designer by signboards... 'Oh good there's a designer, lemme get something designed'.. ain't going to happen. But still, you have to let people know that you exist. Basically you have to somehow get your foot in through the crack. Here, what doesn't work is more important that knowing what does... in fact nobody knows, what does... so it's smarter to talk about what doesn't. Cold calling doesn't... not even if you beg and grovel at the board number. Mass mailers won't. It gives a permanent bad name to the practice. Distributing pamphlets at events, no good ... you can't do it at traffic junctions for sure! Calling distant relatives also doesn't... you have already wasted 4-7 years of you life, you could have become a support for your parents ... after all it just sounds like a hobby.. this Design thing... people who go for stable jobs are not fools, after all.... I guess, that does it!

What does, however, and surprisingly, are those off-guard moments when you might have shared a meaningful idea with somebody... I mean absolute somebody. People who might have noticed your passion when you are not trying to flaunt it. People you connect with at the level of values and shared aspirations. People who do not doubt your sincerity. 

People , then are your biggest assets. People, however will not come looking for you. Having a website does help. It is best done DIY... do it your self. All designers should learn web publishing. Thing to note here is SEO. Search Engine Optimization. 80% of internet traffic is routed through Search Engines. SEO then is the art of convincing search engines that yours is the site that will answer people's queries. Queries = Keywords. The world today is connected and brought together by keywords... sounds complex ?... so why DIY. DIY, because most of them do a shoddy job. Shoddy because, either they do not understand SEO, or are too creative with it. (see post on respectable SEO). Creative SEO is all about generating fake or non serious links to our site, publishing recycled articles on other sites on your behalf. Posting fake queries on B2B (business to business)or work share and social networking sites. They'll generate a sudden frenzy of traffic to your site, so the ranking will go up. But it's not sustainable... These people will promise top ranking for your site... while many others will promise the same to your competition... so you know ! Also you can only target so many keywords to draw traffic to your site. Choose Keywords carefully. There are many keyword research tools online. 

Social media is also good for networking. LinkedIn is good for professional networking. There are other networking tools and sites. Facebook  also has lot of intellectual activity happening... most stimulating of these is having your profile picture changed and people reacting with either 'cool'... or...  'wow' ! 

You also need computers and software. Licensed is better. Remember that once you are on your feet or even before, you'll start getting calls from software vendors. Most of them will say that you have 10 installations of their application when you may only have 5 computers in your office ! There'll be lot of this coercive marketing. They'll threaten legal action. Most strident will be the once that sell inferior and overpriced products. It is interesting to locate the members of this Eco-system.

Designer - sends quote, made to do concepts, gets advance ! after 25% work, delivers work, mostly denied last installment of fees ! (if the design is not stolen right at the concept stage).

Client - Calls you. Drives a hard bargain often by trivializing the design process. Gives tremendous freedom in deciding colors ! Wants the first and only prototype to work perfectly and solve all problems. Tells you there is practically no budget for development. Design fees is almost a favor. Sometimes disappears after the concept is presented.

Software company: Very vocal about IPR. Most vocal are the ones that have applications that draw a line and erase it for you in 20 different ways. These are also extremely overpriced. Some of these applications would have gained market penetration and market share by using piracy (a bit like windows becoming the standard when it used to crash 7 times a day). Competing products would be difficult to find and trained staff even less. Their vendors would send Facebook requests!

IPR Evangelists: They are often professionals. Many of them have taken it up after retirement. They promise to protect your ideas. They promise to navigate the hostile 
governmental process through excellent know-how and contacts. One will quote Rs 50,000/- another will quote Rs 150,000/- for the same job.

Legal system: Hostile, like most government organizations. Tedious and extremely slow. You can never hope to sue your client for non-payment of fees and hope to do business. 
You do not have the time or the money to protect your IPR (Intellectual Property Right).

IPR: You can practically get IPR for everything. Even the most inane things, if it has not been IPRed before ! If a particular posture of sleeping has not been patented, you could be the one to hold a patent for it... hurry. IPR fanatics are mostly DIY specialists. They hold patent for ideas and process. Often these ideas are not validated for performance, endurance, fatigue, safety,stability etc. IPR applications are done on paper. The drawings and specifications are practically a joke. This IPR regime needs to be seriously questioned. It is fast shutting off vast areas of human knowledge. Big companies are buying off non-performing companies only to have access to their patents. Not because they seriously need them...But only because they do not want to be dragged into legal battles. Soon you'll need 1 designer and 4 lawyers to design a shaving kit !!


Ok.... now back to setting up the practice. You need cover for few other legal issues. Consult a CA/ CS and cover all you legal positions. It needs paperwork depending on the nature of your outfit, Private Limited company (PVT.LTD), Associates, Partnership, Proprietorship  or Limited Liability company (LLP). You have to understand the tax implications of each, liability in case the practice needs to wind-up and, profit sharing. You will also need to understand the quantum of documentation and cost of running these. Like if you are a PVt. LTD, you will need to file yearly returns for income tax, the same also need to be filed with Registrar of company (ROC), you file for service tax every month and beyond a certain turn-over (not too high) your accounts need to be audited. LLP is easier to form and disband and as the name suggests, there is limited liability on founders. Besides these you'll need to Register your company with ROC, get a service tax number. If you do any manufacturing then you'll need VAT (value added tax) registration. If you are a partnership or proprietorship  you'll need a shop-act license.... and a few more things.

A partnership is easy to create. You only need a rubber stamp to open a bank account. .. there can be more than one partnership with the same name. Which cannot happen with a company. Remember when you apply for a company name, you have to give three names. The Govt official at ROC uses some strange logic to make the selection. Design companies are known to go for wacky names. But if to add more options you provided some unimaginative names... the ROC will select the one that they think has the most direct association with Design ! So be careful ! 'Frog Design... ye kya hai bhai' !

You need to register you company name and Logo. Once awarded you get to write R in a circle over the name! You can also apply for a trade mark to build the brand. You need to buy a domain name. It is best to buy it on your own, and not ask your hosting agency to do it. Simply because, if you need to change your hosting agency, the old hosting agency may not be prompt in renewing the domain on expiry. Also shifting to a new server means changing the DNS records on the Domain name control panel (the old hosting agency will have the access not you!). Also, for shifting the domain name to  the new registrar, you'll need an authorization code from the old agency. Most of these agencies are not prompt when they stand to loose business. 

Now that, the company has been formed, domain registered , website published and stationary printed... let's go back to clients. Most will come from your professional network. If you can demonstrate longevity, the network should expand. There will be highs and lows. (Most downward trends in the economy will impact design practice. Remember most of us are in a non-essential area of work). It is important to understand the mind of your clients... they are a non-homogeneous group and have different values and aspirations. There could be a few stereotypes though:

A mid-size to big company - The call usually comes from the purchase department or the project leader at the operational level. It is best to reach the decision maker. In such cases .. the CEO or the Project Owner.

The individual Business owner - If they are not thoroughly professional (and there are a few), then idea of ownership is very centralized.... the idea itself (of the product) may have to originate from the owner.

Engineers in reverse -  They'll show you a product and suggest some improvements. You'll also be told that they fully understand the importance of form. Color ! of course, the designer is the best judge. Your biggest competitor is such cases is the Chinese market and ready made electronic product housings. The moment you give them a quote on design fees and an estimate of development cost, some Chinese options will surface!

Innovators : They have fresh ideas, and limited budgets. it's always a pleasure working with them. Problem areas are unproven idea patents... then the work is much more than you expected.

If there is anything that defines the Indian client and practicing design in India, it has to be their understanding of what is design? Design, you'll find, to most is   synonymous with Decoration. A designer makes things prettier. A design with out decoration is not design enough. You may have made things easier, economical,  efficient, safer, marketable and desirable but you may still have somebody wanting to know, where is design in all this !

It, however comes down to culture and identity. European styling is understated, their colour pallet is pastel, Korean cars have accentuated bone lines, crimps and a certain scale, American designs starting from European traditions have taken on a different identity, Australians are constantly searching for an identity in Roos, Boomerangs and nature... What is the Indian Identity ... It is probably emerging right around us ...

Respectable SEO 
A note on search engine optimization

Search Engine Optimization of websites- SEO or respectable, sedate SEO is not very complex. Just find out Key work infusion in your text content, Key word density, key word positioning, text formatting and using right coding tags. Yes Coding... but it's simple. Know you'll be using a WYSIWYG web editor (what you see is what you get editor). But you can still modify a few codes in code view, or at least use the right text formatting tools.

So the search Engine will rank your site along various parameters. This is done by an automated system. A Bot (search engine robot, or automated script) will visit your site periodically and rate it. And an indexer will store the key information about your site in it's database. This is what people will initially see as the search result against a search query (keyword).

There's a simple SEO check list below:

1) Good text content, good text content, good text content... caus that's all that the BOT will understand.
2) Text formatting, keyword infusion, keyword density, keyword positioning.
3) All images need a description tag. it is important for visually impaired access. Don't do it and Google algorithm will rate you lower.
4) Meta tags - find from a reliable source, edit and insert it in the code view. It is still of importance to some search engines. It is the first thing that the search engine BOT will read.
5) W3 compliant coding. At least as far as possible. There is a script checker on W3.org site. It'll red flag the scripting errors. Most can be rectified easily. That should be pretty good.
6) Links... all navigation links should be in CSS (cascading style sheet). JavaScript and Flash scripts are not read & ranked by search engine Bots. HTML links may look too basic.
7) Navigation structure - important content embedded too deep is not good.
8) Loading time - this has been added relatively recently. There was a time when 50kb (html + images+flash etc) per page was a benchmark. Now with improved internet speeds below 150 kb should be good to go.
9) Presence on Social media and networking sites. LinkedIn is good for professional network. Facebook and like is good to keep in touch.
10) Publish articles on the web. The ranking majorly takes into account how many site have links to your site.
11) Submit sitemaps to Google and Yahoo.(this provides list of pages, relative importance of pages and likely frequency of updates) is a standardized .xml format.
12) Register with Search Engines and Databases. You can use automated submissions too. But do look for error pages in submissions, so that they can be done manually. Do start with dmoz.org. Look for submit url or add site on these websites.

But where are the Sketches !?
A note on sketching as a design tool

'But where are the sketches ?'... have heard this so many times in juries and reviews... on both side of the desk. Seems, we'll forever have this persona of a designer, this larger than life figure with nothing but a sketchbook and a pencil ... and the world just waiting to turn the corner.
Sketching has always been glorified ... and everything else a poor second, when it comes to crystallizing an idea or representing the essence of it... and somebody did tell me that, 
' you can't remove the touch of human hand from design '... the comment has stayed with me... and rightly so.
But it is equally true that a design is more in the head than in the hand ... and there are any number of tools to articulate an idea. A sketch could be one of them (hand drawn that is). What is the point in laboriously working through a sketch when the flair is missing, and could be found in another medium ?
Also, in this fanatic demand for sketches, one often forgets to emphasize the importance of scale and proportion. We get caught in the artistic merit of the representation. However, a design, is a real thing, or at least meant to be so. An idea not hinged to scales and proportions of this world is often a statement in distortion... and final shape of things that emerge out of it, often has no resemblance to the original idea.

In this context, it is fascinating to  explore Leonardo da Vinci's study of human proportions, the 'Vitruvian man'. It is important to remember that the most familiar scaling element for all of us is our own body. We can gauge the size and extent of anything by comparing it with our body proportions, if only we are sensitized to it a little more.

The drawing and text of the Vitruvian Man are sometimes called the Canon of Proportions or, Proportions of Man. This drawing exemplifies the blend of art and science during the Renaissance and provides the perfect example of Leonardo's keen interest in proportion. In addition, this picture represents a cornerstone of Leonardo's attempts to relate man to nature. Encyclopaedia Britannica online states, "Leonardo envisaged the great picture chart of the human body he had produced through his anatomical drawings and Vitruvian Man as a cosmografia del minor mondo (cosmography of the microcosm). He believed the workings of the human body to be an analogy for the workings of the universe."

the vitruvian man, a study of proportions


a palm is the width of four fingers
a foot is the width of four palms
a cubit is the width of six palms
a man's height is four cubits (and thus 24 palms)
a pace is four cubits
the length of a man's outspread arms is equal to his height
the distance from the hairline to the bottom of the chin is one-tenth of a man's height
the distance from the top of the head to the bottom of the chin is one-eighth of a man's height
the maximum width of the shoulders is a quarter of a man's height
the distance from the elbow to the tip of the hand is one-fifth of a man's height
the distance from the elbow to the armpit is one-eighth of a man's height
the length of the hand is one-tenth of a man's height
the distance from the bottom of the chin to the nose is one-third of the length of the head
the distance from the hairline to the eyebrows is one-third of the length of the face
the length of the ear is one-third of the length of the face

1969

Design Timeline - Design With Nature
use 'design timeline' as search on top, to get all Timeline posts.

This post is certainly a tribute to Ian L. McHarg's seminal work ' Design With Nature', with the hope that a few more people will spend a few more minutes leafing through it. Also prompted by the fact that a few Product Design courses have started offering smallish modules on Landscape Architecture and such like. I thought, we were firmly astride onto the path of specialized learning. Now, does this provide a more 'well rounded' design education, or just promotes the notion that designer's are often 'only bits-n-pieces people' ?

'Design With Nature' has many vantage points... it provides tools for regional planning, it provides a template for resource optimization, it is a manual on sustainable development, it also raises some very pertinent questions on the nature of development... 
Is Man subservient to Nature or is Nature subservient to Man ? It seriously questioned the tendency to enforce man's will on nature. An example of the French Baroque style of Landscape is often cited, in the Palace of Versailles landscape, were nature had been tamed to follow patterns willed by Man. As opposed to an example of English countryside Landscape tradition were picturesque views followed natures undulations.

Palace of Versailles landscape

Based on McHarg's approach values can be assigned to patches of land along parameters like Susceptibility to Erosion, Bedrock Foundation, Hydro-logical Data, Natural Drainage Patterns, Geological Information, Mineral assets, Heritage values, Cultural Values, Natural assets, Wildlife Habitats, Ecologically Fragile zones etc. This overlay-ed information can highlight the nature of impact and cost of development. It provides a tool for planning development with calibrated and informed trade-offs. 

Recently, the pilgrim/ tourist routes of Badrinath and Kedarnath were battered by un-usually high rainfall. Not only did we loose entire settlements, it also washed away historical, cultural, natural and ecological assets... should we not value our assets enough to adopt sound engineering tools and sensible design approach ?

1950s

Design Timeline -POP Art
use 'design timeline' as search on top, to get all Timeline posts.

Andy Warhol (American, 1928-1987), Campbell's Tomato Soup 1962, oil on canvas.

It was an art form that had its origins in England in the 1950s and practiced in the United States during the 1960s. In the post War Euphoria and intense consumer activity, British artists such as Richard Hamilton and the 'Independent Group' adopted images of the popular culture such as comic strips, magazine ads, and supermarket products to propose an art form that was not too intellectualized or elitist. The movement did not decry consumer culture or materialism. It recognized the pervasive nature of these popular icons and celebrated them as an art form. Pop art, like pop music, aimed to employ images of popular as opposed to elitist culture in art.  
Key features of this style were Bright Colours,  Flat images (often in silkscreen process). Images and icons derived from mass media and consumer products(Images of celebrities or characters from comic books).
Leading artists of the style include Richard Hamilton, Roy Lichtenstein and Andy Warhol. The first significant Pop Art image was a collage by Richard Hamilton, entitled ‘ Just what is it that makes today’s home so different, so appealing?’, which was exhibited at an independent group exhibition at the Institute of Contemporary Arts, London in 1956. Pop art and Minimalism are sometimes considered to be the last modern art movements. They are also seen as precursors to Postmodern art, or some of the earliest examples of postmodern art itself.

Just What Is It That Makes Today’s Homes So Different, So Appealing? (1956) is one of the earliest works to be considered pop art.

Perfume Bottle Design
from one of our projects

We wanted to do this one in Surlyn Plastic (by DuPont). A very interesting polymer that gives glass like brilliance and transparency, but has a unique tactile quality. A Surlyn part would be very tough and hard but drop with a rubbery 'thud' on the floor. The touch is also less glass like and feels slightly resilient without yielding to pressure.

The project Owner wanted to enter the lower to mid segment of the European market with their new brand. This was the faster moving segment usually packaged in lower capacity bottles. An understanding of the market players was predicated in the brief. The clients wanted to explore design ideas for new bottles as well as packaging. A second approach suggested was to use an existing reservoir (bottle) and design a minimal collar and closure. A standard pump was to be used for this approach. 

These perfumes were to be packaged in 100 ml bottles only, and sold at the price point of below 10 dollars. Sample perfumes provided were fruity to floral in nature. The fragrances were more piquant than mild, with strong high notes. 

Design Response: 
As initial concept generation, new ideas for bottles were explored. Above concept was based on a river pebble. Chrome accents were suggested, keeping in mind the nature of the segment where many products jostled for visibility and space. Other bottle design concepts ranged from 'less feminine' to 'uncommon'. The team at Cluster One developed packages around the suggested names of 'Amor Amor'  (translates to 'Love Love') and Jadore ( not to be confused with the Christian Dior product) which translates as 'I adore'. The packages were built around the idea of men buying perfumes for the ladies. One concept carried the motif of a cactus as a contrarian approach to the expression of love. The designs sought to crystallize the personality of the product, in this case floral, convivial and perhaps carnal.

1981- 88

Design Timeline - Memphis - Milan
use 'design timeline' as search on top, to get all Timeline posts.

Memphis was the name of a collection of furniture, fabric and ceramics designers who gathered around Ettore Sottsass at the 1981 Milan Furniture Fair and caused a sensation in the international media. In fact, the group had grown out of Studio Alchymia, another Milanese avant-garde group. They disagreed with the conformist approach at the time and challenged the idea that products had to follow conventional shapes, colours, textures and patterns. They even tried calling it the 'new International Style'. It was a reaction against the minimalist, colourless , so called 'good design' approach of the 70s. They offered Colourful, Bright and almost shocking pieces. The group came to be seen as people who tried to energize the Radical Design movement, rather than being frivolous with design. It is believed that they drew inspiration from the 'Art Deco' and 'Pop Art' movements. Sottsass once said, 'Memphis is not new, Memphis is everywhere'. They also drew references from industrial materials, 50s revivalism, ancient art and pop-music.

Ettore Sottsass was in his 60s when he met with a group of young designers in their 20 (Architect, Designers, Writer). They discussed his plans of creating a path-breaking furniture line with a friend who owned a furniture workshop. In Sottsass's apartment, they played some music. In fact the music was Bob Dylan's "Stuck Inside of Mobile With the Memphis Blues Again". Apparently the record would get stuck at "Memphis Blues Again". Later they ended up calling themselves the Memphis Group. They dismantled the group in 1988, perhaps, because they themselves saw the style as a fad (Fad as in fashion, quickly comes to an end). 

Signage Design Project
Urban Road Signage Master plan
Design Intervention: Bi-Lingual Signage Development, Design, Specifications, Placement on Working plan, Bill of Quantities

Signage plan - that pinpoints the location of the signs on the map and helps quantify the installations

Signs should always be positioned so they do not obscure other signs or restrict a driver’s vision (particularly at intersections) and so they do not compromise accessibility Signs should not normally be installed in medians unless they refer specifically to traffic travelling in the median lane (ie the lane adjacent to median) In general, only one type of sign should be mounted on each post. regulatory signs must be installed where needed, including the type of restriction or a prohibition. Warning signs should be located sufficiently in advance of an unusual or hazardous situation for a driver to react in the appropriate manner.

Table illustrates how distances should be shown on sign legends.
Distance Increment Shown as
Up to 999 metres           Nearest 100 metre           000 m

1000 metres or more      Nearest kilometre           00 km

The sign size used in individual circumstances should be determined by

a range of factors, including:

The speed environment

The type of sign

Whether it is a two-lane or multi-lane road

The lateral offset from a driver’s position to the sign

The crash history of the site

Competing visual stimuli.

The use of uniform signs (messages, location, size, shapes, and colors) helps reduce crashes and congestion, and improves the efficiency of transportation system. Uniformity also helps reduce the cost of signs through standardization.

From Cluster One's project on signage design for urban roads. Special thanks to Anand James for guiding the project.

Design Methodology

A handy Information kiosk designed by us. It had a Trackball mouse for navigation. Stainless steel trackballs were available, but the cost didn't permit us. This product was developed for an Environmental Research Institute.

Design is the strategy that lays the premise for the making of any object or system. The final product of this process can be anything from products to graphical user interfaces to 
buildings and open spaces. All design process at a fundamental level are similar. It involves a systematic approach in which art and the sciences come together towards achieving 
stated objectives. The thought process involved is rational as well as intuitive at the same time. However it requires skill, training, and exposure to channelize the thought process 
towards the stated objectives. Nature of the final object also involves the use of specific tools, technologies and resources.

The Design method can be developed into a systematic process, which includes identifying a need, defining the problem, conducting research,  analyzing design criteria, finding alternative solutions, analyzing possible solutions, making a decision, presenting the product, and communicating and selling the product. The steps involved in a typical design process are discussed below. This generic system can be applied with minor modifications for the design of any Product, Built Environment, or Open spaces.

Step one - Understanding the Need : Communication with all stakeholders of the project. Profiling the user community. Study of existing level of development and competition. 
Step two - Resources and Ownership : Available resources . Ascertaining ownership boundaries, legalities, local laws and regulations.
Step three - Design brief : Statement of purpose and design objectives.
Step Four - Ergonomics : To maximize human efficiency. To improve health and safety. To promote comfort, convenience and interest. To maximize performance reliability. This 
generally requires the study of systems in which humans, machines and the environment interact, with the aim of fitting the task to the humans. Anthropometry is an important aspect of ergonomic studies which involves the study of human dimensions to ascertain size and space requirements.
Step Five - Environmental Impact : Environmental Impact profiling and Validation of sustainability issues.
Step Six - Design Ideation : Exploring more than one design idea. Presenting design concepts and communicating the idea.
Step Seven - Feedback, selection and improvement : Crystallization of the selected concept. Development and Articulation of the design in more detail.
Step Eight - Visualization, Prototyping : 3D Model and animation studies. Development of mock-up models and prototypes. Material, colour and finish studies.
Step Nine - Design improvement : Final validation of design concept before engineering resolution.
Step Ten- Engineering resolution and specifications : Engineering validation, manufacturing process selection, Material specifications, Colour specifications, finish specifications.
Step Eleven - Production details and manufacturing : CAD files, Working Drawings, Manufacturing Details and specifications, Material procurement, Mold making, Selection of 
agencies, Manufacturing, Mass production, finishing, product literature, user manual and Packaging.
Step Twelve - Marketing : Marketing collaterals, Product launch